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Records  of  Civilization 

SOURCES  AND  STUDIES 


EDITED  BY 

JAMES  T.  SHOTWELL,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY  IN  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


IN    COLLABORATION  WITH 
FRANKLIN  H.  GIDDINGS,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  JULIUS  A.  BEWER,  PH.D. 


PROFESSOR    OF     SOCIOLOGY     AND    THE  HISTORY 
CIVILIZATION   IN  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


PROFESSOR   OF  OLD   TESTAMENT   EXEGESIS  IN 
UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


MUNROE  SMITH,  J.U.D.,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  ROMAN  LAW  AND  COMPARATIVE 
JUKISPRUDENCE  IN  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 

WILLIAM  R.  SHEPHERD,  PH.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY  IN  COLUMBIA 
UNIVERSITY 


CARLTON  H.  HAYES,  Ph.D. 

ASSOCIATE  PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY 
IN  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


ELLERY  C.  STOWELL,  Ph.D. 

ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR  OF  INTERNATIONAL 
LAW  IN  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


GEORGE  W.  BOTSFORD,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR    OF    HISTORY    IN  COLUMBIA 
UNIVERSITY 


HAROLD  H.  TRYON,  M.A.,  B.D. 

INSTRUCTOR  IN  NEW  TESTAMENT  AND  CHURCH 
HISTORY  IN  UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
1920 

All  rights  reserved 


RECORDS  OF  CIVILIZATION 

SOURCES  AND  STUDIES 
EDITED  BY 

JAMES  T.  SHOTWELL 

A  COMPREHENSIVE  SERIES  CONSISTING  OF 

DOCUMENTS  IN  TRANSLATION 
COMMENTARIES  AND  INTERPRETATIONS 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  GUIDES 


Eor  titles  of  volumes,  see  list  at  end 
of  this  volume. 


IRecorfcs  of  Civilisation:  Sources  anfc  Studies 


HELLENIC  CIVILIZATION 

EDITED  BY 

G.  W.  BOTSFORD 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY   IN  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 
AND 

E.  G.  SIHLER 

PROFESSOR  OF  THE  LATIN   LANGUAGE  AND  LITERATURE 
IN   NEW  YORK  UNIVERSITY 

WITH  CONTRIBUTIONS  FROM 

Professor  William  L.  Westermann  (University  of  Wisconsin) 
Charles  J.  Ogden,  Ph,D.,  and  others 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
1920 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  191 5, 
By  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  August,  1915. 


NortoooO  iPress 

J.  S.  Cushing  Co.  —  Berwick  <fc  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 


The  aim  of  the  series  of  which  this  volume  forms  a  part  is  two- 
fold. In  the  first  place,  its  intention  is  to  make  accessible  those 
sources  of  the  history  of  Europe  and  of  the  near  East  which  are 
of  prime  importance  for  the  understanding  of  Western  civilization. 
In  the  second  place,  both  by  the  treatment  of  these  texts  and  by 
special  studies  it  covers  the  work  of  modern  scholars  in  these 
fields.  It  is,  therefore,  a  guide  both  to  the  original  documents 
and  to  recent  criticism.  The  material,  furthermore,  is  given  in 
English  translation,  in  order  that  it  may  be  readily  accessible  to 
students  and  readers  who  do  not  have  that  knowledge  of  classical 
and  other  foreign  languages  which  is  essential  for  specialized 
research. 

The  present  volume  departs  slightly  from  the  general  plan  of 
the  series  owing  to  the  peculiar  editorial  problems  which  it  in- 
volves. While,  in  most  other  cases,  documents  are  given  in 
extenso,  this  is  necessarily  an  anthology.  The  very  wealth  of 
the  literary  and  monumental  remains  of  Greek  civilization  renders 
any  other  treatment  impossible.  Even  more  important,  however, 
is  the  fact  that  so  much  of  the  available  material  is  of  interest  to 
the  historian  for  other  reasons  than  those  which  determined  its 
original  form.  Casual  references  in  literature,  whether  prose  or 
poetry,  frequently  possess  a  distinctive  value  sufficient  to  make 
them  by  themselves,  apart  from  their  context,  documents  for  the 
study  of  Hellenic  civilization.  Beside  these  must  often  be  placed 
texts  from  obscure  sources  or  fragments  revealed  by  recent  archae- 
ological research.  In  short,  in  this  volume  the  intricacies  of  a  very 
complex  subject  demanded  an  adjustment  of  text  to  topic  in  order 
to  illustrate  the  general  lines  of  Greek  history. 

V 


vi 


PREFACE 


In  view  of  these  difficulties,  the  volume  as  a  whole  was  originally 
placed  under  the  editorial  control  of  Professor  Botsford.  As  he 
found,  however,  that  the  labor  of  selecting  and  preparing  excerpts 
illustrative  of  Hellenic  civilization  from  the  vast  field  of  ancient 
Greek  literature,  inscriptions,  and  papyri  exceeded  the  limits  of 
time  at  his  disposal,  he  was  fortunate  in  securing  the  cooperation 
of  his  friend  Professor  Sihler  in  the  editorial  work,  and  contribu- 
tions from  other  scholars.  The  parts  severally  taken  by  these 
associates  are  explained  below,  and  the  editors  wish  here  to  thank 
them  for  their  aid  and  their  interest  in  the  work. 

The  selections  have  been  made,  not  for  specialists,  but  for  those 
who  are  interested  in  general  Hellenic  culture.  Nothing  could  be 
easier  than  to  suggest  the  lengthening  or  shortening  of  passages 
and  the  addition  or  substitution  of  other  selections.  No  two  schol- 
ars could  agree  as  to  what  is  absolutely  best  for  a  volume  of  the 
kind;  and  those  who  have  cooperated  in  its  preparation  can  only 
hope  that  it  may  in  some  degree  contribute  to  an  understanding  of 
the  spirit  of  ancient  Hellas  and  add  to  the  interest  in  her  culture. 

For  the  selections  from  printed  translations  permission  has 
been  obtained  from  the  translators  or  the  publishers.  Individual 
acknowledgments  are  made  elsewhere.  This  permission  has  ren- 
dered it  possible  to  give  the  volume  a  literary  quality  to  which  it 
could  not  otherwise  have  attained.  The  grouping  of  selections 
in  chapters  on  society,  religion,  political  conditions,  etc.,  is  nec- 
essarily more  or  less  arbitrary,  as  the  same  passage  often  throws 
light  on  several  of  these  aspects  of  life ;  yet  this  arrangement  will 
probably  be  found  as  convenient  as  any  that  could  be  devised. 
The  notes  are  for  the  general  reader,  and  represent  the  minimum 
of  information  required  for  an  understanding  of  the  passages. 
Those  who  desire  special  knowledge  are  referred  to  the  bibliog- 
raphies, the  compilation  of  which  has  extended  through  years. 
Throughout  the  book  will  be  found  occasional  references  to  the< 
closely  interrelated  "  Hellenic  History,"  by  Professor  Botsford, 
which  will  probably  be  ready  for  the  printer  within  ten  or  twelve 
months  after  the  appearance  of  the  present  work. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  volume  may  appeal  to  a  wide  range  of 
users,  that  the  student  may  find  it  an  illuminating  companion  to 
his  textbook  or  his  course  of  lectures,  and  that  men  and  women 
who  are  interested  in  the  cultural  history  of  mankind,  even  though 


PREFACE 


vii 


classically  educated,  may  obtain  through  it  fresh  and  inspiring 
glimpses  of  the  wonderfully  endowed  people  from  whom  these 
messages  have  come. 

JAMES  T.  SHOTWELL. 

New  York, 

June  i,  1915. 


DIVISION  OF  LABOR 

Professor  Westermann  has  contributed  Chapter  XVI  entire. 
Mr.  Wallace  E.  Caldwell  (fellow  in  history,  Columbia  University), 
Dr.  Ogden,  and  Professor  William  C.  Lawton  (Hobart  College) 
have  translated  the  selections  credited  to  them  and  have  furnished 
the  greater  part  of  the  material  for  the  introductions  and  annota- 
tions of  these  excerpts.  Professor  Munroe  Smith  has  aided  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  Gortynian  law.  All  have  read  the  proofs 
of  their  respective  contributions.  Professor  Sihler  has  made  the 
translations  credited  to  him,  has  revised,  by  a  comparison  with  the 
original  texts,  the  greater  number  of  excerpts  from  published  trans- 
lations, and  has  furnished  some  of  the  material  for  the  introductory 
chapter.  He  has  also  read  the  proofs  of  the  whole  work,  with  the 
aid  of  Mr.  F.  M.  Barranco,  and  has  prepared  the  index.  Professor 
Shotwell  has  made  suggestions  at  various  points  in  the  preparation 
of  the  volume  and  has  read  the  proofs.  Professor  Botsford  has 
chosen  and  arranged  the  selections,  excepting  those  of  Chapter 
XVI,  has  translated  the  passages  credited  to  him,  has  prepared 
the  introductory  chapter  and  most  of  the  special  introductions  and 
notes.  He  has  compiled  the  bibliographies,  read  the  proofs,  and 
edited  the  selections  contributed  by  others.  The  bibliographical 
work  has  been  facilitated  by  the  courteous  aid  of  Miss  Isadore  G. 
Mudge  of  the  Columbia  University  Library. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGES 

I.    The  Sources  of  Hellenic  History       ....  1-62 

II.    The  Minoan  and  Homeric  Civilizations       .       .       .  63-117 

III.  Colonization  (750-479  b.c.)   1 18-130 

IV.  Government  and  Political  Conditions  (750-479  b.c.)  131-174 
V.    Economy  and  Society  (750-479  b.c.)      ....  175-209 

VI.    General  Political  Conditions  (479-404  b.c.)      .       .  210-254 
VII.    The  Confederacy  of  Delos  and  the  Athenian  Empire 

(478-404  B.C.)    255-274 

VIII.    Private  and  Criminal  Law  (479-404  b.c.)     .       .       .  275-292 

IX.    Medical  Science  (Fifth  Century  b.c.)        .       .       .  293-302 

X.    Aspects  of  Hellenic  Society  (479-404  b.c.)               ,  303-348 

XI.    Religion  (479-404  b.c.)   349~37i 

XII.    Hellenic  Interstate  Relations  (404-337  B.C.)     .       .  372-422 

XIII.  The  State  (404-337  b.c.)   423-470 

XIV.  Social  Conditions  (404-337  b.c.)     .       .       .       .       .  471-526 
XV.    Personal  Character,  Literary  Criticism,  and  Art 

(404-337  b.c.)    527-567 

XVI.    Administration,  Industry,  and  Education  in  the  Hel- 
lenistic Kingdoms  (337-30  b.c.)   568-609 

XVII.    Politics  of  the  Greek   Homeland;    The  Federal 

Unions  (323-146  b.c.)   610-626 

XVIII.    Science  and  Inventions  (330-100  b.c)  ....  627-656 

XIX.    Social  Conditions  (after  337  b.c.)       ....  657-708 

INDEX   709-719 


ix 


ABBREVIATIONS  MOST  COMMONLY  USED 


Abbott  =  Abbott,  E.,  History  of  Greece,  3  vols.  (New  York  :  Putnam,  1892-1900). 

Acad,  des  Inscr.  =  Memoires  de  l'academie  des  inscriptions  et  belles-lettres. 

Acad.  roy.  de  Belg.  Bull.  =  Academie  royale  de  Belgique  :  Bulletins  de  la  classe  des 

lettres  et  des  sciences  morales  et  politiques,  etc. 
Am.  Journ.  Arch.  =  American  Journal  of  Archaeology. 
Am.  Journ.  Philol.  =  American  Journal  of  Philology. 
Archiv.  soc.  Bull.  =  Archives  sociologiques,  Bulletin  (Brussels). 

Ath.  Mitt.  =  Mitteilungen  des    kaiserlich   deutschen    archaologischen    Instituts : 
Athenische  Abteilung. 

B.  S.A.  =  Annual  of  the  British  School  at  Athens. 

Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  =  Beloch,  J.,  Griechische  Geschichte  (I  and  II.  1,  second 

ed. ;  the  remainder,  first  ed.). 
Berl.  Philol.  Woch.  =  Berliner  philologische  Wochenschrift. 
Bury  =Bury,  J.  B.,  History  of  Greece  (revised  ed.,  Macmillan,  1913). 
Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  =  Busolt,  G.,  Griechische  Geschichte,  3  vols,  (second  ed., 

Gotha,  1893-1904). 

Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  =  Christ,  W.  von,  Geschichte  der  griechischen  Litteratur,  2  vols. 

revised  by  Schmid,  W.  (fifth  ed.,  Munich,  1908-1913). 
CIA.  =  Corpus  inscriptionum  atticarum ;  v.  Inscr.  graec. 

C.  J.O.  =  Charles  J.  Ogden. 
Class.  Journ.  =  Classical  Journal. 
Class.  Philol.  =  Classical  Philology. 
Class.  Quart.  =  Classical  Quarterly. 
Class.  Rev.  =  Classical  Review. 
CI.  Weekly  =  Classical  Weekly. 

Collitz,  SGDI.  =  Sammlung  der  griechischen  Dialektinschriften,  4  vols.  (1884-1911). 
Curtius  =  Curtius,  E.,  History  of  Greece,  5  vols.  (New  York:  Scribner,  1886). 
Daremberg-Saglio,  Diet.  =  Dictionnaire  des  antiquites  grecques  et  romaines  (begin- 
ning 1873). 
Diss.,  Dissert.  =  Dissertation. 

Ditt.  Or.  grasc.  inscrs.  =  Dittenberger,  W.,  Orientis  graeci  inscriptiones  selectae 
(Leipzig,  1903). 

Ditt.,  Ditt.  Syll.  =  Sylloge  inscriptionum  graecarum,  3  vols,  (second  ed.,  Leipzig, 

1898-1901). 
E.G.S.  =  Ernest  G.  Sihler. 

Encycl.  Brit.  =  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  (eleventh  ed.). 
Eng.  Hist.  Rev.  =  English  Historical  Review. 
Ergzb.  =  Erganzungsband. 

xi 


xii 


ABBREVIATIONS 


Gesch.  u.  Kult.  des  Alt.  =  Studien  zur  Geschichte  und  Kultur  des  Altertums. 
Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  =  Gilbert,  G.,  Constitutional  Antiquities  of  Sparta  and  Athens 

(Macmillan,  1895). 
Griech.  =  Griechisch. 

Gott.  gelehrt.  Anz.  =  Gottingische  gelehrte  Anzeigen. 

Gott.  Gesellsch.  =  Nachrichten  von  der  koniglichen  Gesellschaft  der  Wissenschaften 
zu  Gottingen. 

Greenidge,  Gk.  Const.  Hist.  =  Handbook  of  Greek  Constitutional  History  (Mac- 
millan, 1896). 

Grote  =  Grote,  G.,  History  of  Greece,  12  vols,  (reprint  from  original  ed.,  New  York : 

Harper). 
G.W.B.  =  George  W.  Botsford. 

Harv.  St.  in  CI.  Philol.  =  Harvard  Studies  in  Classical  Philology. 
Herm.  =  Hermes. 

Hicks  and  Hill  =  Hicks,  E.  L.,  and  Hill,  G.  F.,  Manual  of  Greek  Historical  Inscrip- 
tions (new  ed.,  Oxford,  1901). 
Hist.  Zeitschr.  =  Historische  Zeitschrift. 

Holm  =  Holm,  A.,  History  of  Greece,  4  vols.  (Macmillan,  1895-1898). 

Inscr.  graec.  =  Inscriptiones  graecae,  14  vols.  (Berlin,  1873-1890).    The  old  edition 

is  occasionally  cited  as  CIA. 
Jahresb.  =  Jahresberichte  iiber  die  Fortschritte  der  klassischen  Altertumswissen- 

schaft. 

J.H.S.  —  Journal  of  Hellenic  Studies. 

Jouguet,  Pap.  grecs  =  Papyrus  grecs  (Paris,  1907). 

Journ.  Philol.  =  (English)  Journal  of  Philology. 

Kock,  Th.,  Com.  att.  frag.  =  Comicorum  atticorum  fragmenta. 

Meyer,  Ed.,  Forsch.  =  Forschungen  zur  alten  Geschichte,  2  vols.  (Halle,  1892, 1899). 
 Gesch.  d.  Alt.  =  Geschichte  des  Altertums,  5  vols.  (I.  1,  third  ed. ;  I.  2,  second 

ed.  ;  II-V,  first  ed.). 
Michel  =  Michel,  Ch.,  Recueil  d'inscriptions  grecques  (Brussels,  1900). 
Mitt.  Vorderas.  Ges.  =  Mitteilungen  der  vorderasiatischen  Gesellschaft. 
Miiller,   Frag.  hist,   graec.  =  Fragmenta  historicorum   graecorum,  5  vols.   (Paris  : 

Didot,  1841). 

Mus.  belg.  =  Le  Musee  beige,  revue  de  philologie  classique. 

N.  Jahrb.  =  Neue  Jahrbiicher  fur  das  klassische  Altertum,  Geschichte,  etc. 

Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  =  Pauly's  Real-Encyclopadie  der  classischen  Altertums- 
wissenschaft,  revised  by  Wissowa,  G.  (beginning  1894)  ;  the  later  vols,  by  Kroll, 
W.,  and  Witte,  K.  References  are  all  to  the  erste  Reihe.  A  zweite  Reihe  began 
to  appear  in  1914. 

Philol.  =  Philologus. 

Pohlmann  Griech.  Gesch.  =  Pohlmann,  R.  von,  Grundriss  der  griechischen  Ge- 
schichte (fourth  ed.,  Munich,  1909). 
Pol.  Sci.  Quart.  =  Political  Science  Quarterly. 

R.  Acad.  d.  sci.  atti  =  Atti  della  reale  accademia  delle  scienze  di  Torino. 
Rev.  des  et.  gr.  =  Revue  des  etudes  grecques. 
Rev.  hist.  =  Revue  historique. 
Rhein.  Mus.  =  Rheinisches  Museum. 

Roberts  and  Gardner  =  Roberts,  E.  S.,  and  Gardner,  E.  A.,  Introduction  to  Greek 
Epigraphy,  2  vols.  (Cambridge :  University  Press,  1887,  1905). 


ABBREVIATIONS 


xiii 


Sachs.  Gesellsch.  =  Abhandlungen  der  koniglich  sachsischen  Gesellschaft  der  Wis- 

senschaften.    Philologische-historische  Klasse. 
Sitz.  Berl.  Akad.  =  Sitzungsberichte  der  koniglich  preussischen  Akademie  der  Wis- 

senschaften  zu  Berlin. 
Supplb.  =  Supplementband. 

Supplem.  =  Supplementum  (of  the  Inscr.  graec). 

Trans.  Am.  Philol.  Ass.  =  Transactions  and  Proceedings  of  the  American  Philologi- 
cal Association. 

Versamml.  d.  Philolog.  =  Versammlung  deutscher  Philologen  und  Schulmanner. 

Verhandlungen. 
W.C.L.  =  William  C.  Lawton. 
W.E.C.  =  Wallace  E.  Caldwell. 
W.L.W.  =  William  L.  Westermann. 
Zeitsch.  f.  Ethnol.  =  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologic 


HELLENIC  CIVILIZATION 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  SOURCES  OF  HELLENIC  HISTORY 

I.  Introduction 

The  sources  for  the  history  of  Hellas  include  everything  from 
which  may  be  derived  information  of  service  to  the  historian. 
They  comprise,  accordingly,  not  only  literature  and  written  docu- 
ments, but  also  products  of  workmanship  found  by  exploration,  and 
even  the  physical  features  and  conditions  of  the  country,  the 
climate,  soil,  and  products,  the  practicabilities  of  communication 
with  other  countries ;  in  brief,  everything  that  in  any  way  throws 
light  upon  the  factors  that  determined  the  historical  development. 
The  language  itself  is  a  highly  important  source  for  the  origin  of 
the  Hellenes,  their  relations  with  other  early  peoples,  their  sub- 
division into  the  so-called  races,  which  are  in  fact  large  dialect 
groups,  and  for  the  gradual  development  of  their  ideas  on  all  sub- 
jects of  which  they  thought.  This  volume,  however,  is  limited 
to  the  written  sources.  It  has  to  do,  accordingly,  with  literature, 
with  inscriptions  on  stone  or  bronze,  and  with  documents  com- 
mitted to  papyri,  many  of  which  have  recently  been  discovered  in 
Egypt. 

To  the  scholar  of  a  few  decades  ago,  whose  chief  interest  was  in 
political  and  military  narrative,  the  Greek  historians  were  all- 
important  sources.  Recently,  however,  history  has  so  expanded 
as  to  take  into  account  all  human  conditions  and  activities,  physical, 
mental,  and  emotional.  In  this  wider  view  it  embraces  economy, 
society,  philosophy  and  science,  religion,  poetry  and  art,  as  well 
as  political  institutions,  party  struggles,  and  warfare,  and  thus 
renders  the  lyric  poet  and  the  dramatist  equal  in  importance  to 


2 


THE  SOURCES 


the  historian.  In  all  oscillations  of  judgment  regarding  the  relative 
importance  of  things  there  is  danger  of  going  to  extremes.  The 
culture  of  a  people  without  their  economy  and  politics  is  like 
the  decorations  of  a  dwelling  without  its  foundation  and  frame- 
work. It  is  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  all  these  aspects  of  Greek 
civilization  that  the  material  of  the  present  volume  has  been  selected 
and  organized. 

II.  The  Minoan  Age 

Our  sourcesfor  the  Minoan  period,  approximately  3000-1200  B.C., 
are  nearly  all  archaeological.  Various  Hellenic  authors,  however, 
have  written  of  that  time  and  have  referred  to  it  the  origin  of  cer- 
tain conditions  and  institutions  existing  in  historical  Greece.  Some 
of  this  material  has  been  included  in  this  present  volume,  and  the 
reasons  for  so  doing  have  been  given  in  the  introduction  to  Chap- 
ter II.  Whereas  scholars  have  thus  far  taken  great  interest  in 
pointing  to  artistic  and  religious  survivals  from  the  Minoan  age,  the 
present  study  breaks  ground  in  calling  attention  also  to  survivals 
of  social  and  political  conditions. 

III.  Homer 

The  ancients  are  at  variance  regarding  the  place  and  time  of 
Homer.  The  weight  of  their  evidence,  however,  connects  him  with 
Smyrna,  Chios,  or  their  neighborhood,  where  with  an  original 
^Eolic  population  Ionians  were  afterward  mingled.  They  are  at 
one  in  placing  him  after  the  Trojan  war,  although  they  differ  by 
centuries  as  to  the  length  of  time  that  intervened  between  that 
event  and  his  birth  (cf.  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  I.  34  sq).  Their  idea 
of  his  personality,  that  of  a  blind  old  minstrel  who  wandered  about 
chanting  his  sweet  lays,  is  best  expressed  in  the  Homeric  Hymn  to 
the  Delian  Apollo  (165  sqq.)  :  — 

"But  come  now,  be  gracious,  Apollo,  be  gracious,  Artemis,  and  ye  maidens 
all,  farewell ;  but  remember  me  even  in  time  to  come,  when  any  of  earthly 
men,  yea,  any  stranger  that  much  hath  seen  and  much  endured,  comes  hither 
and  asks :  — 

"  'Maidens,  who  is  the  sweetest  to  you  of  singers  here  conversant,  and  in 
whose  song  are  ye  most  glad  ? ' 

"  Then  do  you  all  with  one  voice  make  answer :  — 

"  'A  blind  man  is  he,  and  he  dwells  in  rocky  Chios ;  his  song  will  ever  have 
the  mastery,  ay,  in  all  time  to  come.'"  .  (Lang.) 


THE  HOMERIC  QUESTION 


3 


The  picture  is  that  of  the  typical  rhapsodist,  the  professional 
chanter  of  epic  verse,  rather  than  of  a  historical  person.  For  a 
time  all  existing  epics  were  indiscriminately  assigned  to  Homer ; 
but  as  early  as  Herodotus  the  work  of  sifting  was  under  way.  On 
the  ground  of  internal  contradictions  he  separated  in  authorship 
the  poem  entitled  Cypria  from  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey  (ii.  117). 
The  work  of  criticism  thus  begun  resulted  in  the  definite  segre- 
gation, apart  from  Homer,  of  the  group  of  epics  known  as  cyclic. 
In  this  use,  as  in  the  word  cyclopedia,  cycle  has  reference  merely 
to  a  definite  scope  or  range  of  material.  In  the  Alexandrian  age 
the  so-called  separatists,  Xenon  and  Hellanicus,  advanced  a  step 
farther  in  Homeric  criticism  when  they  assumed  distinct  authors 
for  the  two  poems.  Here  the  work  of  sifting  rested  till  near  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  Wolf  in  his  Prolegomena  ad 
Homerum,  on  the  basis  of  inconsistencies  and  other  alleged  defects, 
pronounced  both  poems  the  work  of  a  number  of  poets.  From  his 
time  throughout  the  nineteenth  century  scholars  of  all  countries 
have  devoted  their  lives  to  laborious  analysis  of  the  poems  to  dis- 
cover earlier  and  later  parts  and  to  establish  theories  as  to  their 
process  of  growth. 

During  all  this  time  there  were  conservatives  who  protested 
against  such  dissection ;  and  since  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century  a  strong  reaction  has  set  in  in  favor  of  unity,  although 
there  remain  doughty  champions  of  plural  authorship.  Meanwhile, 
the  minute  studies  in  Homer  mentioned  above  have  not  been  in 
vain,  as  they  have  given  us  a  knowledge  of  the  poet  which  could 
not  otherwise  have  accumulated. 

To  the  student  of  history  the  chief  interest  is  not  whether  these 
poems  were  the  product  of  one  mind,  but  rather  what  historical 
value  they  have.  As  it  is  evident  that  they  are  not  history  pure 
and  simple,  the  chief  problem  is,  by  sifting  out  the  fiction,  to  dis- 
cover the  residuum  of  truth.  If  we  are  in  search  of  light  on  political 
and  social  conditions  and  on  material  civilization,  we  may  begin 
by  rejecting  the  gods,  their  relations  with  men,  and  everything 
supernatural.  Here  it  is  possible  to  discard  more  than  is  necessary, 
for  the  Homeric  Olympus  is  evidently  a  glorified  reflection  from  a 
royal  court ;  so  that  by  a  study  of  the  gods  we  may  gain  knowledge 
of  Homeric  men  and  society.    The  individual  human  beings, 


4 


THE  SOURCES 


Agamemnon,  Helen,  Arete,  and  the  rest,  are  also  fictions.  Should 
any  Homeric  person  have  had  a  real  being,  there  are  no  criteria  by 
which  we  may  discover  the  fact,  or  having  discovered  it,  separate 
the  fiction  in  his  character  from  the  reality.  The  same  principle 
holds  for  the  activities  of  persons  individually  and  in  combination. 
We  cannot  be  certain  even  of  the  main  event  —  the  siege  and  sack 
of  Troy  by  an  army  that  had  come  from  the  Greek  mainland.  Some 
scholars  are  ready  to  affirm  the  truth  of  this  event,  while  others  as 
strenuously  deny  it.  We  know  that  the  "sixth"  city,  the  most 
splendid  of  the  successive  settlements  at  Troy,  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  and  was  followed  by  a  poor  village ;  we  know  that  at  about 
this  time  the  ^Eolians  colonized  Asia  Minor ;  but  whether  they 
attacked  and  destroyed  Troy  cannot  as  yet  be  proved.  The  mi- 
gration of  the  Cohans,  their  conflict  with  the  natives,  the  hardships 
of  life  in  the  new  world,  and  the  sight  of  the  ruined  city,  burned  by 
whatever  hands,  would  be  enough  to  inspire  the  poet  to  his  great 
achievement. 

The  elimination  of  the  elements  thus  far  mentioned  leaves  but 
a  small  residuum.  The  question  arises,  why  should  we  not  con- 
tinue the  process  of  elimination  still  farther?  Why  could  not 
Homer  have  invented  his  palaces,  the  armor  of  men,  the  dress  of 
women,  and  all  the  products  of  handicraft  which  he  mentions? 
Perhaps  he  could ;  but  the  fact  is  that  many  of  these  objects  ac- 
tually existed  in  the  Minoan  age  and  can  now  be  seen  in  the  mu- 
seums by  readers  of  Homer.  The  poet  describes  them  so  accurately 
as  to  force  us  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must  either  have  seen  them 
or  learned  of  them  through  trustworthy  sources ;  either  he  lived 
in  the  splendor  of  the  Minoan  age  or  a  literature,  oral  or  written, 
descriptive  of  Minoan  material  civilization  must  have  been  pre- 
served to  his  time. 

Many  reasons  compel  us  to  place  him  in  a  later  period.  On 
this  point  scholars  are  agreed.  There  is,  however,  the  widest  dif- 
ference of  opinion  as  to  when,  within  the  approximate  limits, 
1200-700  B.C.,  lived  and  wrought  this  transcendent  genius.  On 
this  subject,  which  is  still  under  controversy,  the  writer  can  do  no 
more  than  express  his  own  view.  The  weight  of  ancient  authority, 
as  has  been  said,  places  Homer  in  Chios,  Smyrna,  or  their  neigh- 
borhood —  that  is,  after  the  Hellenic  colonization  of  Asia  Minor. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  HOMERIC  POEMS 


5 


His  dialect  was  an  ^olizing  Ionic,  such  as  must  have  been  spoken 
in  those  places,  and  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  nowhere  else  in  Hellas. 
It  has  often  been  assumed  that  the  culture  of  Homer  was  that  of 
Ionia,  about  1000-700  B.C.  To  that  view,  however/ Andrew  Lang 
(World  of  Homer)  has  offered  insuperable  objections.  It  is  in  fact 
well  established  that  the  Ionian  civilization  of  this  period  was 
essentially  decadent  Minoan,  whereas  many  Homeric  ideas  and 
usages  were  distinctly  Indo-European.  Thus  far  Lang's  conclu- 
sions are  acceptable.  But  instead  of  placing  Homer  back  to  1100 
or  1200,  as  he  does,  it  is  well  to  note  the  fact  that  the  ^Eolians  of 
Thessaly,  and  hence  of  their  colonies,  were  thoroughly  Indo-Eu- 
ropean, scarcely  touched  by  Minoan  culture  (  Wace  and  Thompson, 
Prehistoric  Thessaly,  191 2).  This  fact  completes  the  evidence  that 
Homer's  habitat  was  the  borderland  between  ^olis  and  Ionia. 

We  may  suppose,  then,  that  songs  and  perhaps  other  literature 
descriptive  of  the  splendors  of  Minoan  life  passed  down  into  the 
Middle  Age,  which  followed  the  Minoan  period,  and  into  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Hellenes,  and  that  Hellenic  bards  on  the  Greek  main- 
land and  in  the  colonies  continued  to  sing  the  glories  of  gods  and 
heroes,  intermingling  their  own  customs  and  ideas  with  traditions. 
The  greatest  of  these  bards  was  Homer,  who  lived  in  Asia  Minor, 
perhaps  in  the  ninth  or  in  the  eighth  century.  He  incorporated 
nothing,  but  created  his  great  poems  afresh,  making  use,  however, 
of  much  traditional  subject  matter.  The  Odyssey  was  composed 
after  the  Iliad;  yet  both  may  have  been  the  product  of  one  genius. 
After  their  completion  by  Homer  the  poems  were  to  some  extent 
interpolated. 

No  analysis  of  the  subject  matter  for  historical  purposes  will 
satisfy  every  scholar.  Much  of  the  material  civilization  is  clearly 
Minoan,  and  may  be  distinguished  by  archaeological  study,  although 
important  elements  are  later  than  that  period.  In  the  political 
sphere  the  vast  pretensions  of  king  and  nobles  and  their  contempt 
for  the  commons  seem  Minoan,  whereas  the  actualities  of  political 
life  are  largely  those  of  Homer's  time  and  place.  The  same  prin- 
ciple holds  for  society.  The  religion,  too,  is  composite;  earlier 
and  contemporary  elements  are  mingled.  In  a  word,  each  detail 
of  Homeric  life  requires  individual  consideration,  and  on  many 
points,  because  of  a  lack  of  determinative  facts,  it  will  be  impossible 
for  scholars  to  agree. 


6 


THE  SOURCES 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  The  Homeric  Question  ;  Artistic  Aspect.  —  Under  this  heading  are 
included  questions  of  time  and  place,  origin,  historical  relations,  unity,  per- 
sonality, and  literary  character.  All  histories  of  Greek  literature  deal  with 
the  subject,  and  do  not  require  individual  mention.  The  books  and  articles 
here  enumerated  treat  mainly  of  the  subjects  above  mentioned,  while  those 
which  have  to  do  chiefly  with  life  are  placed  under  (2).  The  amount  of  liter- 
ature on  Homer  produced  during  the  present  century  is  enormous.  A  few 
only  of  the  vast  number  of  titles  are  given  here.  Indispensable  guides  to  this 
literature  are  Mulder,  D.,  "Bericht  iiber  die  Literatur  zu  Homer,"  in  Jahresb. 
CLVII  (1912).  170-325;  CLXI  (1913).  73-171;  Rothe,  C,  Der  augenblick- 
liche  Stand  der  homerischen  Frage  (Berlin,  191 2) ;  Shewan,  A.,  in  Class.  Rev. 
XXVII  (1914).  128-32. 

Burrows,  R.  M.,  Discoveries  in  Crete,  ch.  xii;  Browne,  H.,  Handbook  of 
Homeric  Study  (Longmans,  1905) ;  Stawell,  F.  M.,  Homer  and  the  Iliad:  an 
Essay  to  determine  the  Scope  and  Character  of  the  Original  Poem  (London : 
Dent,  1909);  Shewan,  A.,  "Does  the  Odyssey  imitate  the  Iliad ? "  in  Class. 
Quart.  VII  (1913).  234-42;  "Continuation  of  the  Odyssey,"  in  Class.  Philol. 
VIII  (1913).  284-300;  IX.  35  sqq. ;  Perrin,  B.,  "The  Odyssey  under  Source- 
Criticism,"  in  Am.  Journ.  Philol.  VIII  (1887).  415-32;  Lang,  A.,  Homer  and 
the  Epic  (1893) ;  Allen,  T.  W.,  "Canonicity  of  Homer,"  in  Class.  Quart.  VII 
(1913).  221-33;  "Lives  of  Homer,"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXXII  (1912).  250-60; 
XXXIII.  19-26;  "Homeridae,"  in  Class.  Quart.  I  (1907).  135-43;  "Peisis- 
tratus  and  Homer,"  ib.  VII  (1913).  33  sqq. ;  "Homeric  Catalogue,"  in  /.  H.  S. 
XXX  (1910).  292-322  ;  Scott,  J.  A.,  various  articles  in  Class.  Philol.  V  (1910). 
41  sqq. ;  VI.  156  sqq.,  419  sqq. ;  VII.  293  sqq. ;  Class.  Rev.  XXIV  (1910).  8  sqq. 

Bonitz,  H.,  Ueber  den  Vr sprung  der  homerischen  Gedichte  (5th  ed.  Vienna, 
1 881) ;  Cauer,  Grundfragen  der  Homerkritik  (Leipzig,  1909);  "Erfundenes 
und  Ueberliefertes  bei  Homer,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  VIII  (1905).  1-18;  "Soli  die 
Homerkritik  abdanken?"  ib.  XV  (1912).  98-111 ;  Croiset,  M.,  "La  question 
homerique  au  debut  du  XXe  siecle,"  in  Rev.  des  deux  mondes,  1907,  p.  600  sqq. ; 
Laurand,  L.,  Progres  et  recul  de  la  critique  (Paris,  191 2) ;  Rothe,  C,  Ilias  als 
Dichtung  (Paderborn,  19 10) ;  Die  Odyssee  als  Dichtung  und  ihr  Verhdltnis  zur 
Ilias  (ib.  1914),  by  one  of  the  greatest  upholders  of  unity;  Belzner,  E.,  Home- 
rische  Probleme,  I :  Die  Kulturellen  Verhdltnisse  der  Odyssee  als  kritische  Instanz 
(Teubner,  1911) ;  Bethe,  E.,  "Die  trojanischen  Ausgrabungen  und  die  Homer- 
kritik," in  N.  Jahrb.  XIII  (1904).  1-11 ;  "Die  Einheit  unserer  Ilias,"  ib. 
XXXIII  (1914).  362-71 ;  Maas,  E.,  "Die  Person  Homers,"  ib.  XIV  (1911)-  539~ 
50 ;  Kammer,  E.,  Ein  aesthetischer  Kommentar  zu  Homer's  Ilias  (3d  ed.  Pader- 
born, 1906) ;  Lawton,  W.  C,  Art  and  Humanity  in  Homer  (Macmillan,  1896). 

II.  Life. — Lang,  A.,  Homer  and  his  Age  (Longmans,  1906);  Leaf,  W., 
Troy:  A  Study  of  Homeric  Geography  (Macmillan,  1912) ;  Keller,  A.  C,  Homeric 
Society  (London,  1902) ;  Isham,  N.  M.,  Homeric  Palace  (Providence,  1898) ; 
Dickins,  G.,  "Some  Points  with  regard  to  the  Homeric  House,"  in  /.  H.  S. 


POST-HOMERIC  EPICS 


7 


XXIII  (1903).  325  sqq. ;  Sihler,  E.  G.,  Testimonium  Animce,  ch.  iii;  Harrison, 
J.  E.,  Myths  of  the  Odyssey  in  Art  and  Literature  (London,  1882) ;  Seymour,  D., 
Life  in  the  Homeric  Age  (Macmillan,  1907) ;  "  Slavery  and  Servitude  in  Homer," 
in  Am.  Journ.  Arch.  V  (1902).  23  sqq. ;  Symonds,  J.  A.,  Studies  in  the  Greek 
Poets,  II.  ch.  iii  (women) ;  Bonner,  "Justice  in  the  Age  of  Homer,"  in  Class. 
Philol.  VI  (1911).  12-36;  Sidgwick,  H.,  " Trial  Scene  in  Iliad  xviii.  497-508," 
in  Class.  Rev.  VIII  (1894).  1-3. 

Buchholz,  E.,  Homerische  Realien,  3  vols.  (Leipzig,  1871-84) ;  Finsler,  G., 
Homer  (Teubner,  1908),  a  new  ed.  is  appearing  in  pts. ;  Drerup,  E.,  Anf'dnge 
der  hellenischen  Kultur:  Homer  (Munich,  1903) ;  Omero  (Bergamo,  1910), 
revision  of  preceding  German  work;  Reichel,  W.,  Homerische  Wajfen  (2d 
ed.  Vienna,  1891) ;  Helbig,  W.,  Das  homerische  Epos  aus  den  Denkmalem 
erldutert  (2d  ed.  Teubner,  1887). 

IV.  The  Cyclic  Epics,  the  Homeric  Hymns,  and  Hesiod 

The  cyclic  epics  (p.  3),  which  have  all  disappeared  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  scant  fragments,  once  constituted  a  large  body  of 
literature.  Among  them  were  the  Theogonia,  (Edipodeia,  Thebais, 
Epigoni,  Cypria,  jEthiopis,  Little  Iliad,  and  Nosti.  Younger  than 
Homer,  they  belong,  some  to  the  eighth  and  more  to  the  seventh 
century.  Even  the  ancients  did  not  know  the  authors  by  name; 
and  we  can  only  say  that  the  bulk  of  this  literature  seems  to  have 
been  Ionic.  The  value  of  the  poems  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  were 
the  chief  sources  for  the  Attic  dramatists.  They  were  the  creations 
of  talent  rather  than  of  genius ;  but  the  customs  they  pictured, 
their  ideas  and  general  tone  were  better  adapted  to  the  Attic  stage 
than  were  those  of  the  true  Homeric  poems.  Particularly  the 
priestly  lore,  the  oracles,  the  belief  in  ghosts,  in  the  guilt  wrought 
by  homicide  and  its  purification  by  swine's  blood,  in  the  hereditary 
curse  that  brought  the  family  to  ruin,  finally  the  gloomy  aspects 
of  religion  characteristic  of  Minoan  civilization  but  foreign  to 
Homer,  were  all  far  more  appropriate  to  Attic  tragedy  than  was  the 
sunny  life  of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey.  To  the  student  of  history  the 
important  fact  is  that  the  characteristics  of  the  cyclic  epos  above 
mentioned  belong  to  Ionia  along  with  other  regions  formerly  under 
Minoan  dominance,  as  distinguished  from  Indo-European  Thessaly 
and  iEolis.  It  was  in  fact  from  the  conditions  represented  by  these 
inferior  poems,  far  more  than  from  Homeric  life,  that  the  Athenian 
civilization  developed. 


8 


THE  SOURCES 


As  a  prelude  to  his  epic  recitation  at  a  festive  gathering  it  was 
customary  for  the  rhapsodist  to  chant  a  song  in  honor  of  the  god 
to  whose  glory  the  festival  was  held.  A  group  of  songs  ostensibly 
composed  for  this  purpose  was  collected  in  ancient  times,  and  is 
still  preserved,  under  the  name  of  Homeric  Hymns,  The  earliest 
among  these  poems  is  the  Hymn  to  the  Delian  Apollo,  which  belongs 
most  probably  to  the  seventh  century.  Composed  at  widely 
different  times  and  places,  they  throw  light  on  the  thought  and 
feeling  of  poet  and  audience,  and  reveal  in  occasional  passages 
charming  pictures  of  life. 

Hundreds  of  rhapsodists  assumed  and  transmitted  in  epics  a 
poetry  of  gods  and  heroes  which  mirrored  the  aristocratic  form  of 
Greek  life.  It  was  a  world  of  song  and  noble  feats  which  certainly  — 
apart  from  the  broader  sketches  of  the  Shield  —  was  somewhat  one- 
sided though  lofty.  Thersites  and  Eumaeus,  men  of  the  lower  class, 
appear  too,  but  they  are  foils  for  an  essentially  aristocratic  society. 

In  Hesiod  we  come  down  to  an  actuality  which  moves  no  longer 
among  gods  and  men  of  might ;  but  in  his  work  the  common  and 
the  commonplace  are  mirrored,  we  may  say,  with  photographic 
fidelity.  The  father  of  Hesiod  (Works,  633  sqq.)  came  from  Cyme 
in  the  ^Eolic  littoral  of  Asia  Minor  to  JEolic  Bceotia,  fleeing  from 
poverty  at  home.  He  acquired  a  farmstead  at  Ascra  at  the  foot 
of  Mount  Helicon,  near  Thespiae.  The  poet,  a  shepherd  and 
farmer,  suffered  from  scoundrelly  litigation  at  the  hands  of  his 
brother  Perses.  Out  of  such  experiences  the  Works  and  Days  came 
forth.  The  seasons  of  the  year,  and  all  the  tasks  and  toil  which 
they  bring  in  their  train,  are  here  set  forth.  The  poet's  time  has 
been  computed  for  about  700  B.C.  or  perhaps  somewhat  later.  In 
his  personality  there  are  reflected  thoughtfulness  and  meditation 
rather  than  imagination  and  enthusiasm.  His  Theogony  was  the 
first  effort  of  the  Hellenic  world  to  construct  through  a  system  of 
genealogies  and  pedigrees  a  unity  of  Heaven  and  Earth  and  their 
history.  The  epic  of  the  Heroines  (y  ota)  continued  this  con- 
structive process  and  dovetailed  it  into  the  ancestral  legends  of  the 
chief  families  associated  with  the  principal  communities  or  states 
of  Greece.  The  fact  that  but  one  elaborate  simile  occurs  in  Hesiod 
is  significant  of  his  prosaic  character,  while  the  deliberate  and  di- 


HESIOD 


9 


dactic  trend  of  his  manner  and  mind  is  equally  manifest  in  both 
epics.  There  are  two  sides  in  him  :  he  is  gifted  in  presenting  actual, 
even  minor  and  petty  things,  with  remarkable  precision.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  is  indeed  a  man  of  deep  reflection.  From  this  vein, 
particularly  in  the  Theogony,  a  world  of  abstractions  arises,  which 
the  poet  of  Ascra  knows  how  to  clothe  with  dazzling  nomenclature. 
"Common  to  both  epics,  specifically  speaking,  is  the  conception 
of  Woman,  a  gift  of  Zeus  which  he  bestowed  on  mankind  in  his 
wrath.  The  Pandora-myth  in  both  poems  is  episodical ;  but  favor- 
ite themes  and  favorite  plaints  are  apt  to  crop  out  and  to  steal 
in  —  as  episodes  —  particularly  in  didactic  poetry.  If  anything, 
the  Pandora  episode  of  the  Works  (94  sqq.)  is  more  malicious,  be- 
cause there  woman  is  made  responsible  for  the  diffusion  of  evils 
through  the  world,  evils  tempered  only  by  the  retention  of  Hope. 
Hesiod's  ethics  are  those  of  Cato  the  Censor  and  Franklin's  Poor 
Richard:  they  are  largely  based  on  the  virtues  clustering  around 
Frugalitas."    (Sihler,  in  Am.  Philol.  Assoc.  1902,  p.  xvii.) 

If  we  take  the  art  of  Homer,  of  Pindar,  of  yEschylus,  there  is  a 
trend  toward  large  and  lofty  themes,  there  is  a  certain  affinity  for 
a  splendid  elevation  of  being  and  feeling  which  many  readers  are 
tempted  to  use  as  the  atmosphere  and  perspective  for  their  general 
outlook  upon  the  Hellenic  world.  It  is  the  privilege,  nay  the  proper 
function  of  such  art  to  eliminate  or  ignore  the  common  and  the 
commonplace.  For  this  one-sided  estheticism  of  vision  and  of  judg- 
ment the  Works  and  Days  of  Hesiod  furnishes  an  admirable  cor- 
rective. We  are  brought  into  a  world  of  the  workday  and  of  the 
toil  requisite  for  the  support  of  life.  The  hero  and  the  man  of 
splendid  feats  have  entirely  disappeared.  In  Hesiod  the  word 
Basileus  ("king")  evidently  means  nothing  very  great.  The  judges 
are  called  "kings":  the  poet  describes  them  as  " swallowers  of 
bribes"  (Bcopcxfxiyot,,  Works,  264). 

So  far  as  we  know,  it  was  Hesiod  who  made  the  first  attempt  to 
divide  the  past  into  periods ;  and  far  from  conceiving  a  develop- 
ment, he  assumed  a  succession  of  declines.  He  calls  his  own  time 
the  Iron  age,  before  which  have  come  and  passed  the  Golden,  the 
Silver,  and  the  Bronze.  Curiously  enough,  this  process  of  recession 
and  decline  was  for  an  epoch  stopped  or  inhibited,  —  that  is,  the 
Fourth  age  was  an  heroic  age,  the  period  of  the  Seven  against 


IO 


THE  SOURCES 


Thebes  and  of  the  Trojan  war,  but  now  there  is  no  intimation  of 
any  survival  of  that  heroic  spirit.  Socially  the  horizon  of  the  As- 
cran  farmer  is  narrow,  morally  it  is  large  and  wide.  If  we  look  at 
the  abundant  data  of  material  living,  there  is  here  a  detail  of  the 
year  and  of  the  husbandman's  changing  task,  of  house  and  home, 
of  summer  and  winter,  of  wife  and  children  and  fireside,  of  servants 
and  slaves,  of  crops  and  harvests  and  vintage,  of  seafaring  and  of  a 
form  of  trade,  which,  in  part,  may  still  have  been  barter.  No  other 
piece  of  ancient  literature  brings  us  into  so  close  and  realistic  touch 
with  country  people  and  rural  conditions. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  proverbs  and  general  truths  in  which  the 
Works  and  Days  abound  were  not  all  composed  by  Hesiod  himself, 
but  constitute  a  gradual  aggregation.  The  whole,  however,  had  a 
large  place  in  Greek  schools  and  schooling  to  the  latest  times. 

4 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  The  Cyclic  Epos.  —  The  fragments  of  the  cyclic  epics  have  been 
collected  by  Kinkel,  G.,  Epicorum  Grcecorum  fragmenta,  I  (Teubner,  1877). 
Most  of  them  are  too  brief  to  be  serviceable  to  the  historian.  All  in  which 
the  student  of  history  could  take  an  interest  are  translated  by  Lawton,  W.  C, 
Successors  of  Homer  (London:  Innes,  1898),  ch.  i.  From  this  work  a  few 
selections  have  been  taken  for  this  volume.  The  most  complete  discussion 
of  the  subject  is  by  Welcker,  F.  G.,  Der  epische  Cyclus,  2  vols.  (Bonn,  1835, 
1849;  vol.  I,  2d  ed.  1865).  See  also  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  in  Home- 
rische  Untersuchungen,  VII.  328-80.  On  the  illustration  of  cyclic  subjects 
in  Greek  art,  see  Luckenbach,  O.,  "  Das  Verhaltniss  der  griech.  Vasenbilder 
zu  den  Gedichten  des  epischen  Kyklos,"  in  Jahrb.  f.  Philol.  Supplb.  XI  (1880), 
491-637  ;  Jahn,  O.,  Griech.  Bilderchroniken,  ed.  by  A.  Michaelis  (Bonn,  1873)  \ 
Robert,  K.,  Winckelmanns  pro  gram  (Halle,  1891) ;  Bendorff,  O.,  and  Nie- 
mann, G.,  Das  Heroon  von  Gj olbaschi-Trysa  (Vienna,  1889). 

A  briefer  treatment  of  the  cyclic  epos  will  be  found  in  any  history  of  Greek 
literature.  Especially  new  and  valuable  is  Allen,  T.  W.,  "The  Epical  Cycle," 
in  Class.  Quart.  II  (1908).  81-8. 

II.  The  Homeric  Hymns.  —  Edition  by  Baumeister,  A.  (Teubner, 
1910).  See  also  the  English  edition  by  A.  Goodwin  and  T.  W.  Allen  (Ox- 
ford, 1893),  and  by  Allen  and  Sikes  (1904).  Lang,  A.,  Homeric  Hymns:  A 
New  Prose  Translation  (Longmans,  1899),  is  a  charming  translation.  From 
it  the  material  in  the  present  volume  has  been  drawn.  The  best  treatment 
in  English  is  by  Lawton,  W.  C,  Successors  of  Homer,  chs.  iv-vi.  See  in  gen- 
eral the  histories  of  Greek  literature. 

III.  Hesiod.  —  An  excellent  guide  to  the  recent  literature  on  Hesiod  is 


PERSONAL  POETRY 


ii 


Rzach,  A.,  "Bericht  liber  die  Publikationen  zu  Hesiodos  1899-1908,"  in  Jahresb. 
CLII  (191 1).  1-75.  The  most  recent  critical  edition  is  that  by  Rzach  (Leip- 
zig, 1902).  The  explanatory  notes  in  Flach's  revision  of  Gottling's  edition 
have  also  proved  useful  to  the  editors.  The  best  English  translation  is  Mair, 
A.  W.,  Hesiod:  The  Poems  and  Fragments  done  into  English  Prose  (Oxford: 
Clarendon  Press,  1908),  from  which  the  selections  of  the  present  volume  have 
been  taken,  verified  on  the  basis  of  the  text  by  E.  G.  S.  There  is  also  a  trans- 
lation by  C.  A.  Elton  (London,  1894).  Newly  discovered  fragments  may  be 
found  in  Grenfell,  B.,  and  Hunt,  A.,  Oxyrhynchus  Papyri,  various  volumes; 
cf.  especially  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  V.,  "Neue  Bruckstiicke  der  hes.  Kata- 
loge,"  in  Sitzb.  Berl.  Akad.  1900,  pp.  839-51 ;  Berliner  Klassiker  Texte,  V.  1. 
On  Hesiod's  life  and  writings,  in  addition  to  the  histories  of  Greek  literature, 
see  Schwartz,  E.,  Char akter kopje  aus  der  antiken  Liter atur  (3d  ed.  Teubner, 
191 1),  ch.  i ;  Symonds,  J.  A.,  Studies  of  the  Greek  Poets,  II,  ch.  iv ;  Sihler,  E.  G., 
Testimonium  Animce,  ch.  hi;  Aly,  W.,  "Hesiod  von  Ascra  und  die  Verfasser 
der  Theogonie,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXVIII  (1913).  22-67;  Waltz,  P.,  Hesiode 
et  son  poeme  moral  (Bordeaux,  1906);  Meyer,  E.,  "Hesiods  Erga  und  das 
Gedicht  von  den  fiinf  Menschengeschlechtern,"  in  Carl  Robert  zum  8.  M'drz, 
iqio  Genet hliakon ;  Steitz,  A.,  Die  Werke  des  Landbaus  in  den  Werken  und 
Tagen  des  Hesiodos  (Frankfurt  am  Main,  1866) ;  Scott,  J.  A.,  Comparative 
Study  of.  Hesiod  and  Pindar  (Chicago,  1898) ;  Bonner,  R.  J.,  "Administration 
of  Justice  in  the  Age  of  Hesiod,"  in  Class.  Philol.  VII  (191 2).  17-23  ;  Rzach,  A., 
in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VIII.  1 167-1240. 


V.  The  Elegiac,  Iambic,  and  Lyric  Poets 
700-479  B.C. 

For  the  period  extending  from  the  seventh  century  to  the  close 
of  the  great  war  between  Hellas  and  Persia  almost  our  only  con- 
temporary sources  are  the  poets  of  that  time.  Of  elegiac,  iambic, 
and  lyric  poetry  we  have  in  general  nothing  but  fragments ;  but 
from  this  material,  however  scanty,  may  be  derived  precious  in- 
formation on  a  great  diversity  of  subjects,  including  personal  traits, 
society,  economy,  warfare,  religion,  and  intelligence.  Below  are 
presented  brief  sketches  of  the  lives  and  literary  works  of  the  poets 
represented  in  the  present  volume.  They  give  expression  to  a 
period  of  stormy  life  and  of  brilliant  varied  emotion.  "The  change 
from  rural  to  industrial  economy  in  this  time,  the  growth  of  cities 
and  of  a  leisurely  class,  as  well  as  contact  with  the  entire  Medi- 
terranean world  through  commerce  and  colonization,  afforded  the 
means  and  the  impetus  to  a  magnificent  literature.    The  abolition 


12 


THE  SOURCES 


of  kingship  and  the  rise  of  aristocracies  and  tyrannies,  involving 
fierce  factional  struggles,  added  to  the  intensity  of  life.  To  express 
these  complex  conditions  the  old  epic  verse  of  calm  stately  meter 
—  the  dactylic  hexameter  —  proved  wholly  inadequate.  It  gave 
way,  accordingly,  to  new  and  varied  measures,  which  would  better 
exhibit  the  play  of  individual  or  communal  thought  and  emotion 
characteristic  of  the  new  era.  The  first  variation  from  the  epic 
verse  is  found  in  the  elegiac  pentameter,  whose  spirit  may  be  either 
meditative  or  emotional.  Accompanied  by  the  pipe,  it  lent  itself 
equally  to  the  expression  of  political  and  social  thought,  religious 
devotion,  and  martial  fire/'    (Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  viii.) 

Among  the  earlier  elegiac  poets  was  Tyrtaeus,  who  composed 
martial  elegies  at  Sparta  in  the  second  half  of  the  seventh  century. 
The  story  that  he  was  an  Athenian  schoolmaster,  sent  on  request 
to  lead  the  Lacedaemonians  in  war  with  the  Messenians,  is  an  in- 
sipid fiction.  It  would  harmonize  far  better  with  the  conditions  of 
the  time  to  connect  his  origin  with  Ionia,  the  home  of  the  elegy,  as 
Suidas  actually  does  (Ad/ccov  ?)  MtX^o-to?,  "Laconian  or  Milesian"). 
It  is  perfectly  possible,  however,  that  he  was  a  Laconian  by  birth ; 
at  all  events  he  addresses  the  Spartans  as  a  native,  and  enters  into 
their  spirit  like  one  of  their  number.  Philochorus,  the  Attic 
chronicler  (Frag.  56),  who  is  no  mean  authority,  states  that  through 
his  generalship  the  Spartans  overcame  the  Messenians.  If  this 
assertion  is  true,  he  was  a  commander  in  war,  and  therefore  a  native. 
In  addition  to  martial  songs,  he  composed  a  poem  entitled  Eunomia 
(Good  Order),  in  which  he  counsels  the  Spartans  to  cease  from  po- 
litical dissensions.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  think  of  him  as  a 
general  and  statesman,  like  Solon,  who  used  the  elegy,  in  lack  of 
prose,  to  inspire  his  troops  with  courage  and  to  make  known  his 
political  views. 

Alcman,  a  contemporary  of  Tyrtaeus,  is  likewise  reputed  to  have 
been  of  foreign  birth.  An  allusion  in  one  of  his  poems  led  the 
ancients  to  believe  that  he  was  a  native  of  Sardis.  It  was  even  said 
that  he  was  brought  as  a  slave  to  Sparta  and  there  emancipated. 
Some  modern  scholars  regard  him  as  an  Ionian,  invited,  like  other 
foreign  poets,  to  Sparta,  to  devote  his  genius  to  the  good  of  that 
community.  Another  tradition  represents  him  as  a  native  Spartan 
of  the  deme  Messoa,  where  he  was  buried  (Suidas  s.  'AX/cfxdv; 


ALCMAN  AND  ARCHILOCHUS 


13 


Pausanias  iii.  15.  2).  The  fact  is  that  this  century  saw  the  culmi- 
nation of  Laconian  civilization,  and  that  after  the  decline  had  far 
advanced,  no  Greek  critic  or  antiquarian  could  believe  that  Sparta 
had  ever  been  capable  of  producing  a  poet  of  the  rank  of  Alcman  or 
Tyrtaeus.  Whatever  his  origin,  he  identifies  himself  heart  and  soul 
with  Spartan  life.  He  writes  not  of  war  and  politics,  however,  but 
of  sleeping  nature,  dancing,  ceryl  birds,  and  fair  athletic  girls. 
Here  is  an  expression  of  the  gentle  refinement  of  early  Sparta,  which 
centuries  of  cramping  military  discipline  gradually  crushed.  The 
form  of  poetry  in  which  he  excelled  is  the  choral  lyric,  to  be  sung 
by  a  group  of  persons  appropriately  dressed  and  trained  to  dance 
in  accompaniment.  The  Doric  state  set  the  example  of  using  this 
form  of  song  and  dance  as  a  means  of  civic  education. 

In  our  review  of  the  seventh-century  poets  we  now  pass  from  the 
mainland  on  either  side  of  the  ^gean  to  the  islands  of  that  sea.  A 
native  of  Paros,  land  of  marble,  was  Archilochus,  the  reputed  in- 
ventor of  the  iambic.  This  form  of  verse  is  adapted  to  the  ex- 
pression of  the  passions  from  love  to  hate,  scorn,  and  invective. 
It  is  the  measure  used  by  the  Greek  dramatists  in  their  dialogues  and 
by  modern  poets  in  the  so-called  heroic  verse.  The  iambic  is  appro- 
priate to  satire,  and  its  inventor  was  the  first  to  write  that  kind  of 
poetry.  He  was  the  author,  too,  of  certain  grotesque  combinations 
in  which  the  stately  hexameter  is  fused  with  scolding  iambics,  a 
truly  mongrel  verse.  This  poet,  the  son  of  an  aristocratic  father 
and  slave  mother,  pours  into  his  verse  the  storm  and  strife  that  filled 
the  age.  In  early  life  he  joined  a  colony,  a  pack  of  scoundrels  as 
he  describes  it,  on  the  island  of  Thasos.  It  was  rich  in  gold,  of  which 
little  fell  to  his  lot,  while  he  had  to  fight  along  with  his  fellow- 
colonists  against  the  native  barbarians.  On  one  of  these  occasions 
he  threw  away  his  shield,  a  most  disgraceful  act,  and  afterward 
boasted  of  it  in  verse.  Unable  to  remain  in  Thasos,  because,  as  he 
says,  he  was  too  insolent,  abusing  friend  and  foe  alike,  and  perhaps 
fearing  to  return  to  Paros,  he  became  a  wanderer  over  land  and  sea, 
a  soldier  of  fortune,  and  seemingly  a  pirate.  This  life  is  reflected 
in  the  fragments  of  his  verse.  Admiring  his  bold  inventiveness,  the 
courage  that  always  rallied  from  every  overthrow,  the  versatility 
of  his  poetic  genius,  and  his  intense  personality,  the  ancients  placed 
him,  as  the  unrivaled  master  of  personal  song,  next  to  Homer. 


14 


THE  SOURCES 


Regarding  Semonides  of  Amorgos  little  was  known  even  to  the 
ancients.  As  he  used  the  iambic  measure,  he  must  be  placed  after 
Archilochus,  seemingly  as  a  younger  contemporary.  It  is  said  that 
he  was  born  in  Samos  and  himself  conducted  a  colony  to  Amorgos. 
This  author  is  interesting  to  us  chiefly  for  his  satire  on  women,  in 
which  he  compares  their  various  types  to  animals.  In  homeliness 
of  thought  and  style  he  is  akin  to  Hesiod,  while  his  treatment  of 
animals  makes  him  a  forerunner  of  ^Esop.  The  tone  of  contempt 
for  women,  his  denunciation  of  them  as  the  main  or  only  source  of 
human  ills,  he  shares  with  Hesiod ;  in  fact  this  spirit,  in  contrast 
with  Homer's  chivalry,  extended  far  beyond  the  limitations  of  these 
two  authors. 

In  our  study  of  Solon,  about  639-559,  we  pass  from  the  seventh 
to  the  sixth  century.  While  reaching  firmer  historical  ground,  we 
come  to  deal  with  a  far  more  conspicuous  personality  than  any 
mentioned  above,  made  known  to  us  through  Aristotle's  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Athenians,  5-13,  Plutarch's  genial  biography,  and  the 
mediocre  life  by  Diogenes  Laertius.  In  the  spirit  of  Tyrtaeus,  Solon 
composed  at  least  one  martial  elegy,  all  of  which,  with  the  exception 
of  eight  lines,  has  perished.  Like  Tyrtaeus,  he  used  the  elegy  for 
the  propagation  of  his  statesmanly  views,  for  informing  and  per- 
suading the  people.  In  fact,  from  the  fragments  of  his  political 
verses,  scant  as  they  are,  we  may  gather  the  aims  and  the  results 
of  his  social  and  constitutional  reforms.  Not  limiting  himself  to 
one  kind  of  verse  or  to  the  topics  above  mentioned,  he  employed  the 
iambic  and  expressed  his  views  on  various  social  and  moral  subjects. 
With  Solon  Athens  entered  upon  a  new  era.  Through  him  she 
acquired  a  body  of  liberal  statutes  and  such  an  extension  of  the  civic 
franchise  as  to  interest  the  masses  in  her  well-being,  an  open  door 
to  desirable  alien  immigrants,  a  commercial  and  cultural  touch  with 
Ionia,  Egypt,  and  other  countries,  and  lastly  a  worthy  beginning  of 
the  most  beautiful  literature  known  to  the  world.  It  is  not  strange, 
then,  that  after  ages  looked  back  to  Solon  as  the  father  of  free  gov- 
ernment, the  greatest  of  beneficent  legislators,  and  the  wisest  of 
men. 

Mimnermus  of  Colophon,  a  contemporary  of  Solon  and  per- 
haps his  elder  in  years,  lived  in  the  shadow  of  Lydian  imperialism 
which  hung  over  the  Asiatic  Greeks.    In  one  of  his  poems,  a  martial 


FROM  SEMONIDES  TO  ALOEUS  15 


lay  worthy  of  Tyrtaeus,  he  glorifies  a  Smyrnaean  hero,  who  battled 
with  the  Lydians,  probably  against  King  Gyges,  and  "scattered  the 
dense  phalanxes  of  Lydian  cavalry  throughout  the  plain  of  Hermus 
stream."  This  elegy  was  perhaps  to  encourage  his  fellow-citizens 
to  defense  against  King  Sadyattes  (Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  I.  163  sq.), 
who  died  about  604.  His  poems  in  general  offer  us  the  lively  and 
impressionable  strain  of  Ionic  character.  To  the  ancients,  who 
knew  his  verse  more  fully  than  we  do,  his  poetry  was  the  typical 
note  of  sadness  for  the  brief  and  passing  springtime  of  human  life 
and  human  joys,  soft  and  mournful  but  too  devoid  of  the  elements 
of  firmness,  virility,  and  endurance,  an  embodiment  of  the  "  volup- 
tuous and  melancholy  worldweariness  of  Ionia/'  Most  of  the 
larger  remnants  have  been  preserved  to  us  by  Stobaeus. 

The  poets  thus  far  mentioned  have  been  Dorian  and  Ionian. 
With  Alcaaus  we  return  to  the  home  of  the  yEolians,  who  were  a 
factor  in  the  creation  of  the  Homeric  poems,  and  who  in  Lesbos  kept 
equal  pace  with  their  Ionic  kinsmen.  This  island  lay  in  the  highest 
cultural  area  of  the  age ;  it  shared  with  the  Ionians  the  advantages 
of  trade  with  Orient,  and  while  equally  refined  and  intellectual,  it 
showed  less  tendency  than  Ionia  to  physical  and  moral  enfeeble- 
ment.  Its  people  had  their  political  troubles.  The  aristocracy, 
to  which  Alcaeus  belonged,  had  weakened  itself  through  factions, 
till  the  government  fell  a  prey  to  demagogues  and  tyrants.  In 
the  midst  of  such  turmoil  Alcaeus  passed  his  troubled  life,  an  active 
participator  in  events,  now  the  inspiring  genius  of  his  party,  now 
wandering  in  lonely  exile.  Some  of  the  details  of  his  life  are  given 
in  connection  with  his  poems  (ch.  v).  He  was  the  first  great  master 
of  the  lyric  monody,  the  song  of  individual  experience  sung  to  one- 
self or  to  friends.  The  lyric  was  so  named  because  it  was  accom- 
panied by  the  lyre,  in  contrast  with  the  pipe,  which  was  used  with 
the  elegy.  His  songs  covered  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  including 
war,  politics,  drinking,  love,  and  the  beauties  of  nature.  We  have 
one  or  two  entire  poems  remaining  and  many  small  fragments  — 
enough  for  a  high  appreciation  of  his  genius  and  for  affording  a 
glimpse  of  his  island  home  within  his  lifetime. 

In  all  human  history,  down  nearly  to  our  own  time,  the  sixth 
century,  B.C.,  with  a  part  of  the  early  fifth,  formed  the  great  age  of 
women,  the  age  in  which  their  gifted  representatives  reached  the 


i6 


THE  SOURCES 


utmost  height  of  art  and  intelligence.  It  is  true  that  in  Ionia  the 
tendency  was  to  her  segregation,  and  in  Athens  her  liberty,  once 
large,  was  being  restricted  by  legislation.  The  high  place  of  women 
in  Laconia  is  well  known ;  there  they  shared  in  the  education  of 
men,  an  education  which  was  athletic  rather  than  intellectual,  and 
often  appeared  as  the  moral  advisers  of  sons,  husbands,  or  fathers. 
Throughout  the  greater  part  of  Hellas  they  enjoyed  large  freedom 
and  influence,  while  the  reach  of  their  intelligence  is  proved  by  the 
great  number  of  poetesses  who  flourished  in  this  period.  They 
include  Myrtis  and  Corinna  of  Bceotia,  Praxilla  of  Sicyon,  Telesilla 
of  Argos,  and  especially  Sappho  of  Lesbos. 

Sappho  was  a  contemporary  and  a  friend  of  Alcaeus ;  their  lives 
belong  to  the  early  part  of  the  sixth  century.  Little  is  known  of  the 
poetess.  It  is  said  that  she  was  banished  for  political  reasons,  and 
afterward  recalled.  In  Mytilene,  appreciation  of  her  genius  grew 
till  the  state  stamped  her  image  on  its  coins.  There  was  perhaps 
no  place  in  Hellas  where  women  were  so  free  to  develop  their  taste 
for  music  and  poetry  as  Lesbos ;  and  Sappho  took  advantage  of 
this  liberty  to  gather  about  her  a  school  of  brilliant,  beautiful  girls, 
her  pupils  in  the  composition  of  verse  and  melody.  Many  of  her 
poems  refer  to  these  companions,  their  social  relations,  partings, 
marriages,  and  the  telepathic  sympathy  of  widely  separated  friends. 
She  gives  attention  also  to  other  subjects,  to  her  spendthrift  brother 
in  Egypt,  to  a  chorus  of  Cretan  women  about  an  altar,  to  the  stars 
and  moon,  to  orchards  where  cool  streams  call  through  the  branches 
of  apple-trees  and  slumber  streams  from  quivering  leaves.  In  all 
themes  her  inspiration  is  love  and  loveliness. 

Anacreon  of  Teos,  an  Ionic  city,  is  distinctly  later  than  Sappho 
and  belongs  to  the  latter  half  of  the  century,  yet  the  erotic  tone  of 
his  verse  connects  him  in  a  way  with  the  Lesbic  group  of  poets. 
When  in  545  Harpagus,  the  lieutenant  of  Cyrus,  assailed  Anacreon's 
native  city,  he  fled,  with  his  fellow-citizens,  to  the  Teian  colony  Ab- 
dera  on  the  Thracian  coast.  This  event  found  an  echo  in  his  song. 
During  the  reign  of  Poly  crates,  the  magnificent  tyrant  of  Samos 
(533-522),  he  served  at  his  court  as  a  sort  of  minister  of  pleasure. 
Afterward  invited  by  Hipparchus  to  Athens,  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Athenians  who  were  then  prominent  or  destined  to  prom- 
inence in  the  impending  war  with  Persia.    Still  later  it  is  said  that 


SAPPHO,  ANACREON,  AND  THEOGNIS  17 


he  visited  the  mighty  family  of  the  Aleuadae  in  Thessaly.  The 
Alexandrian  scholars  had  at  hand  his  elegies,  epigrams,  iambics,  and 
lyrics  in  five  books,  of  which  we  have  but  two  poems  and  many 
diminu  ti ve  fragments .  In  his  generation  Ionia  was  full  of  intellectual 
energy  ;  it  was  the  age  in  which  Hellenic  philosophy,  science,  geog- 
raphy, and  history  were  born.  But  as  in  every  highly  developed 
civilization  luxury,  dissipation,  and  vice  also  abounded  ;  and  it  was 
the  ambition  of  Anacreon  to  represent  the  decadent  tendencies  of 
his  period. 

Theognis,  a  contemporary  of  Anacreon,  was  an  aristocrat  of 
Megara,  that  little  Doric  commonwealth  which  lay  between  Attica 
and  Corinth.  His  time  was  the  second  half  of  the  sixth  century 
and  beyond,  for  in  some  of  his  verse  (764  sqq.)  the  eastern  horizon 
is  darkened  by  the  impending  danger  of  Persian  invasion.  Much  of 
his  life  he  lived  in  exile,  as  at  Thebes  and  in  Sicily,  where  Megara 
Hyblaea  was  a  colony  of  his  native  commonwealth.  It  would  seem 
to  be  an  elusive  task  to  reconstruct  his  life  and  movements  in  detail 
from  the  verses  traditionally  ascribed  to  him,  as  the  English  scholar 
John  Hookham  Frere  attempted  to  do  (Works,  2  vols.  1842).  This 
work  was  brilliant  for  its  time,  but  the  critical  labors  of  Bergk  have 
rendered  many  of  its  assumptions  untenable. 

In  his  wanderings  the  Megarian  exile  visited  Sparta,  too,  and 
Eubcea,  and  received  much  kindly  hospitality  (784  sqq.),  but 
nothing,  he  declared,  could  assuage  the  yearning  for  home  and 
country.  Much  of  his  elegiac  verse  was  composed  to  embellish  a 
social  occasion.  The  pipe  (241)  still  accompanied  the  recitation. 
The  general  truths  relating  to  the  wise  conduct  of  life  gave  to  much 
of  his  verse  a  lasting  currency  among  the  Hellenes.  In  fact  the 
remnants  are  an  anthology  in  which  social  moralizing  predominates. 
For  the  general  purposes  of  this  volume  have  been  chosen  some 
passages  which  exhibit  the  proud  and  stubborn  consciousness  of 
the  aristocrat  who  considers  the  political  and  social  domination  of 
his  own  class  as  a  self-evident  principle,  nay  as  a  very  postulate  of 
nature.  The  aristocrats  are  the  good  and  the  excellent ;  the  com- 
mon folk  are  the  mean  and  the  bad. 

As  the  life  of  Theognis  connects  the  old  aristocratic  regime  with 
the  great  war  of  Hellenic  independence,  that  of  Simonides  of  Ceos 
(556-469)  spans  the  period  between  the  age  of  the  Peisistratidae 


i8 


THE  SOURCES 


and  the  age  of  Themistocles.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  same  poet 
enjoyed  the  patronage  of  the  last  Athenian  tyrant  and  of  the 
founder  of  the  Athenian  naval  supremacy.  Like  Anacreon  he 
wandered  about  from  place  to  place  at  the  call  of  tyrant,  aristocrat, 
or  imperial  democrat,  ever  ready  to  compose  for  the  one  who  offered 
a  sufficient  fee.  We  hear  of  him  at  the  court  of  Hippias,  at  the  aris- 
tocratic courts  of  the  tyrant's  friends  in  Thessaly ;  then  after  the 
battle  of  Marathon  we  find  him  again  at  Athens,  where  in  poetical 
competition  he  won  a  victory  over  yEschylus.  Still  later,  Hieron 
called  him  to  Sicily,  where  he  entered  into  rivalry  with  Pindar. 
There  he  ended  his  days,  and  his  tomb  stood  long  before  the  gates 
of  Syracuse. 

The  conspicuous  success  of  his  art  in  a  characteristic  way  il- 
lustrates an  aspect  of  the  Greek  spirit  —  a  craving  for  immortality 
by  means  of  a  literary  monument.  The  faculty  of  inscriptional 
composition  which  Simonides  possessed  in  a  high  degree  was  sought 
for  by  aristocrats,  tyrants,  wealthy  individuals  of  every  party,  and 
even  by  commonwealths  such  as  Athens  in  the  age  of  Themistocles. 
The  most  lasting  of  his  verses  are  of  the  character  mentioned  above, 
which  we  may  call  commemorative,  to  give  enduring  distinction 
to  historical  monuments  erected  for  great  achievements  and  emi- 
nent persons  of  his  time.  He  was  one  of  the  famous  figures  and 
voices  of  his  own  age ;  his  muse,  ready  at  the  tinkle  of  silver,  pos- 
sessed a  certain  adroitness  and  versatility  of  worldly  wisdom  noted 
in  his  own  generation.  The  Alexandrian  critics  studied  and  per- 
petuated his  commemorative  verse,  called  Epigramma  by  the  Greeks. 
In  addition  to  this  kind  of  poetry,  however,  he  wrote  choral  songs 
for  religious  and  secular  purposes,  paeans,  hymns,  odes  for  the  victors 
in  the  games,  skolia,  dithyrambs,  lamentations,  in  brief  every  kind 
of  verse  of  which  his  age  had  knowledge. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  General.  —  Sitzler,  J.,  "Bericht  iiber  die  griech.  Lyriker,  1898- 
1905,"  in  Jahresb.  CXXXIII  (1907).  104-322,  for  editions  and  literature 
appearing  in  the  years  indicated.  Standard  texts  are  those  of  Bergk,  Th., 
Anthologia  Lyrica  (Teubner)  ;  Hiller,  E.,  Anthologia  Lyrica  (Teubner) ;  Smyth, 
H.  M.,  Greek  Melic  Poets  (Macmillan,  1900),  the  best  English  edition;  Har- 
tung,  J.  A.,  Die  griech.  Lyriker,  2  vols.  (Engelmann,  1856),  with  German  trans- 


SIMONIDES ;  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


19 


lations;  Appleton,  W.  H.,  Greek  Poets  in  English  Verse  (Houghton  Mifflin, 
1893),  selected  translations  by  various  authors. 

II.  Seventh-century  Poets.  —  Hauvette,  A.,  Un  poete  ionien  du 
VIIe  siecle,  Archiloque;  sa  vie  et  ses  poesies  (Paris,  1905) ;  Crusius,  in  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  II.  487-507. 

Schwartz,  E.,  "Tyrtaeos,"  in  Hermes,  XXXIV  (1899).  428-68;  Verrall, 
A.  W.,  "Tyrtaeus,  a  Graeco-Roman  Tradition,"  in  Class.  Rev.  X  (1896) ;  Schul- 
hof,  J.  M.,  "Callinus  and  Tyrtaeus,"  in  Class.  Rev.  XIV  (1900).  103  sqq. ; 
Opitz,  R.,  "Ueber  den  Weiberspiegel  des  Semonides  von  Amorgos,"  in  Philol. 
L  (1891).  13-30. 

III.  Alcleus,  Sappho,  Corinna,  and  Telesilla.  —  Easby-Smith,  J.  S., 
Songs  of  Alcceus,  Memoir  and  Text  with  Literal  and  Verse  Translations  (Wash- 
ington:  Lowdermilk,  1901),  from  which  some  of  the  selections  of  this  volume 
have  been  taken;  Edmonds,  J.  M.,  The  New  Fragments  of  AIccbus,  Sappho, 
and  Corinna  (London:  Bell,  1909),  text  of  new  fragments  discovered  before 
that  date;  "Newly  discovered  Fragments  of  Alcaeus,"  in  Class.  Rev.  XXIII 
(1910).  72-4,  241-3;  "New  Lyric  Fragments,"  ib.  XXVIII  (1914).  73-8, 
from  these  three  articles  selections  have  been  taken  for  the  present  volume. 
A  criticism  on  the  last-named  article  is  made  by  Hunt,  A.  S.,  ib.  126  sq.  See 
also  Schubart,  W.,  "Neue  Bruchstiicke  der  Sappho  und  des  Alkaios,"  in  Sitzb. 
Bed.  Akad.  1902,  pp.  195-214;  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  V.,  "Neue  lesbische 
Lyrik,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  XXXIII  (1914).  225-47. 

Wharton,  H.  T.,  Sappho:  Memoir,  Text,  and  Selected  Renderings  (Chicago  : 
McClurg,  1887),  from  which  selections  have  been  made  for  this  volume ;  Easby- 
Smith,  J.  S.,  Songs  of  Sappho  (Washington:  Stormont  and  Jackson,  1891), 
English  translation;  Brandt,  P.,  Sappho:  Ein  Lebensbild  aus  den  Friihlings- 
tagen  altgriechischer  Dichtung  (Leipzig,  1905),  biography  and  literary  apprecia- 
tion; Steiner,  B.,  Sappho  (Jena,  1907),  selections  and  appreciation;  Bas- 
coul,  J.  M.  F.,  'H  ayva  2a7r<£a> :  La  chaste  Sappho  de  Lesbos  et  le  movement  feme- 
niste  a  Athenes  au  IV*  siecle  avant  J.-C.  (Paris,  191 1) ;  Paulides,  I.  I.,  2a.7r<£a>  yj 
MvTiXrjvoLLa  (Leipzig,  1885),  doctorate  dissertation  in  modern  Greek;  Reinach, 
Th.,  "Nouveaux  fragments  de  Sappho,"  in  Rev.  des  et.  gr.  XV  (1902).  60-70; 
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  V.,  Sappho  und  Simonides:  Untersuchungen  uber 
griechische  Lyriker  (Weidmann,  1913). 

Cronert,  G.,  "Corinnae  quae  supersunt,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXIII  (1908). 
161-89,  contains  text;  Herzog,  R.,  "Auf  den  Spuren  der  Telesilla,"  in  Philol. 
LXXI  (1912).  1-23,  a  few  short  fragments. 

IV.  Solon,  Mimnermus,  Theognis,  Anacreon,  and  Simonides  of 
Ceos.  —  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  V '.,  Aristoteles  und  Athen,  I.  39-75;  II. 
304-15;  Keil,  B.,  Die  Solonische  Verfassung  in  Aristoteles'  Verfassungs- 
geschichte  Athens  (Gaertner,  1892) ;  Mitchell,  J.  M.,  "Solon,"  in  Encycl.  Brit. 
nth  ed. ;  Piatt,  A.,  notes  on  Solon,  in  Journ.  of  Philol.  XXIV  (1896).  248- 
62;  XXVI.  64-8;  Jebb,  R.  C.,  "On  a  Fragment  of  Solon,"  ib.  XXV  (1897). 
98-105. 

Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  V,  "Mimnermos  und  Properz,"  in  Sitzb.  Bed. 


20 


THE  SOURCES 


Akad.  1912,  pp.  100-22;  Frere,  J.  H.,  Works,  2  vols.  (London:  Pickering, 
1872),  containing  translations  and  interpretations  of  Theognis ;  Hudson- 
Williams,  T.,  Elegies  of  Theognis  and  other  Elegies  included  in  the  Theognidean 
Sylloge  (London:  Bell,  1910),  best  edition;  "Theognis  and  his  Poems,"  in 
H.  S.  XXIII  (1903).  1-23;  Unger,  G.  F.,  "Die  Heirn^t  des  Theognis," 
in  Philol.  XLV  (1886).  18-33;  Bullen,  A.  H.,  Anacreon,  with  Th.  Stanley's 
translation  (London,  1893);  Crusius,  "Anakreon,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real- 
Encycl.  I.  2035-50;  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  V.,  Sappho  und  Simonides, 
mentioned  under  III. 

VI.  The  Logographi  and  Herodotus 

In  the  sixth  century  B.C.,  the  age  that  saw  the  birth  of  Hellenic 
science,  the  epics  current  under  the  name  of  Homer  and  Hesiod's 
genealogical  poems  formed  in  the  mind  of  the  Greeks  the  background 
of  their  history.  Thus  far  they  had  taken  no  literary  interest  in 
recent  or  contemporary  happenings,  and  for  that  reason  had  pro- 
duced no  chronicles,  as  had  the  Oriental  kings  from  immemorial 
time.  The  awakening  of  the  scientific  spirit,  however,  which  led 
the  Hellenes  in  search  of  the  origin  of  the  physical  world,  interested 
them  equally  in  the  beginnings  of  mankind,  of  their  own  race,  of 
the  various  states,  and  of  the  leading  families  in  each.  Hence 
arose  a  class  of  writers,  who,  in  a  manner  parallel  with  that  of  the 
contemporary  "  philosophers,"  busied  themselves  with  such  matters. 
They  have  been  called  logographi,  " writers  of  prose"  (logos),  as 
distinguished  from  the  composers  of  poetry  (epos).  If  Cadmus  of 
Miletus,  reputed  the  earliest  writer  of  this  class,  and  author  of  the 
Settlement  of  Ionia  (Pliny,  Natural  History,  v.  112;  cf.  vii.  205), 
was  a  real  person,  at  least  nothing  has  been  preserved  from  his 
book.  Acusilaiis  of  Argos,  about  500  B.C.,  is  the  earliest  of  whose 
work  we  have  fragments.  He  composed  Genealogies,  a  treatise 
which  converted  into  prose  and  perhaps  further  expanded  the 
Hesiodic  genealogies.  The  fragments  are  but  meager  quotations 
by  later  writers.  So  far  as  we  may  infer  from  these  scant  remains, 
Acusilaiis  limited  himself  to  the  beginnings  of  the  gods,  of  the  great 
things  of  nature,  and  of  the  human  race.  Nowhere  does  he  ap- 
proach historical  times.  Such  was  doubtless  the  nature  of  all  early 
logography.  In  no  respect,  therefore,  could  it  be  termed  history. 
The  change,  however,  from  verse  to  prose  clipped  the  wings  of 
imagination  and  accentuated  correspondingly  system  and  reason. 


HECAT^US  AND  HERODOTUS 


21 


A  notable  advance  was  made  by  Hecataeus  of  Miletus,  a  younger 
contemporary  of  Acusilaiis.  He  was  the  author  of  a  geography 
entitled  Circuit  oj  the  Earth.  The  voyages  of  the  Ionians  to  all 
parts  of  the  Mediterranean  and  its  tributary  waters  for  commerce 
and  colonization  supplied  him  with  the  knowledge  necessary  for 
such  a  work.  If  the  fragments  collected  by  Miiller,  Frag.  Hist. 
Grcec.  I.  p.  i  sqq.,  actually  belong  to  this  treatise,  it  must  have  been 
a  great  achievement  for'  that  age.  The  genuineness  has  been 
questioned,  seemingly  on  insufficient  ground  (see  Jacoby,  F., 
"Hekataios,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VII.  2667  sqq.).  His 
Genealogies  differs  from  those  of  his  predecessors  in  dealing  exten- 
sively with  the  historical  period.  The  extant  fragments  prove, 
too,  that  he  was  gifted  with  a  nascent  critical  spirit.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  Herodotus  drew  extensively  from  him,  and  that 
though  he  is  set  down  among  the  logographi,  he  deserves  to  be 
called  the  earliest  of  historians. 

From  Hecataeus  to  Herodotus  the  advance  is  not  so  much  in 
critical  ability  and  accuracy  of  statement  as  in  literary  genius,  in 
largeness  of  mind,  and  amiability  of  character.  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  Herodotus  doubted  some  things  which  Hecataeus  accepted, 
that  in  the  later  writer  there  was  an  appreciable  growth  of  the  his- 
torical spirit. 

Herodotus  was  born  in  Halicarnassus,  a  Dorian  city  which  had 
become  so  Ionized  as  to  use  the  Ionic  dialect  for  official  purposes 
(see  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  27  with  comment).  Thus  it  was  that  this 
dialect,  which  Herodotus  adopted  for  his  History,  was  his  native 
speech.  He  was  born  in  484  or  thereabout  and  lived  through  the 
early  years  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  to  about  425.  In  early  life 
he  was  involved  in  a  civil  war  with  Lygdamis,  the  Carian  tyrant  of 
his  city.  In  this  struggle  his  uncle  Panyasis,  an  epical  poet  of  some 
note,  was  killed,  and  Herodotus  had  to  flee  into  exile,  about  452. 
Thence  arose  his  journeyings,  which  resulted  in  the  creation  of  his 
great  work.  It  is  not  easy  or  even  necessary  to  determine  whether 
the  historian  developed  from  the  traveler,  or  the  traveler  from  the 
historian.  Doubtless  the  two  parallel  interests  stimulated  each 
other ;  and  certainly  the  delight  in  geographical  and  ethnographical 
knowledge,  gained  by  direct  experience  and  vision,  was  a  leading 
motive  in  his  literary  planning.    He  went  to  Egypt  and  ascended 


22 


THE  SOURCES 


the  Nile  as  far  as  Elephantine ;  he  visited  Cyrene  and  Phoenicia ;  he 
traversed  the  Persian  empire  as  far  as  Susa.  He  came  into  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  Black  Sea  region,  including  the  Hellenic 
communities  along  its  northern  shore.  For  a  time  he  was  a  citizen 
of  the  Periclean  colony  of  Thurii  in  southern  Italy.  Attempts  have 
been  made,  with  partial  success,  to  establish  the  chronology  of  his 
journeys  and  of  the  composition  of  his  history.  For  a  study  of  this 
subject  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  bibliography  given  below. 

The  object  of  his  literary  labor  is  expressed  in  his  preface : 
"This  is  a  presentation  of  the  Inquiry  —  Historia  —  of  Herodotus  of 
Halicarnassus  to  the  end  that  time  may  not  obliterate  the  great  and 
marvellous  deeds  of  the  Hellenes  and  the  Barbarians,  and  especially 
that  the  causes  for  which  they  waged  war  with  one  another  may  not 
be  forgotten."  So  far  as  we  know,  he  is  the  first  to  apply  the  word 
Historia  to  the  department  of  literature  of  which  he  was  laying  the 
foundation.  In  his  mind  the  term  cause  (alrirj),  far  from  signifying 
historical  causation  in  the  modern  sense,  meant  in  particular  the 
grievances  of  the  parties  to  the  war,  which  expressed  themselves 
in  the  series  of  events  leading  to  that  struggle.  In  tracing  these 
events  he  narrates  from  the  earliest  known  times  the  notable 
achievements  of  all  the  peoples  engaged  in  the  great  struggle.  His 
production  may  be  described  therefore  as  a  universal  history,  the 
unifying  element  of  which  is  the  ultimate  conflict. 

The  word  history  in  the  sense  of  inquiry  aptly  describes  his 
method  of  collecting  information.  It  is  true  that  he  gathered  some 
material  from  books,  but  the  greater  part  of  his  knowledge  came 
through  personal  inquiry  of  those  who  were  supposed  to  know  the 
facts.  Not  content  with  what  he  learned  from  one  class  of  in- 
formants or  from  one  locality,  he  visited  different  places  to  make 
inquiry  of  different  persons  (cf.  ii.  3,  44) ;  thus  he  introduced  the 
method  of  comparative  inquiry  with  a  view  to  the  sifting  of  his 
material.  The  object  of  his  History,  as  he  conceived  it,  required 
him  to  tell  all  he  had  thus  heard,  but  not  necessarily  to  accept  it 
as  fact :  "I  am  under  obligation  to  tell  what  is  reported,  though  I 
am  not  bound  altogether  to  believe  it ;  and  let  this  saying  hold  good 
for  every  narrative  in  the  History."  We  find  him  accordingly 
comparing  the  less  with  the  more  credible  account  and  expressing 
doubt  as  to  this  or  that  story. 


HERODOTUS 


23 


One  of  the  greatest  of  his  qualities  is  his  breadth  of  mind  which 
enabled  him  to  sympathize  with  foreigners,  and  to  see  that  among 
them  there  could  be  good  customs,  able  men,  and  admirable  char- 
acters (cf.  especially  iii.  38).  Ordinarily  this  quality  lifts  him  above 
the  prejudices  of  nationality,  of  states,  and  parties  to  the  high  level 
of  the  universal  historian.  On  the  other  hand,  the  very  lack  of  a 
well-developed  critical  method  placed  him  at  the  mercy  of  his 
sources.  It  was  but  natural  that  he  should  gravitate  to  Athens, 
already  becoming  the  intellectual  metropolis  of  the  world,  and  should 
write  from  the  Athenian  point  of  view,  with  the  prejudices  roused 
in  Athens  by  the  opening  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  (see  especially 
ix.  54).  This  prejudice  colors  many  of  the  details  of  his  chapters 
on  Athenian  and  Peloponnesian  history.  It  was  but  natural,  too, 
that  his  chief  informants  on  the  internal  affairs  of  Athens  during 
the  past  were  in  the  Periclean  circle;  and  thus  it  happens  that 
the  enemies  of  the  Alcmeonidae  suffer  at  his  hands.  He  has,  for 
instance,  no  just  appreciation  of  Themistocles,  the  founder  of 
Athenian  greatness,  the  ablest  statesman  who  had  thus  far  ap- 
peared in  history.  The  fault  is  not  one  of  character ;  and  in  fact 
no  historian  has  ever  been  readier  to  do  justice  to  men  than 
Herodotus. 

In  the  religious  sphere  Herodotus  is  by  no  means  credulous,  but 
accepts  the  enlightened  orthodoxy  of  his  age.  Although  a  genera- 
tion younger  than  iEschylus,  he  looks  upon  human  life  and  human 
pride  essentially  with  the  same  eyes.  Under  the  sunny  gleam  of 
his  rippling  narrative  there  is  a  substratum  of  deep  melancholy 
and  of  the  awe  concerned  with  the  anger  and  envy  of  the  gods. 
King  Crcesus,  whom  the  auriferous  Pactolus  made  the  richest  of 
men,  Polycrates,  tyrant  of  Samos,  or  Periander,  despot  of  opulent 
Corinth  —  their  pride  and  their  end  are  merely  iterations  and 
reverberations  of  the  stern  melody  of  human  success  and  divine 
retribution  and  the  humiliation  of  man,  exemplified  most  signally 
in  Xerxes  himself.  An  exponent  of  this  doctrine  is  the  Great 
King's  adviser  Artabanus,  from  whose  lips  issues  the  wisdom  of 
i^Eschylus:  "Thou  seest  how  the  Deity  strikes  with  thunderbolt 
those  beasts  that  tower  above  their  fellows,  but  the  little  ones 
worry  him  not ;  and  thou  seest  also  how  his  missiles  always  smite 
the  largest  buildings  and  trees  of  such  kind  ;  for  God  loves  to  trun- 


24 


THE  SOURCES 


cate  all  those  things  that  rise  too  high.  Thus,  too,  a  large  army 
may  be  ruined  by  a  small  one,  when  God  in  his  jealousy  hurls  a 
panic  or  a  thunderbolt,  through  which  they  are  shockingly  de- 
stroyed ;  for  God  permits  none  but  himself  to  entertain  grand 
ideas"  (vii.  10.  5). 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Logographi.  —  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  I  (1909).  424-34;  Bury,  Ancient 
Greek  Historians,  lect.  i;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch,  I.  146-50;  Gercke  and  Nor- 
den,  Einleitung  in  die  Altertumswissenschajt,  III  (1912).  76-8.  Schwartz, 
" Akusilaus,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  1222  sq.  Fragments  in 
Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  grcec.  I.  100-103.  Jacoby,  F.,  "Hekataios,"  in  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  op.  cit.  VII.  2666-769;  Bunbury,  E.  H.,  History  of  Ancient  Geog- 
raphy (London,  1883),  I.  ch.  v;  Berger,  H.,  Geschichte  der  wiss.  Erdkunde 
bei  den  Griechen  (Leipzig,  1903),  see  Index.  Pirro,  "Studi  erodotei,  Ecateo  e 
Xanto,"  in  Studi  Storici,  I  (Pisa,  1893).  424  sqq.  Fragments  in  Miiller,  op.  cit. 
I.  1-31. 

II.  Herodotus.  —  Report  on  recent  literature,  in  Jahresb.  1910.  Stand- 
ard critical  edition  by  Stein,  H.,  2  vols.,  Berlin,  1869-71.  The  same  editor's 
annotated  edition,  5  vols.  (Berlin,  1883-93),  Bks.  iv-vi  (1895),  vii-ix  (1908), 
ed.  with  excellent  commentary  by  Macan,  R.  W.  (London).  How,  W.  W.,  and 
Wells,  J.,  Commentary  on  Herodotus,  2  vols.  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  191 2). 
English  translations  by  Rawlinson,  G.,  4  vols,  with  abundant  notes  (3d  ed., 
London,  1874) ;  Macaulay,  G.  C,  2  vols.  (Macmillan,  1890).  Selections 
taken  from  the  latter  for  this  volume  have  been  revised  on  the  basis  of  the 
Greek  text  by  E.  G.  S. 

Hauvette,  A.,  Herodote  historien  des  guerres  mSdiques  (Paris,  1894) ;  "Hero- 
dote  et  les  Ioniens,"  in  Revue  des  etudes  grecques,  I.  257  sqq. ;  Hock,  A.,  Hero- 
dot  und  sein  Geschichtswerk  (Gutersloh,  1904);  Kirchhoff,  A.,  Ueber  die  Ent- 
stehungszeit  des  herodoteischen  Geschichtswerkes  (2d  ed.,  Berlin,  1878) ;  Diels, 
H.,  "Herodot  und  Hekataios,"  in  Hermes,  XXII  (1887).  411-444;  Lipsius, 
J.  H.,  "Der  Schluss  des  herod.  Werks,"  in  Leipziger  Studien,  XX  (1902). 
195-202;  Grassl,  A.,  Herodot  als  Ethnologe;  ein  Beitrag  zur  Geschichte  der 
Volkerkunde  (Munich,  1904);  Myres,  J.  L.,  "Herodotus  and  Anthropology," 
in  Marett,  R.  R.,  Anthropology  and  the  Classics  (1908),  121-68;  Croiset,  A., 
"La  veracite  d'Herodote,"  in  Revue  des  etudes  grecques,  I.  154  sqq. ;  Sihler, 
E.  G.,  Testimonium  Animce,  159-68;  Bury,  Ancient  Greek  Historians,  lect.  ii. 

VII.  Hellanicus  and  Thucydides;  Inscriptions 

Hellanicus  of  Mytilene  lived  to  see  the  close  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war,  and  occupied  accordingly  a  place  next  after  that  of  Herodotus. 
In  spirit  and  method,  however,  he  connected  closely  with  the 


HELLANICUS 


25 


logographi ;  his  chief  interest  was  in  myth  and  genealogy.  It  was 
his  task  to  carry  much  farther  than  his  predecessors  the  extension 
and  systematizing  of  pedigrees.  As  a  basis  he  seems  to  have  taken 
the  list  of  priestesses  in  the  Argive  Heraeum  (see  his  Priestesses  of 
Hera,  in  Muller,  Frag.  hist,  grcec.  I.  p.  51  sq.).  In  the  form  in  which 
he  employed  it,  this  list,  beginning  in  the  thirteenth  century  B.C., 
continued  unbroken  to  his  own  time,  and  included  the  number  of 
years  that  each  priestess  officiated  (Frag.  53,  Muller).  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  first  five  centuries  or  thereabout  were  fictitious,  but 
we  cannot  say  through  whose  hands  the  reconstruction  took  place. 
A  part  of  the  work  of  Hellanicus  was  to  bring  the  early  chronology 
of  other  states  into  harmony  with  that  of  Argos.  In  his  Atthis  — 
Attic  chronicle  —  for  example,  he  inserted  new  names  in  the  exist- 
ing list  of  kings  in  order  to  synchronize  Athenian  with  Argive  his- 
tory ;  and  we  may  assume  that  in  the  case  of  other  states  his  method 
was  similar.  His  works,  Bceotica,  Argolica,  Lesbica,  Thettalica, 
Founding  of  Chios,  etc.,  included  all  or  nearly  all  Hellenic  countries, 
while  accounts  of  prominent  foreign  nations  were  given  in  his 
Concerning  Lydia,  Phcenicica,  JEgyptiaca,  Persica,  etc.  (cf.  Muller, 
op.  cit.  I.  pp.  45-69).  It  seems  clear  that  the  chronological  outline 
of  early  Hellas  accepted  by  later  authors  was  largely  his  work.  The 
portion  dealing  with  the  period  anterior  to  about  750  is  almost 
wholly  fictitious,  an  arbitrary  system  of  myth  and  actual  invention 
joined  with  an  extremely  scant  and  uncertain  tradition.  While 
his  chief  interest  was  in  remote  antiquity,  he  treated  meagerly  of 
recent  times.  His  Atthis  extended  to  the  close  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war. 

While  we  possess  mere  shreds  of  the  vast  works  of  Hellanicus, 
we  are  fortunate  in  having  the  entire  production  of  Thucydides, 
universally  reputed  the  greatest  of  ancient  historians.  We  do  not 
know  when  he  was  born.  He  says  (v.  26)  that  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Peloponnesian  war  he  was  at  the  height  of  his  power,  a  state- 
ment which  would  make  him  perhaps  about  thirty  years  old  at 
the  time,  and  he  must  have  died  soon  after  the  close  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian war,  as  he  left  his  History  of  that  conflict  unfinished.  He 
was  related  to  Cimon,  the  Athenian  general  and  statesman,  and 
was  probably  with  him  a  descendant  of  the  Thracian  chief  Olorus. 


20 


THE  SOURCES 


Evidently  these  connections  gave  him  an  interest  in  the  gold  mines 
at  Scapte-Hyle,  Thrace.  A  man  of  wealth  and  of  distinguished 
family,  he  was  elected  to  the  board  of  generals  for  the  year  424. 
His  failure  to  protect  Amphipolis  from  the  Lacedaemonians  under 
Brasidas,  whatever  may  have  been  its  cause,  resulted  in  his  exile 
for  twenty  years,  424-404.  We  do  not  know  whether  he  was 
actually  banished  or  withdrew  in  fear  of  trial  and  condemnation. 
However  that  may  have  been,  his  exile  presented  to  the  wealthy 
man  of  affairs  a  leisure  which  he  resolutely  and  consistently  used 
in  the  collection  of  information  for  his  history  of  the  war.  From 
its  very  beginning,  431,  nay  even  before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities, 
he  had  conceived  the  purpose  of  writing  this  history.  It  was  a 
well-matured  resolution.  Probably  no  man  in  the  Hellenic  world, 
not  even  Herodotus,  had  at  the  time  so  good  a  knowledge  and 
so  clear  a  grasp  of  Hellenic  affairs.  This  preparation  he  enlarged 
by  the  persistent  industry  of  his  long  exile  in  gathering  all  possible 
facts  relating  to  the  conflict. 

The  period  anterior  to  the  war  he  surveys  by  way  of  introduction 
to  his  theme ;  and  yet  this  portion,  brief  as  it  is,  is  of  the  highest 
value  not  only  for  the  facts  it  contains,  but  also  as  an  illustration 
of  the  author's  method:  "The  character  of  the  events  which  pre- 
ceded (the  war),  whether  immediately  or  in  more  remote  antiquity, 
owing  to  the  lapse  of  time  cannot  be  made  out  with  certainty''' 
(i.  1).  This  utterance  is  likely  to  weaken  our  faith  in  the  logo- 
graphic  accounts  of  early  Hellas.  If  the  events  of  the  Persian  war 
and  of  the  pentecontaetia  which  followed,  480-431,  could  not  be 
made  out  with  certainty  by  Thucydides,  it  would  be  absurd  for  us 
to  accept  the  Greek  stories  of  so  remote  happenings,  as  for  instance 
the  Dorian  migration.  The  difficulty  of  knowing  the  past,  he  con- 
tinues, lies  partly  in  the  nature  of  our  sources.  For  the  Trojan 
war,  which  he  regards  as  a  fact,  he  has  the  authority  of  Homer : 
"He  was  a  poet,  and  may  therefore  be  expected  to  exaggerate" 
(i.  10).  The  difficulty  lies  partly,  too,  in  our  dependence  on  oral 
tradition:  "Men  do  not  discriminate,  and  too  readily  receive 
ancient  traditions  about  their  own  as  well  as  about  other  coun- 
tries" (i.  20).  Even  regarding  events  of  a  hundred  years  before 
his  time,  events  of  profound  interest  to  his  countrymen,  they 
entertained  the  grossest  misconceptions.    Notwithstanding  these 


THUCYDIDES 


27 


uncertainties  the  historian  sketches  the  political  development  and 
the  progress  of  civilization  from  the  earliest  time  to  the  beginning 
of  the  war  (i.  2-23)  :  "Yet  anyone  who  upon  the  grounds  I  have 
given  arrives  at  some  such  conclusion  as  my  own  about  those 
ancient  times,  would  not  be  far  wrong.  He  must  not  be  misled 
by  the  exaggerated  fancies  of  the  poets  or  by  the  tales  of  logographi, 
who  seek  to  please  the  ear  rather  than  to  speak  the  truth.  He 
cannot  test  their  accounts ;  and  most  of  the  facts  in  the  lapse  of 
ages  have  passed  into  the  regions  of  romance.  At  such  a  distance 
he  must  make  up  his  mind  to  be  satisfied  with  conclusions  resting 
upon  the  clearest  evidence  which  can  be  had"  (i.  21). 

He  attempts  to  reconstruct  the  primitive  condition  of  Hellas 
(1)  from  survivals  of  customs  and  conditions.  Certain  tribes  re- 
mained primitive  down  to  his  own  day,  and  he  infers  that  all  the 
Hellenes  once  lived  as  did  these  tribes  in  his  time.  These  conclu- 
sions, he  adds,  are  confirmed  by  the  ancient  poets  (i.  5,6).  (2)  He 
makes  use  of  archaeology.  The  primitive  islanders  he  studied 
by  means  of  their  tombs.  When  the  Athenians  purified  Delosin 
the  Peloponnesian  war  and  opened  the  tombs  in  that  island,  it 
appeared  that  more  than  half  of  the  occupants  were  Carian,  as  was 
proved  by  their  arms  and  their  mode  of  burial  (i.  8).  He  is  wrong, 
however,  in  supposing  that  he  here  has  evidence  of  race ;  he  has 
proved  only  that  the  occupants  had  a  civilization  like  that  of  the 
present  Carians.  His  method  of  drawing  deductions  from  the 
survival  of  customs  and  conditions  and  from  archaeological  remains 
and  of  making  allowances  for  the  mistakes  and  exaggerations  of 
earlier  authors  has  been  adopted  by  modern  historians. 

Historians  before  Thucydides  limited  themselves  to  the  time 
before  the  Persian  war  or  to  that  war  itself.  The  period  interven- 
ing between  the  Persian  and  the  Peloponnesian  war  was  omitted 
by  all  with  the  exception  of  Hellanicus ;  and  he,  where  he  touched 
upon  it  in  his  Attic  chronicle  (Syngraphe) ,  was  very  brief,  and  in 
his  chronology  inaccurate  (i.  97).  Thucydides  adopts  what  he 
considers  a  better  chronological  system:  "I  would  have  a  person 
reckon  the  actual  periods  of  time  and  not  rely  upon  catalogues  of 
the  archons  or  other  official  personages  whose  names  may  be  used 
in  different  cities  to  mark  the  dates  of  past  events.  For  whether 
an  event  occurred  in  the  beginning  or  in  the  middle,  or  whatever 


28 


THE  SOURCES 


might  be  the  exact  point  of  a  magistrate's  term  of  office,  is  left 
uncertain  by  such  a  mode  of  reckoning.  But  if  he  measures  by- 
summers  and  winters  as  they  are  here  set  down,  and  counts  each 
summer  and  each  winter  as  a  half  year,  he  will  find  that  ten  summers 
and  ten  winters  have  passed  in  the  first  part  of  the  war"  (v.  20). 
The  advantage  of  reckoning  time  by  the  natural  year,  rather  than 
by  the  conflicting  civil  years  of  the  various  states,  Thucydides 
fully  appreciates,  although  he  seems  to  have  no  conception  of  the 
importance  of  an  era  of  chronology  for  fixing  the  period  of  his 
history  in  its  appropriate  universal  relation. 

This  shortcoming  is  probably  due  in  the  main  to  the  concentra- 
tion of  his  attention  upon  the  present,  which  he  regards  as  all- 
important :  "Former  ages  were  not  great  either  in  their  wars  or 
in  anything  else"  (i.  1) ;  "The  greatest  achievement  of  former 
times  was  the  Persian  war ;  yet  even  this  conflict  was  decided  in 
two  battles  by  sea  and  two  by  land.  The  Peloponnesian  war,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  a  protracted  struggle,  and  attended  by  calam- 
ities such  as  Hellas  had  never  known  within  a  like  period  of  time. 
Never  were  so  many  cities  captured  and  depopulated  —  some  by 
barbarians,  others  by  Hellenes  themselves  fighting  against  one 
another.  .  .  .  Never  were  exile  and  slaughter  more  frequent, 
whether  in  the  war  or  in  civil  strife.  .  .  .  There  were  earthquakes 
unparalleled  in  their  extent  and  fury,  and  eclipses  of  the  sun  more 
numerous  than  are  recorded  to  have  happened  in  any  former  age ; 
there  were  also  in  some  places  great  droughts  causing  famines,  and 
lastly  the  plague,  which  did  immense  harm  and  destroyed  numbers 
of  people"  (i.  23).  This  high  valuation  of  the  present  as  compared 
with  the  past  he  shares  with  the  sophists.  He  is  at  one  with  them 
also  in  his  desire  to  impart  useful  information.  The  chief  object 
of  Herodotus  had  been  to  entertain  the  public,  that  of  Thucydides 
was  to  furnish  information  useful  to  the  general  and  statesman : 
"Very  likely  the  strict  historical  character  of  my  narrative  may  be 
disappointing  to  the  ear.  But  if  he  who  desires  to  have  before  his 
eyes  a  true  picture  of  the  events  which  have  happened,  and  of  the 
like  events  which  may  be  expected  to  happen  hereafter  in  the 
order  of  human  affairs,  shall  pronounce  what  I  have  written  to  be 
useful,  then  I  shall  be  satisfied.  My  history  is  a  possession  for- 
ever, not  a  prize  composition  to  be  heard  and  forgotten"  (i.  23). 


THUCYDIDES 


20 


Although  it  is  now  recognized  that  history  does  not  repeat  itself, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  knowledge  of  the  past  greatly  aids 
the  statesman  in  maturing  his  judgment  and  in  enlarging  his  ex- 
perience of  human  affairs.  Such  knowledge  must  above  all  things 
be  accurate  ;  and  this  quality  Thucydides  claims  for  himself  :  "As 
to  the  events  of  the  war  I  have  not  ventured  to  speak  from  any 
chance  information,  nor  according  to  any  notion  of  my  own ;  I 
have  described  nothing  but  what  I  either  saw  myself  or  learned  from 
others,  of  whom  I  made  the  most  careful  and  particular  inquiry. 
The  task  was  laborious  because  eye-witnesses  of  the  same  occur- 
rences give  different  accounts  of  them  according  as  they  remember 
or  are  interested  in  the  actions  of  one  side  or  the  other"  (i.  22). 
It  is  universally  granted  that  Thucydides,  though  by  no  means 
infallible,  possesses  the  quality  of  accuracy  in  an  extraordinarily 
high  degree. 

His  theme  is  extremely  narrow  —  a  war  rather  than  a  period  of 
national  development ;  yet  within  this  limited  field  he  is  deep  and 
thorough.  With  marvelous  analytical  power  he  lays  bare  the 
spirit  of  government  and  the  soul  of  political  factions.  When  he 
has  to  do  with  persons,  he  tells  us  nothing  of  their  outward  appear- 
ance, their  habits,  or  mannerisms,  but  reveals  the  mind  only.  His 
philosophy  has  taught  him  that  as  a  rule  the  individual  counts  for 
little  in  history.  The  life  of  a  nation  is  the  surging  of  mighty  cur- 
rents, in  which  ordinary  statesmen  are  mere  straws  whose  move- 
ments indicate  the  ebb  and  flow  and  conflict  of  forces.  A  few  master 
spirits  combine  reason  and  force  in  a  sufficient  degree  to  control  the 
destinies  of  their  people.  They  have  their  creative  plan,  which 
they  are  able  to  realize  by  bending  the  masses  to  their  will.  Such 
were  preeminently  Themis tocles  and  Pericles.  They  have  a  uni- 
versal and  eternal  interest,  whereas  a  Cleon  or  Hyperbolus  is  the 
type  of  a  politician  ofttimes  repeated. 

A  large  place  in  his  history  is  occupied  by  the  speeches,  which 
must  not  be  taken  as  verbatim  reports  :  "  As  to  the  speeches  which 
were  made  either  before  or  during  the  war,  it  was  hard  for  me  and 
for  others  to  recollect  the  exact  words.  I  have  therefore  put  into 
the  mouth  of  each  speaker  the  sentiments  appropriate  to  the  oc- 
casion, expressed  as  I  thought  he  would  be  likely  to  express  them, 
while  at  the  same  time  I  endeavored  as  nearly  as  I  could  to  give 


3° 


THE  SOURCES 


the  general  purport  of  what  was  actually  said"  (i.  22).  They  are 
usually  grouped  in  pairs  expressing  the  opposing  sides  of  a  crisis, 
and  may  be  regarded  as  largely  the  author's  interpretation  of  the 
situation  or  the  events  to  which  they  apply. 

In  the  year  411  his  narrative  comes  abruptly  to  an  end.  At  that 
point  he  seems  to  have  ceased  writing,  to  devote  his  attention  to  the 
revision  of  the  part  already  written  —  a  work  which  he  did  not 
complete  before  his  death ;  for  the  fifth  and  eighth  books  lack  his 
stylistic  finish. 

A  means  of  verifying  and  correcting  our  literary  sources  and  of 
greatly  enlarging  our  knowledge  of  Hellenic  life  is  afforded  by  the 
inscriptions.  Reference  is  made  to  Minoan  writing  in  the  introduc- 
tion to  Chapter  II.  With  the  decline  of  the  Minoan  civilization  the 
art  of  writing  seems  to  have  been  lost  to  Hellas,  and  the  Greek  alpha- 
bet was  not  invented  before  the  tenth,  or  possibly  the  ninth,  century. 
In  the  seventh  century,  with  the  first  importation  of  papyrus  from 
Egypt,  writing  began  to  be  extensively  used.  From  that  century, 
too,  come  the  earliest  extant  inscriptions.  They  appear  in  increas- 
ing numbers  during  the  sixth  century  and  in  the  fifth  they  become 
abundant.  From  that  time  to  the  end  of  ancient  civilization  they 
are  among  the  most  important  of  our  sources. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Hellanicus.  —  Fragments  in  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  grcec.  I.  45-69 ;  IV. 
629  sqq.  Kullmer,  H.,  "Die  historiai  des  Hellanikos  von  Lesbos,"  in  Jahrb. 
f.  kl.  Phil.  Supplb.  XXVII  (1901).  455-698,  an  attempt  at  reconstruction; 
Von  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  Arist.  u.  Ath.  II.  19  sq. ;  Bury,  Anc.  Greek 
Historians,  27  sqq. ;  Perrin,  in  Am.  Journ.  Philol.  XXII  (1901).  38  sqq.  The 
most  recent  and  thorough  treatment  is  by  Gudeman,  " Hellanikos,"  in  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VIII  (191 2).  104-55. 

II.  Thucydides.  —  Critical  edition  by  Bekker  (2d  ed.,  Berlin,  1892) ; 
by  Poppo,  E.  F.,  rev.  by  Stahl,  J.  M.,  4  vols.  (Leipzig,  1875-89) ;  by  Sitzler, 
J.  (Gotha,  1891-1901) ;  by  Hude,  C.,  2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1898,  1901) ;  by  Jones, 
H.  S.  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1902);  with  detailed  explanatory  notes  by 
Classen,  J.,  8  vols.  (4th  ed.,  Berlin,  1897).  The  best  English  translation  is 
by  Jowett,  B.  (see  review  by  Freeman,  E.  A.,  in  Fortnightly  Review,  1882, 
pp.  273-92).  Selections  from  this  translation  for  the  present  volume  have 
been  revised  and  improved  by  comparison  with  the  Greek  text  by  E.  G.  S. 

Reports  of  recent  literature  on  Thucydides  in  Jahresb.  1905,  1908;  and 
by  Lange,  E.,  "Die  Arbeiten  zu  Thukydides  seit  1890,"  in  Philol.  LVI  (1897). 


COMPETITIVE  GAMES 


3i 


658-711;  LVII  (1898).  436-500,  658.  See  also  Cornford,  F.  M.,  Thucydides 
Mythhistoricus  (London:  Arnold,  1907);  Grundy,  G.  B.,  Thucydides  and  the 
History  of  his  Age  (London:  Murray,  191 1) ;  Bury,  J.  B.,  Ancient  Greek  His- 
torians, lect.  iii;  Meyer,  Ed.,  "Thukydides  und  die  Entstehung  der  wissen- 
schaftlichen  Geschichte,"  in  Mitt,  des  Wiener  Vereins  der  Freunde  des  hum. 
Gymn.  XIV;  Forsch.  II  (1899).  269-436;  Kirchhoff,  A.,  "Ueber  die  von 
Thukydides  benutzten  Urkunden,"  in  Berl.  Akad.,  1881-1884;  Budinger,  M., 
Poesie  und  Urkunde  bei  Thukydides  (Vienna,  1891) ;  Jebb,  R.  C,  "Speeches 
of  Thucydides,"  in  Essays  and  Addresses  (Cambridge,  1907),  359-445  ;  Lange, 
E.,  Thukydides  und  sein  Geschichtswerk  (Giitersloh,  1893) ;  Von  Wilamowitz- 
Moellendorff,  "Die  Thukydides-Legende,"  in  Herm.  XII  (1877).  326-67; 
Aristoteles  und  Athen,  I.  99-120;  Milchhofer,  A.,  "Athen  und  Thukydides 
ii.  15,"  in  Philol.  LV  (1896).  170-9;  Petersen,  E.,  "Zu  Thukydides.  Urathen 
und  Tettix,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXII  (1907).  536-49;  Morris,  C,  "Chronology 
of  the  TrevTrjK.ovTat.TLa"  in  Am.  Journ.  Philol.  VII  (1886).  323-43  ;  Busolt, 
Griech.  Gesch.  III.  616-93;  Kornemann,  E.,  "Thukydides  und  die  romische 
Historiographie,"  in  Philol.  LXIII  (1904).  148-53. 

VIII.  The  Fifth-century  Poets 

For  the  spirit  of  the  great  age  of  Hellas,  480-404  B.C.,  its  social 
customs  and  thought,  religious  rites  and  aspirations,  moral  and 
intellectual  attainments  and  ideals,  we  have  to  depend  upon  the 
poets  even  more  than  upon  the  historians.  The  study  of  Pindar 
leads  us  to  the  very  heart  of  the  national  games,  which  were  among 
the  most  characteristic  of  Hellenic  activities.  The  devotion  of 
the  Greeks  to  competitions  was  in  a  high  degree  stimulating  and 
fruitful.  The  fact  that  their  communities  were  small  arid  isolated, 
either  surrounded  by  water  or  narrowly  limited  by  mountain  ranges, 
added  importance  to  their  periodic  reunions,  "all-gatherings" 
(panegyreis) .  In  time  as  they  spread  in  colonies  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Nile,  to  Cyprus,  to  the  Black  Sea,  to  Sicily  and  southern 
Italy,  and  to  the  coasts  of  Gaul  and  Spain,  these  gatherings,  with 
the  contests  which  gradually  grew  more  diversified,  came  to  be 
almost  the  only  form  of  union  known  to  their  national  life.  The 
competitions  {agones)  were  connected  with  their  legends  and  re- 
ligion, with  their  literature  and  art.  They  furnished,  too,  a  sphere 
in  which  music  was  almost  equal  to  the  other  forms  of  art  in  dignity, 
importance,  and  technical  development.  The  games  were  many 
and  were  frequently  held.  In  addition  to  the  annual  festivals  of 
every  city,  there  were  four  great  national  games  :  those  at  Olympia 


32 


THE  SOURCES 


and  Delphi  came  once  in  four  years,  the  Isthmia  and  Nemea  once 
in  two  years. 

Through  his  Odes  of  Victory  (Epinikia)  Pindar  of  Bceotia  (about 
520-441)  is  one  of  the  most  important  exponents  of  the  Greek  spirit. 
His  relations  were  mainly  with  the  rich  and  great.  They  alone  were 
able  not  only  to  contend  at  the  national  games,  but  also  to  remu- 
nerate the  poet,  whose  Muse  wrought  for  money.  He  was  the  com- 
poser not  only  of  the  verses  but  also  of  the  accompanying  music 
and  the  instructor  who  trained  the  chorus  chosen  to  chant  the 
Odes.  As  the  singers  had  to  be  taken  from  the  locality  where  the 
prize-winner  resided,  or  at  the  place  of  the  actual  contest,  it  is 
clear  that  Pindar  had  the  opportunity  through  visit  and  sojourn  to 
make  himself  acquainted  with  many  parts  of  Hellas.  His  rivalry 
with  his  eminent  contemporary  Simonides  was  noted  by  their  own 
generation.  Hieron  of  Syracuse  was  patron  of  both.  To  the 
modern  reader  Pindar's  most  striking  feature  is  the  heavy  propor- 
tion of  myth  and  legend  in  these  choral  odes.  The  reason  is  not 
only  that  the  several  communities,  but  specifically  the  more  emi- 
nent families  therein,  so  cherished  legendary  traditions  that  their 
very  pedigree  and  pride  of  race  were  inextricably  bound  up  with 
such  myths.  Thus  the  tone  of  the  Odes  is  essentially  noble  and  lofty, 
and  the  spirit  intensely  aristocratic.  Pindar  was  a  contemporary  of 
iEschylus.  There  are  many  points  of  resemblance  between  them, 
and  their  handling  of  legends  is  not  essentially  different.  In  the 
nature  of  the  case  the  lyre  of  the  Boeotian  devoted  itself  to  the 
happy  and  brilliant  side  of  myth  and  of  human  life,  whereas  the 
tragic  poet  necessarily  presented  their  somber  aspects.  In  style 
Pindar,  like  ^Eschylus,  is  bold,  original,  and  elevated.  Many 
obscurities  of  allusion  may  never  be  cleared  up ;  and  the  texts, 
without  the  music,  without  the  choral  chanting,  without  the  well- 
ordered  movements  of  the  original  production  in  strophe,  antis- 
trophe,  and  epode,  in  its  present  effects  must  fall  far  short  of  the 
poet's  actual  achievement. 

In  addition  to  choral  lyric  Pindar  composed  many  forms  of 
poetry.  His  writings  were  collected  in  seventeen  books,  probably 
by  the  Alexandrine  scholar  Aristophanes  of  Byzantium.  Dio- 
nysius  of  Halicarnassus  makes  the  same  scholar  responsible,  too, 
for  the  editing  of  the  lines  and  the  metrical  schemes. 


PINDAR  AND  ^SCHYLUS 


33 


Valuable  to  the  student  of  Greek  history  are  Pindar's  ideas  on 
religion,  morals,  and  other  features  of  society.  From  what  has 
already  been  said  it  will  be  understood  that  these  ideas  are  decidedly 
conservative,  aristocratic.  This  side  of  Hellenic  life  and  thought 
is  especially  recommended  for  examination  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
most  modern  histories  of  the  fifth  century  treat  almost  exclusively 
of  democratic  ideas  and  movements. 

A  contemporary  of  Pindar  was  yEschylus  of  Athens,  who  was 
born  in  525.  When  the  Persians  were  driven  back  to  their  fleet  at 
Marathon,  490,  he  was  in  the  prime  of  manhood  and  fought  on  that 
field.  In  the  time  of  Xerxes'  invasion  he  witnessed  the  abandon- 
ment of  town  and  country,  and  Persian  torches  in  the  sanctuaries 
and  homes  of  Athens,  a  requital  for  the  burning  of  Sardis.  These 
experiences  were  the  inspiration  of  his  life's  work.  In  his  earlier 
career  he  was  a  composer  of  what  we  may  roughly  compare  with 
modern  cantatas  and  oratorios.  His  choruses  sang ;  and  only 
gradually,  as  two  actors  were  introduced,  his  productions  became 
more  distinctly  dramatic.  He  composed  about  seventy  plays,  not 
counting  the  so-called  satyr  dramas  ;  the  function  of  the  latter  was 
to  lighten  the  gloom  and  the  severe  strain  superinduced  by  the 
presentation  of  the  three  tragedies  which  each  of  the  authors  pro- 
duced in  competition  for  the  first  prize.  ^Eschylus  distinctly  ex- 
celled the  competitors  of  his  earlier  manhood  and  middle  life,  such 
as  Phrynichus  and  Pratinas.  He  came  forward  for  the  first  time 
in  500  B.C.,  and,  according  to  the  M armor  Parium,  gained  his  first 
victory,  i.e.  the  First  Prize,  in  485.  In  all,  he  won  this  distinction 
thirteen  times,  each  time  with  three  pieces  :  thus  thirty-nine  of  his 
tragedies  were  crowned.  Twice  he  visited  Sicily  :  the  first  time,  it 
seems,  in  consequence  of  an  invitation  by  Hieron,  tyrant  of  Syracuse, 
whose  splendid  generosity  to  men  of  letters,  such  as  Pindar  and 
Simonides,  was  well  known  to  that  generation.  In  468,  at  the  first 
competition  in  which  Sophocles  appeared  on  the  Attic  stage,  the 
latter  triumphed  over  the  veteran.  It  was  not  for  this  reason, 
however,  as  some  have  imagined,  that  ^Eschylus  retired  from  Athens 
to  Sicily.  The  brilliant  court  of  Hieron,  the  great  demand  in 
Syracuse  for  dramatic  productions,  were  sufficient  attractions.  His 
last  days  were  spent  in  Gela,  where  he  died  in  456. 


34 


THE  SOURCES 


The  austere  loftiness  of  ^Eschylus  was  coupled  with  a  genuine 
religious  spirit,  deepened  by  the  stirring  experiences  of  the  struggle 
with  Persia.  He  was  bold,  original,  and  creative  —  in  a  large  sense 
the  intellectual  and  moral  parent  of  the  succeeding  Attic  dramatists 
and  of  the  philosophers. 

Sophocles,  mentioned  above  as  a  younger  rival  of  ^schylus, 
lived  through  the  greater  part  of  the  fifth  century,  496-406. 
Though  he  learned  much  from  his  elder  contemporary,  he  belongs 
distinctly  to  a  new  age.  Whereas  ^Eschylus  gives  expression  to 
the  notable  achievements  and  gigantic  aspirations  of  the  war 
heroes,  Sophocles  represents  the  calmer  and  more  reasoned  spirit 
of  the  Periclean  age.  The  father  of  Sophocles  was  a  manufacturer, 
probably  of  knives  and  swords ;  so  that  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
while  impoverishing  the  majority  of  Athenians,  by  no  means  dimin- 
ished his  income  or  detracted  from  the  serenity  of  his  life.  His 
easy  circumstances,  joined  with  a  naturally  balanced  character, 
found  reflection  in  his  dramas.  For  the  problems  of  religion  and 
of  human  life  and  character  he  was  inclined  to  accept  gentle  solu- 
tions. In  opposition  to  the  sophistic  movement  he  was  strongly 
conservative,  and  in  religion  he  represents,  with  Herodotus,  an 
enlightened  orthodoxy.  We  appreciate  him  as  a  man  of  wonderful 
intellectual  and  moral  strength,  as  well  as  a  perfect  master  of  dra- 
matic art,  in  brief,  as  the  highest  expression  of  Hellenism  both  in  the 
age  of  Pericles  and  in  the  subsequent  conflict  between  conservatism 
and  the  more  modern  thought  of  Euripides  and  the  sophists. 

Euripides  was  about  fifteen  years  younger  than  Sophocles, 
though  both  died  in  406.  Throughout  his  life,  therefore,  he  was  a 
rival  of  the  older  poet.  In  the  conflict,  however,  between  Hellen- 
ism and  modernism  which  arose  within  this  century  Euripides  was 
wholly  for  the  new  movement.  Thus  it  happens,  that  though 
^Eschylus  and  Sophocles,  when  compared  with  one  another,  stand 
an  age  apart,  they  should  be  placed  together  in  contrast  with  Eurip- 
ides. We  know  little  of  his  life.  His  father  seems  to  have  been 
a  landowner  of  moderate  circumstances  but  of  no  distinction ;  and 
certainly  the  gifted  son  was  free  from  all  aristocratic  connections 
with  the  past.  As  a  youth  he  had  an  athletic  training,  and  it  is 
said  that  he  afterward  studied  as  a  painter ;  at  all  events  he  had  a 
keen  eye  for  art  and  landscape.    Of  science  and  philosophy  he 


SOPHOCLES  AND  EURIPIDES 


learned  what  he  could  from  books.  While  attaching  himself  to 
no  system,  he  shows  a  lively  interest  in  all  manner  of  philosophic 
problems.  With  the  sophists  he  rejects  traditional  religion ;  and 
in  his  own  field  he  casts  away  the  art  of  his  predecessors,  to  build 
the  drama  anew  on  principles  which  we  recognize  as  relatively 
modern.  He  shows  a  deep  and  varied  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  and  especially  sympathizes  with  the  weak  and  unfortu- 
nate, with  women,  slaves,  beggars,  and  cripples.  While  as  an 
exponent  of  Hellenism  Sophocles  has  a  voice  for  the  Greeks  only 
and  their  admirers,  the  humanism  of  Euripides  appeals  to  the 
world. 

In  the  use  of  dramatic  literature  as  a  historical  source  we  have 
to  consider  (i)  what  elements  are  traditional,  (2)  what  are  the  ideas 
of  the  poet,  (3)  what  is  contemporary  thought  or  custom.  In 
considering  the  personal  element  of  the  author  we  have  further  to 
distinguish  between  settled  conviction  and  the  passing  thought  or 
feeling  assigned  to  a  character.  The  persons  and  the  essentials 
of  the  plot  are  an  inheritance  from  the  remote  past,  from  the  epics 
and  especially  from  those  of  the  cycle ;  the  rest  of  the  drama  is  the 
poet's  creation  from  his  own  imagination,  character,  and  environ- 
ment*. Beyond  this  point  the  problem  of  analysis  is  complex  and 
difficult,  and  incapable  of  solution  by  any  ready-made  process. 
Each  drama  requires  individual  study ;  and  although  there  is  much 
that  defies  analysis,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  plays  of  the 
three  great  tragic  poets  constitute  an  invaluable  store  of  informa- 
tion relating  to  the  customs,  thought,  feeling,  and  character  of  the 
Hellenes  in  the  most  splendid  period  of  their  history. 

Much  later  than  was  the  case  with  tragedy  did  the  Attic  govern- 
ment recognize  comedy  and  provide  choruses  for  it.  This  occurred 
probably  between  465  and  460.  In  a  certain  sense  the  Old  Comedy 
of  Athens  is  but  a  single  symptom,  but  certainly  the  most  significant 
symptom,  of  that  absolute  freedom  of  speech  {irapp^ala)  which 
attained  its  most  unbridled  development  in  the  Periclean  democracy. 
Aristophanes,  born  about  450,  was  a  mere  lad  when  Pericles  died. 
A  few  years  later  the  young  genius,  incomparably  endowed  for 
political  satire  —  beyond  all  Dean  Swifts  or  Punches  of  a  later 
time  —  secured  from  the  archon  choruses  for  the  children  of 
his  rollicking  muse.    His  first  three  plays,  Daitales  (Banqueters), 


36 


THE  SOURCES 


427  B.C.,  The  Babylonians,  426,  and  The  Acharnians,  425,  were  pre- 
sented under  the  imaginary  authorship  of  an  actor,  Callistratus. 

It  was  long  the  custom,  as  in  the  heavy  and  ultra-serious  essay 
by  Ferdinand  Ranke,  to  assign  to  the  author  of  the  Knights,  Clouds, 
Wasps,  Peace,  Birds,  and  Frogs  a  niche  among  the  thoughtful 
patriots,  deep  political  thinkers,  and  even  moral  reformers  who 
gave  lasting  distinction  to  Athens.  On  this  subject,  however,  there 
is  room  for  difference  of  opinion.  It  is  always  a  question  how  far 
our  poet  should  be  taken  seriously.  Thucydides  and  his  great 
work  afford  a  curious  foil  to  the  political  comedy  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  war :  they  illumine  one  another  in  the  most  admirable  man- 
ner. The  faculty  of  symbolical  caricature  and  a  drastic  felicity 
of  allegory  and  invective,  intermingled  with  lofty  lyrics  and  harle- 
quinade, language  sometimes  running  on  the  even  keel  of  current 
Attic  dialogue,  but  often  interlarded  with  sudden  and  incalculable 
spurts  of  slang  and  vulgarity,  an  abandon  of  obscenity  and  semi- 
intoxication  of  demeanor  —  all  in  close  harmony  with  the  es- 
sential character  of  the  vintage  festivals  —  sudden  attacks  on  some 
familiar  minor  figures,  with  sustained  persecution  of  some  greater 
personage  in  public  life  —  these,  and  many  other  ingredients  may 
be  found  in  the  plays  of  Aristophanes.  Besides  the  eleven  plays 
preserved  he  wrote  about  twenty-nine  others.  Was  the  political 
influence  of  an  Aristophanes  comparable  to  that  of  the  orators 
who  addressed  the  Ecclesia  directly,  when  all  were  sober  and  in  a 
deliberative  frame  of  mind?  Plato  has  borne  witness  that  the 
caricature  of  Socrates  in  the  Clouds  had  a  lasting  and  an  evil  effect 
on  the  reputation  of  that  philosopher.  The  typical  humanist  who 
would  duly  revere  both  the  philosopher  and  his  reckless  traducer 
finds  himself  in  a  somewhat  difficult  plight.  That  Aristophanes 
pleaded  for  peace,  and  that,  with  his  brilliant  and  piercing  intellect, 
he  discerned  the  evils  of  the  developed  Attic  democracy  cannot  be 
denied ;  but  it  seems  to  be  equally  true  that  sheer  love  of  fun  in- 
terfered with  the  earnest  pursuit  of  any  serious  object. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Pindar.  —  Edition  by  Christ,  W.  (2d  ed.,  Teubner,  1896) ;  by  Schroder, 
O.,  in  Bergk,  Th.,  Poetce  lyrici  grceci,  I  (Teubner,  1900).  Olympian  and  Pythian 
Odes,  by  Gildersleeve,  B.  L.  (2d  ed.,  N.  Y,,  1890).    The  best  translation  is  by 


ARISTOPHANES ;  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


37 


Myers,  E.  (Macmillan,  1892),  from  which  selections  have  been  taken  for  this 
volume. 

Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  V.,  "Hieron  und  Pindaros,"  in  Sitzb.  Berl. 
Akad.  1901,  pp.  1273-1318;  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  I.  216-35. 

II.  Bacchylides.  —  Editio  princeps  of  the  newly  discovered  poems  by 
Kenyon,  F.  G.  (London,  1897) ;  also  by  Blass,  F.  (3d  ed.,  Teubner,  1904) ; 
by  Jebb,  R.  C,  with  introduction,  notes,  and  prose  translation  (Cambridge, 
1905).  There  is  also  an  English  translation  by  Poste,  E.  (Macmillan,  1898). 
See  further  the  article  by  Jebb  on  Bacchylides  in  Encycl.  Brit,  nth  ed. ;  Meiser, 
O.,  Mythographische  Untersuchungen  zu  Bacchyl.  (Munich,  1904),  dissertation. 
Although  no  selections  have  been  made  from  Bacchylides  for  this  volume,  he 
may  be  recommended  for  study  along  with  Pindar. 

III.  /Eschylus.  —  Edition  by  Weil,  H.  (2d  ed.,  Teubner,  1907);  by 
Campbell,  L.  (Macmillan,  1898) ;  by  Sidgwick,  A.  (Clarendon  Press,  1902). 
English  translation  by  Blackie,  J.  W.  (London:  Parker,  1850),  verse;  by 
Headlam,  W.,  5  vols.  (London:  Bell,  1900-08),  from  revised  text;  by  Plump- 
tre,  E.  H.,  2  vols.  (Boston:  Heath,  1901) ;  text  with  verse  translation  by 
Way,  A.  S.,  3  pts.  (Macmillan,  1906-08),  from  which  selections,  revised  by 
E.  G.  S.,  have  been  made  for  this  volume;  Persians,  Seven  against  Thebes, 
Prometheus,  and  Suppliants,  by  Morsehead  (Macmillan,  1908). 

Myers,  E.,  "^Eschylus,"  in  Abbott,  E.,  Hellenica  (London:  Rivingtons, 
1880),  1-32;  Cauer,  F.,  "Aischylos  und  der  Areopag,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  L 
(1895).  348-56;  Sihler,  E.  G.,  Testimonium  Animce,  148-59;  V.  Wilamowitz- 
Moellendorff,  "Die  Biihne  des  ^Eschylus,"  in  Hermes,  XXI  (1886).  597-622; 
Dieterich,  "Aischylos,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  1065-84. 

IV.  Sophocles.  — Edition  by  Schneidewin,  F.  W.,  and  Nauck,  A.  (Ber- 
lin, 1897-1909) ;  by  Tyrrell,  R.  V.  (London,  1897);  by  Campbell,  L.,  and 
Abbott,  E.,  2  vols.  (Oxford,  1899,  1900) ;  with  explanatory  notes  by  Wecklein, 
N.,  2  vols.  (Munich,  1897);  by  Jebb,  R.  C,  plays  in  separate  vols,  with 
copious  notes  and  Eng.  trans.  (Cambridge :  University  Press) .  Translations 
by  Whitelaw,  R.  (Longmans,  1904) ;  by  Storr,  F.  (Loeb  CI.  Libr.  191 2,  1913) ; 
by  Campbell,  L.  (London :  Frowde,  1906) ;  by  Way,  A.  S.,  2  vols.  (Macmillan, 
1909,  1914) ;  by  Coleridge,  E.  P.  (Bohn) ;  by  Jebb,  R.  C.  (Cambridge:  Uni- 
versity Press,  191 2),  from  which  the  selections  for  this  volume  have  been  taken. 

For  studies  in  the  author,  see  Campbell,  L.,  Sophocles  (Macmillan,  1880) ; 
Abbott,  E.,  "  Theology  and  Ethics  of  Sophocles,"  in  Hellenica  (London,  1880). 
33-66 ;  Tyrrell,  R.  Y.,  Essays  on  Greek  Literature  (London,  1909) ;  Post,  C.  R, 
"Dramatic  Art  of  Sophocles,"  in  Harv.  St.  in  CI.  Philol.  XXIII  (1912).  71-129 ; 
Miiller,  A.,  Msthetischer  Kommentar  zu  den  Tragodien  des  Sophokles  (Pader- 
born,  1904) ;  Patin,  A.,  Msthetisch-kritische  Studien  zu  Sophokles  (Paderborn, 
191 1) ;  Sihler,  E.  G.,  Testimonium  Animce,  ch.  ix. ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History, 
ch.  xvii.  §  2. 

V.  Euripides.  —  Edition  by  Prinz,  R.,  and  Wecklein,  N.,  3  vols.  (Leipzig, 
1883-1902) ;  by  Nauck,  A.,  3  vols.  (3d  ed.,  Teubner,  1892-1895) ;  by 
Murray,  G.,  2  vols.  (Oxford,  1902,  1905).    Among  the  editions  of  individual 


38 


THE  SOURCES 


plays  especially  valuable  for  interpretative  matter  are  Wilamowitz-Moellen- 
dorff,  U.  v.,  Herakles,  2  vols.  (2d  ed.,  Berlin,  1895)  5  Hippolytos  (Berlin, 
1895).  The  scholia  are  edited  by  Schwartz,  E.,  2  vols.  (Berlin,  1887,  1895). 
Translations  by  Way,  A.  S.,  with  text,  Loeb  CI.  Libr.,  4  vols.  (Macmillan, 
191 2);  Coleridge,  E.  P.,  2  vols.  (Bohn) ;  Medea,  Trojan  Women  and  Electra 
by  Murray,  G.  (Oxford,  1907).  The  selections  for  this  volume  are  from 
Coleridge  and  Way. 

For  studies  in  Euripides,  see  Macurdy,  G.  H.,  Chronology  of  the  Extant 
Plays  of  Euripides.  Diss.  (Lancaster,  Pa.,  1905) ;  Decharme,  P.,  Euripides 
and  the  Spirit  of  his  Dramas,  trans,  by  Loeb,  J.  (Macmillan,  1905) ;  Murray, 
G.,  Euripides  and  his  Age  (Holt,  1913) ;  Verrall,  A.  W.,  Euripides  the  Ra- 
tionalist; a  Study  of  Art  and  Religion  (Cambridge :  University  Press,  1913) ; 
Steiger,  H.,  Euripides,  seine  Dichtung  und  seine  Persdnlichkeit  (Leipzig : 
Dieterich,  1912) ;  Haussleiter,  F.,  Ueber  die  Frage  der  Sittlichkeit  bei  Sophokles 
und  Euripides  (Erlangen,  1907) ;  Bartels,  R.,  Beziehung  zu  Athen  und  seiner 
Geschichte  in  den  Dramen  des  Euripides,  Progr.  (Berlin,  1889) ;  Huddilston, 
J.  EL,  Greek  Art  in  Euripides,  Aischylos  and  Sophokles,  Diss.  (Munich,  1898) ; 
Sihler,  Testimonium  Animce,  ch.  x. ;  Kirchhoff,  C,  Dramatische  Orchestik  der 
Hellenen  (Leipzig,  1899) ;  Verrall,  A.  W.,  The  Bacchants  of  Euripides  and  other 
Essays  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1910) ;  Nestle,  W.,  "Die  Bacchen  des 
Euripides,"  in  Philol.  LVIII  (1899).  362-400. 

Fragments  of  all  the  tragic  poets:  Nauck,  A.,  Tragicorum  grcecorum  frag- 
menta  (2d  ed.,  Teubner,  1889). 

VI.  Aristophanes.  —  Edition  by  Leeuwen,  J.  van  (Leiden,  1893-1906) ; 
by  Hall,  F.  W.,  and  others  (Clarendon  Press,  1902) ;  facsimile  of  the  Codex 
Venetus  Marcianus  474  by  White,  J.  W.  (Boston,  1902) ;  text  with  translation 
and  explanatory  notes  by  Rogers,  B.  B.,  each  play  in  a  separate  vol.  (Macmil- 
lan, 1902-),  from  which  selections  for  the  present  volume  have  been  taken. 
Scholia  by  Rutherford,  W.  G.,  3  vols.  (London,  1 896-1 905).  Translations, 
in  addition  to  Rogers,  by  Walsh,  B.  D.,  3  vols.  (London,  1837) ;  by  Hickie, 
W.  J.,  2  vols.  (Bohn) ;  select  plays  by  Frere,  J.  H.  (London :  Routledge,  1887). 

Dunbar,  H.,  Complete  Concordance  to  the  Comedies  and  Fragments  of  Aris- 
tophanes (Oxford,  1883) ;  Muller-Striibing,  H.,  Aristophanes  und  die  historische 
Kritik,  etc.  (Leipzig,  1873) ;  Mazon,  P.,  Essai  sur  la  composition  des  comedies 
d' Aristophanes  (Paris,  1904) ;  Leeuwen,  J.  van,  Prolegomena  ad  Aristophanem 
(Leiden,  1908);  Sihler,  E.  G.,  De  parodiis  comicorum  grcecorum,  etc.  (Leipzig, 
1875) ;  White,  J.  W.,  "The  'Stage'  in  Aristophanes,"  in  Harv.  St.  in  CI.  Philol. 
II  (1891).  159-205;  Richards,  H.,  Aristophanes  and  Others  (London:  G. 
Richards,  1909) ;  Suss,  Wr.,  Aristophanes  und  die  Nachwelt,  2  vols.  (Leipzig, 
191 1) ;  Emerson,  A.,  "On  the  Conception  of  Low  Comedy  in  Aristophanes," 
in  Am.  Journ.  Philol.  X  (1889).  265-79;  Droysen,  J.  G.,  "Des  Aristophanes 
Vogel  und  die  Hermokopiden,"  in  Kleine  Schriften  (2d  ed.,  1894).  1-51 ;  Kock, 
Th.,  "Aristophanes  als  Dichter  und  Politiker,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  XXXIX  (1884) . 
118-40;  Croiset,  M.,  Aristophanes  and  the  Political  Parties  at  Athens,  trans, 
by  Loeb,  J.  (Macmillan,  1909);  Willems,  A.,  "Aristophane  et  la  democratic 


XENOPHON 


39 


Athenienne,"  in  Acad.  roy.  de  Belg.  Bull.  1907,  pp.  338-73 ;  Sheppard,  J.  T., 
"Politics  in  the  Frogs  of  Aristophanes,"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXX  (1910).  249-59; 
Jebb,  R.  C,  "Aristophanes,"  in  Encycl.  Brit.  s.  v.  (nth  ed.) ;  Kaibel,  G., 
"Aristophanes,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  s.  v. 

IX.  The  Fourth-century  Historians  and  Chroniclers 

Whereas  in  general  the  fourth  century  is  the  great  age  of  prose, 
of  oratory  and  philosophy,  in  history  we  find  a  notable  decline. 
Xenophon,  whose  works  are  preserved  to  us  mainly  by  the  interest 
of  after  ages  in  Socrates,  is  far  inferior  to  Thucydides.  Xenophon 
was  born  about  the  beginning  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  and  lived 
to  354  or  thereabout.  As  a  member  of  a  well-to-do  family  of  pro- 
nounced conservative  sentiments  he  grew  up  in  the  narrow  laco- 
nizing  circle  of  aristocrats  at  Athens,  whose  most  commendable 
interests  lay  in  athletics,  hunting,  and  the  exercise  of  conventional 
virtue  and  religion.  It  was  his  good  fortune  to  become  a  pupil  of 
Socrates,  whose  character  and  teachings  were  henceforth  the  in- 
spiration of  his  life.  The  pupil's  Memorabilia  of  Socrates  not  only 
gives  the  author's  impressions  of  the  great  teacher,  but  forms  an 
invaluable  source  for  the  social  condition  of  Athens  during  the 
Peloponnesian  war  and  the  early  years  of  the  fourth  century.  His 
Anabasis  describes  the  expedition  of  Cyrus  the  Younger  against 
his  brother  Artaxerxes  the  Persian  king,  and  more  particularly  the 
retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand  Greeks  who  had  accompanied  Cyrus 
as  mercenaries.  Among  the  Greeks  was  Xenophon,  who  after  the 
death  of  Cyrus  in  battle  was  elected  to  their  board  of  generals, 
and  who  according  to  his  own  account  was  the  inspiring  genius  of 
the  retreat.  His  narrative  affords  us  a  rare  insight  into  this  mer- 
cenary force,  its  organization  and  spirit,  and  the  characters  of 
prominent  officers.  At  the  same  time  it  gives  interesting  infor- 
mation concerning  the  countries  and  peoples  along  the  route.  The 
publication  of  the  work  must  have  had  an  important  influence  on 
the  Hellenic  attitude  toward  Persia. 

The  chief  historical  product  of  this  author  is  the  Hellenica,  a 
continuation  of  the  history  of  Thucydides.  It  is  a  narrative  of 
Hellenic  affairs  during  the  period  extending  from  411  to  the  battle 
of  Mantineia,  362.  The  greater  part  of  the  work  (bks.  iii-vii)  was 
composed  while  the  author  was  an  exile  from  Athens  and  a  protege 


4o 


THE  SOURCES 


of  Sparta.  It  represents,  accordingly,  the  Lacedaemonian  point 
of  view.  Although  in  comparison  with  the  history  of  Thucydides 
it  is  shallow  and  partisan,  we  value  it  as  our  only  continuous  nar- 
rative of  the  period  which  it  covers.  The  author  has  the  qualities 
of  a  biographer  rather  than  of  a  historian ;  and  for  that  reason  the 
Hellenica  shows  an  interest  in  personal  traits  and  incidents,  which 
are  totally  wanting  in  Thucydides  but  which  appeal  strongly  to  the 
student  of  Hellenic  life  and  culture.  Xenophon  had  a  wide  ex- 
perience with  the  world ;  and  in  his  breadth  of  mind,  his  liberal 
education,  and  his  ethical  and  religious  principles  he  represents 
the  best  features  of  the  cultured  class  of  his  generation.  Other 
works  of  the  author,  such  as  his  Constitution  of  the  Lacedemonians , 
Economicus,  and  Ways  and  Means,  of  great  value  as  sources,  are 
introduced  in  their  appropriate  places. 

We  are  made  to  feel  keenly  the  loss  of  the  great  historians  of 
the  fourth  century  by  the  recent  discovery  of  a  fragment  of  what 
was  evidently  a  far  more  detailed  and  more  valuable  Hellenica  than 
that  of  Xenophon.  It  is  published  by  Grenfell  and  Hunt,  Oxy- 
rhynchus  Papyri,  V  (1908).  147  sqq.  The  fragment  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  events  of  396,  and  includes  a  surprisingly  interesting 
digression  on  the  Boeotian  federal  constitution.  Scholars  assign 
the  treatise  variously  to  Theopompus,  Ephorus,  and  Cratippus. 
On  the  whole  the  weight  of  evidence  seems  to  incline  in  favor  of 
the  last-named  historian. 

Both  Thucydides  and  Xenophon  are  philosophic,  akin  to  the 
sophists  and  Socrates.  After  Xenophon  and  Cratippus  the 
greater  part  of  the  historical  field  is  usurped  by  rhetoric,  which 
acquires  an  excessively  powerful  influence  over  literature.  It  was 
largely  through  Isocrates  that  this  development  took  place;  and 
accordingly  the  first  rhetorical  historians  were  his  pupils,  Ephorus 
of  Cyme,  Asia  Minor,  and  Theopompus  of  Chios.  The  principal 
work  of  Ephorus  was  a  History  of  Universal  Affairs,  which  treated 
of  Hellas  from  the  Return  of  the  Heracleidae  to  his  own  time.  Our 
interest  in  this  last  history  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  chief 
source  of  Diodorus  for  the  period  which  it  covered,  and  that  Strabo 
and  Plutarch  drew  extensively  from  it.  Although  Ephorus  pos- 
sessed some  degree  of  critical  ability,  his  work  fell  lamentably  below 
the  standard  of  accuracy  set  by  Thucydides. 


1 


FOURTH-CENTURY  HISTORIANS  41 

Theopompus  wrote  a  Hellenica  in  twelve  books,  which  was  a 
continuation  of  Thucydides,  and,  more  important,  a  Philippica  in 
fifty-eight  books,  which  treated  in  great  detail  of  recent  and  con- 
temporary affairs,  with  Philip  of  Macedon  as  a  unifying  center. 
The  extant  fragments,  preserved  especially  in  Athenaeus,  show  a 
noteworthy  interest  in  culture  and  character,  with  a  dispropor- 
tionate love  of  exhibiting  the  luxuries  and  vices  of  mankind.  In 
spite  of  the  shortcomings  of  Ephorus  and  Theopompus,  the  dis- 
covery of  the  works  of  either  author  would  doubtless  vastly  enlarge 
our  knowledge  of  Greek  history  and  civilization. 

A  portion  of  the  historical  field  scarcely  touched  by  rhetoric 
was  occupied  by  the  chroniclers  of  Athens,  whose  interest,  like  that 
of  the  scientists,  lay  in  the  collection  and  the  systematizing  of  facts. 
Such  chronicles  of  Athens  were  termed  Atthides  (plural  of  Atthis). 
They  began  with  the  earliest  mythical  kings ;  and  for  the  regal 
period  they  seem  to  have  grouped  events  and  institutions  according 
to  reigns.  For  the  historical  period  the  material  was  arranged 
annalistically  under  the  appropriate  archons.  Far  from  limiting 
himself  to  political  and  military  happenings,  the  atthid-writer 
included  all  kinds  of  institutional,  personal,  and  cultural  matter. 
The  earliest  of  the  class  after  Hellanicus  (see  p.  25)  was  Cleidemus, 
whose  Atthis  evidently  appeared  after  378,  but  of  whose  work  we 
have  little  information.  To  us  the  chronicler  of  greatest  interest 
was  Androtion,  a  pupil  of  Isocrates  and  for  thirty  years  a  prominent 
statesman  of  Athens.  While  he  was  in  exile  at  Megara  he  completed 
and  published  his  Atthis  in  330.  His  attraction  for  us  lies  in  the 
circumstance  that  his  chronicle  was  the  chief  source  for  Aristotle, 
Constitution  of  the  Athenians,  published  a  few  years  afterward. 
An  introduction  to  the  latter  work  will  be  found  in  no.  27  infra. 
With  the  help  of  his  pupils  Aristotle  composed  the  constitutional 
histories  of  a  hundred  and  fifty-eight  states,  most  of  them  Hellenic. 
Each  work  consisted  of  (1)  the  narrative  of  constitutional  growth  to 
the  philosopher's  own  time,  (2)  a  contemporary  survey  of  the  con- 
stitution. The  treatise  on  the  Athenian  constitution,  the  greater 
part  of  which  was  recovered  in  Egypt  about  the  close  of  the  year 
1890,  is  the  only  one  we  have  of  the  vast  collection.  To  the  early 
Hellenistic  age  belongs  Philochorus,  who  was  murdered  about  260 
at  the  instigation  of  the  Macedonian  ruler,  and  whose  Atthis  seems 


42 


THE  SOURCES 


to  have  been  the  ablest  and  most  extensive  of  the  series.  In  addition 
to  his  chronicles  he  composed  a  variety  of  works  on  religion  and 
other  subjects. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Xenophon.  —  Review  of  recent  literature  on  Xenophon  in  Jahresb. 
1903,  1909.  Edition  by  Sauppe,  G.  A.,  5  vols.  (Leipzig,  1867-70) ;  by  Mar- 
chant,  E.  C,  3  vols.  (Clarendon  Press,  1900) ;  Hellenica  by  Keller,  O.  (Leipzig, 
1890) ;  by  Breitenbach,  L.,  with  explanatory  notes  (Weidmann) ;  Economicus 
by  Holden,  H.  A.,  5th  ed.  (London,  1895).  Translation  by  Dakyns,  H.  G., 
3  vols.  (Macmillan,  1890-97).  Selections  from  this  work  for  the  present  volume 
have  been  compared  with  the  Greek  text  and  revised  by  E.  G.  S. 

Bury,  Ancient  Greek  Historians,  lect.  v;  Wachsmuth,  C,  Einleitung  in 
das  Studium  der  alten  Geschichte,  529-36;  Richter,  E.,  Xenophon-Studien 
(Teubner,  1892) ;  Lincke,  K.,  "Xenophon's  persische  Politie,"  in  Philol.  LX 
(1901).  541-71;  Taine,  H.,  "Xenophon:  L'Anabase,"  in  Essais  de  critique 
et  de  Vhistoire  (nth  ed.,  Paris,  1908),  49-95;  Guernsey,  R.,  "Elements  of 
Interest  in  the  Anabasis,"  in  CI.  Weekly,  III.  66;  Morris,  C.  D.,  "Xenophon's 
Economicus,"  in  Am.  Joum.  Philol.  I  (1880).  169-86;  Thalheim,  Th.,  "Zu 
Xenophons  Oikonomikos,"  in  Hermes,  XLII  (1907).  630-42;  Kohler,  U., 
"Ueber  die  IIoAtreta  AaKeSai^ovtW,"  in  Berl.  Akad.  1896,  pp.  361-77  ;  Schanz, 
M.,  "Beitrage  zur  Kritik  der  Schrift  Uepl  Ildpcuv,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  XXXVI 
(1881).  215-36;  Diimmler,  F.,  "Zu  Xenophons  Agesilaos,"  in  Philol.  LIV 
(1895)-  577-86. 

II.  The  Lost  Historians.  —  Fragments  of  Ephorus  in  Miiller,  Frag, 
hist,  grcec.  I.  234-77 ;  IV.  641  sq.  For  studies  in  Ephorus,  see  Mess,  A.  v., 
"  Untersuchungen  iiber  Ephoros,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXI  (1906).  360-407  ;  Niese, 
B.,  "Wann  hat  Ephoros  seine  Geschichtswerk  geschrieben  ?  "  in  Hermes,  XLIV 
(1909).  170-8;  Schwartz,  E.,  "Die  Zeit  des  Ephoros,"  ib.  XLIV  (1909).  481- 
502;  "Ephoros,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VI.  1-16;  Laqueur,  R., 
"Ephorus,"  ib.  XL VI  (1911).  161-206,  321-54;  Ciaceri,  E.,  "Sulla  reinte- 
grazione  della  antichissima  storia  greca  in  Eforo,"  etc.,  in  Rivista  di  Storia 
antica,  N.  S.  VI.  2.  17-24. 

The  fragments  of  Theopompus  are  in  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  grcec.  I.  278-333 ; 
IV.  643-5;  f°r  additions,  see  Cronert,  W.,  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXII  (1907).  382 
sqq.  For  studies  in  this  author  and  in  the  newly  discovered  Oxyrhynchus 
Hellenica,  see  Meyer,  Ed.,  Theopomps  Hellenika  (Halle,  1909) ;  Busolt,  G., 
"Zur  Glaubwiirdigkeit  Theopomps,"  in  Hermes,  XLV  (1910).  220-49;  "Der 
neue  Historiker  und  Xenophon,"  ib.  XLIII  (1908).  255-85;  Mess,  A.  von, 
"Die  Hellenika  von  Oxyrhynchos,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXIII  (1908).  370-91, 
favors  Cratippus  as  author ;  "Die  Hellenika  von  Oxyrhynchos  und  die  Berichte 
Xenophons  und  Diodors,"  ib.  LXIV  (1909)-  235-43;  Bonner,  R.  J.,  "The 
New  Greek  Historian,"  in  Class.  Joum.  V  (1910).  353~9;  Roberts,  W.  R., 
"Theopompus  in  the  Greek  Literary  Critics,"  in  Class.  Rev.  XXII  (1908). 


BIBLIOGRAPHY-  43 

118-22;  Goligher,  W.  A.,  "The  New  Greek  Historical  Fragment  attributed 
to  Theopompus  or  Cratippus,"  in  (Eng.)  Hist.  Rev.  XXIII  (1908).  277-83; 
Judeich,  W.,  "Theopomps  Hellenika,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXVI  (1911).  94-139; 
Walker,  E.  M.,  The  Hellenica  Oxyrhynchia:  Its  Authorship  and  Authority 
(Clarendon  Press,  19 13),  contends  for  Ephorus. 

The  fragments  of  Cratippus  are  in  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  graze.  II.  75  sqq. 
On  the  question  as  to  whether  he  was  the  author  of  the  newly  discovered 
Hellenica,  see  the  works  cited  above;  also  Grenfell  and  Hunt,  Oxyrhynchus 
Papyri,  V  (1908).  no  sqq.  For  other  studies  in  the  historian,  see  Susemihl,  F., 
"Die  Zeit  des  Historikers  Kratippos,"  in  Philol.  LIX  (1900).  537  sqq. ;  Schmidt, 
W.,  "Kratippos  zum  dritten  Mai,"  ib.  LX.  155-7. 

III.  The  Atthid-Writers  and  Aristotle's  Constitution  of  the 
Athenians.  —  On  the  Atthis  in  general,  see  Schwartz,  "Atthis,"  in  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  II.  2180-3;  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  V.,  Aristoteles 
u.  Ath.  I.  260-90;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  II.  7  sqq. 

On  Androtion,  see  Keil,  B.,  Die  solonische  Verfassung,  etc.  (Berlin,  1892), 
190  sqq.;  Schwartz,  "Androtion,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  2173- 
5;  De  Sanctis,  G.,  "LAttide  di  Androzione  e  un  papirio  di  Oxyrhynchos,"  in 
R.  Acad.  d.  sci.  atti.  XLIII  (1908).  331-56.  On  Philochorus,  see  Wright,  J.  H., 
"Did  Philochorus  quote  the  'A^vatW  UoXireta  as  Aristotle's?"  in  Am.  Journ. 
Philol.  XII  (1891).  310-18. 

The  editio  princeps  of  Aristotle,  Constitution  of  the  Athenians,  is  that  of 
Kenyon,  F.  G.  (London,  1891 :  3d  ed.,  1892) ;  the  most  thoroughly  annotated 
edition  is  by  Sandys,  J.  E.  (2d  ed.,  Macmillan,  1912);  see  also  ed.  by  Her- 
werden,  H.  van,  and  Leeuwen,  J.  van  (Leyden,  1891) ;  by  Blass-Thalheim 
(Teubner,  1909).  The  best  complete  translation  is  by  Kenyon  (London: 
Bell,  1912).  There  is  one  also  by  Poste,  E.  (Macmillan,  1891).,  For  studies 
in  the  subject,  see  Adcock,  F.  E.,  "Source  of  the  Solonian  Chapters,"  Klio,  XII 
(191 2).  1 -1 6  ;  Bauer,  A.,  Liter arische  und  historische  Forschungen  zu  Aristo- 
teles yA0r}vat(i)v  HoXlt eta  (Munich,  1891) ;  Berard,  J.,  "Aristote,  la  constitu- 
tion d'Athenes,"  in  Rev.  hist.  1892,  pp.  285-305;  Blass,  F.,  "Die  sogenannte 
drakontische  Verfassung,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  CLI  (1895).  476-9;  Botsford,  G.  W., 
Development  of  the  Athenian  Constitution  (Ginn,  1893);  "Beginnings  of  the 
Athenian  Hegemony,"  in  Class.  Rev.  VIII.  195  sq. ;  "Trial  of  the  Alcmeonidae 
and  the  Cleisthenean  Constitutional  Reform,"  in  Harv.  St.  in  Class.  Philol. 
VIII  (1897).  1-22;  Bruck,  S.,  " Heliastengerichte  im  4  Jahrh."  in  Philol. 
LII  (1893).  295-317,  395-421;  "Heliastentafelchen,"  ib.  LIV.  64-79;  Busolt, 
G.,  "Aristoteles  oder  Xenophon,"  in  Hermes,  XXXIII  (1898).  71-86;  Cauer, 
F.,  Hat  Aristoteles  die  Schrift  vom  Staate  der  Athener  geschrieben?  (Stuttgart, 
1 891) ;  Cauer,  P.,  "Aristoteles  Urteil  iiber  die  Demokratie,"  in  N.  Jahrb. 
CXLV  (1892).  581-93;  Corssen,  P.,  "Das  Verhaltniss  der  aristotelischen  zu 
der  thukidideischen  Darstellung  des  Tyrannenmordes,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LI 
(1896).  226-39;  Droysen,  H.,  Vorlaufige  Bemerkungen  zu  Aristoteles  'A&p/aiW 
IIoA.it eux  (Berlin,  1891) ;  Dufour,  M.,  La  constitution  d'Athenes  et  Vceuvre 
d'' Aristote  (Paris,  1896) ;  Fowler,  H.  N.,  "Dates  of  the  Exiles  of  Peisistratus," 


44 


THE  SOURCES 


in  Harv.  St.  in  Class.  Philol.  VII  (1896).  167-75;  Francotte,  A.,  VOrganisa- 
tion  de  la  cite  athenienne  et  la  reforme  de  Clisthene  (Paris,  1893) ;  Frederichs,  J., 
"La  valeur  de  la  'AffyvaiW  IIoAiTeia,"  in  Rev.  de  Vinstr.  publ.  en  Belgique, 
XXXVII  (1894).  26-43  j  Gilliard,  Quelques  reformesde  Solon  (Lausanne,  1907) ; 
De  Sanctis,  G.,  'AtOis,  Storia  delta  repubblica  ateniese  (2d  ed.,  Torino,  1912) ; 
Hofmann,  J.,  Studien  zur  drakontischen  Verfassung  (Straubing,  1899) ;  Keil,  B., 
Die  solonische  Verfassung,  etc.  (Berlin,  1892) ;  Anonymus  Argentinensis,  etc. 
(Strassburg,  1902) ;  Lecoutere,  C.,  UArchontat  .  .  .  d'aprtela'AOvjvaLwvTLokiTeux 
(Louvain,  1893) ;  Lehmann-Haupt,  C.  F.,  Solon  of  Athens,  the  Poet,  the 
Merchant,  and  the  Statesman  (Liverpool,  1912);  Lipsius,  J.  H.,  "Ueber  das 
neugefundene  Buch  des  Aristoteles,"  etc.,  in  Sachs.  Gesellsch.  XLIII  (1891). 
41-69;  Mess,  A.  v.,  "Aristoteles  'A^ratW  UoXiTeta  und  die  politische  Schrift- 
stellerei  Athens,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXVI  (1911).  356-92 ;  Meyer,  P.,  Des  Aris- 
toteles Politik  und  die  'AOrpnutov  IIoXtTeta  (Bonn,  1891) ;  Milchhofer,  A.,  Unter- 
suchungen  iiber  die  Demenordnung  des  Kleisthenes  (Berlin,  1892) ;  "Attische 
Local  verfassung,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  1893,  pp.  277-304;  Newman,  W.  L.,  "Aris- 
totle on  the  Constitution  of  Athens,"  in  Class.  Rev.  V.  155-64;  Nordin,  R., 
Themistoklesfrage  (Upsala,  1893);  Seeck,  0.,  "Quellenstudien,"  in  Klio,  IV. 
164-326;  Stern,  E.  v.,  "Solon  und  Peisistratos,"  in  Hermes,  XLVIII  (1913). 
426-41;  Thalheim,  Th.,  "Die  drakontische  Verfassung,"  in  Hermes,  XXIX 
(1894).  458-63;  Viedebantt,  O.,  " Metrologische  Beitrage,  I,  II,"  in  Hermes, 
XLVII  (1912).  422  sqq.,  562  ;  Wright,  J.  H.,  "The  Date  of  Cylon,"  in  Harv. 
St.  in  Class.  Philol.  Ill  (1892).  1-74;  Ziehen,  L.,  "Die  drakontische  Gesetz- 
gebung,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LIV  (1899).  321-44. 

X.  The  Attic  Orators 

From  Homeric  times  the  Greeks  had  paid  great  attention  to 
oratory ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  period  of  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
in  the  mature  growth  of  rhetoric,  that  men  began  to  write  their 
speeches.  Oratory  was  of  three  kinds ;  (1)  epideictic  for  the  dis- 
play of  literary  skill  at  funerals,  great  public  gatherings,  or  similar 
occasions ;  (2)  symbouleutic,  deliberative,  for  council  or  assembly, 
(3)  judicial,  for  prosecution  or  defense  in  the  law  courts.  In  the 
democratic  tribunals  every  man  had  to  plead  his  own  case,  and  the 
party  to  the  trial  who  was  not  himself  a  rhetorician  had  his  pleading 
composed  for  him  by  a  professional  speech  writer,  a  rhetorician 
equipped  with  at  least  a  smattering  of  the  law.  These  profes- 
sional composers  preserved  their  speeches  chiefly  that  they  might 
serve  as  models  for  similar  work  in  the  future.  Literary  critics  of 
the  Alexandrian  age  made  up  a  list,  termed  the  canon,  of  ten  Attic 
orators  to  represent  the  various  excellences  of  style.    It  is  mainly 


LYSIAS  AND  ISAEUS 


45 


to  the  interest  of  these  critics  that  we  owe  the  preservation  of  a 
large  body  of  Attic  oratory.  Those  orators  only  whose  works  are 
represented  in  the  present  volume  are  mentioned  below. 

Lysias  belonged  to  a  wealthy  resident-alien  family,  whose  estate 
was  destroyed  by  the  tyranny  of  the  Thirty,  404-403.  This  mis- 
fortune converted  him  into  a  teacher  of  rhetoric  and  a  professional 
writer  of  speeches  for  others  to  deliver.  He  died  in  380  or  shortly 
afterward,  and  could  not  therefore  have  followed  this  profession 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century ;  and  yet  we  are  informed  by  a 
credible  authority  that  he  composed  at  least  two  hundred  and 
thirty- three  speeches.  His  productive  power  was  in  fact  astound- 
ing. Of  the  whole  number  we  have  but  thirty-four,  of  which  one  or 
two  are  fragmentary.  Most  of  them  are  judicial.  They  are  com- 
posed in  a  simple  graceful  style,  resembling  in  appearance  the  lan- 
guage of  every-day  life  though  in  fact  artistic.  They  are  dramatic 
in  their  adaptation  to  the  characters  of  the  individual  pleaders 
and  possess  the  quality  known  to  the  Greeks  as  ethos  —  the  gentle 
current  of  feeling  which  wins  the  sympathy  of  the  hearers.  The 
orations  deal  fully  with  the  parties  to  the  trial,  their  characters, 
history,  financial  and  social  circumstances ;  thus  they  bring  us 
into  contact  with  actual  persons  and  social-economic  conditions. 
While  the  other  orators  differ  in  style  and  mentality,  it  may  be  said 
once  for  all  that  their  productions,  equally  with  those  of  Lysias, 
lead  us  into  direct  touch  with  public  and  private  life. 

Regarding  the  personal  affairs  of  Isaeus  we  have  little  informa- 
tion. His  activity  as  a  speech  writer  extended  from  the  close  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war  to  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century, 
while  his  extant  speeches  lie  within  the  years  389-353.  Though 
he  is  reputed  a  pupil  of  Isocrates,  he  betrays  no  sign  of  that  master's 
influence,  and  should  be  regarded  rather  as  the  successor,  and 
younger  contemporary,  of  Lysias,  and  a  connecting  link  between 
that  writer  and  Demosthenes.  All  the  twelve  extant  speeches  are 
concerned  with  the  law  cases  in  which  the  writer  excelled —  inherit- 
ances and  adoptions.  His  best  recent  editor,  Wyse,  has  added  no 
glory  to  the  orator's  moral  reputation.  Isaeus  was  an  extremely 
clever  family  lawyer  who  knew  how  to  twist  legal  points  most 
skilfully  in  order  to  win  his  case.  The  same  thing,  in  a  varying 
degree,  may  be  said  of  all  Greek  writers  of  judicial  speeches ;  and 


46 


THE  SOURCES 


with  careful  criticism  the  speeches  of  Isaeus  may  be  made  as 
profitable  for  history  as  those  of  Lysias. 

The  general  tendencies  of  life  and  thought  during  the  fourth 
century  were  toward  the  breaking  down  of  the  city-state  with  all 
its  traditional  associations  and  the  corresponding  enlargement  of 
ideas  and  sympathies,  of  social  and  political  relations.  These 
tendencies,  recognizable  in  Xenophon,  found  more  complete  ex- 
pression in  Isocrates  of  Athens,  436-338,  whose  life  was  contem- 
porary with  the  whole  development  of  prose  literature,  and  with 
the  culmination  and  incipient  decay  of  the  city-state  system.  He 
was  a  schoolmaster,  who  for  a  fee  of  1000  drachmas  gave  a  course 
of  three  or  four  years  in  statesmanship.  Along  with  a  training  in 
oratory  he  supplied  the  pupil  with  such  ethical  and  political  knowl- 
edge as  he  deemed  essential  to  public  leadership.  The  sons  of 
princes  and  other  notables  throughout  Hellas,  particularly  in  the 
East,  gathered  at  his  feet,  and  received  from  him  most  helpful 
instruction.  From  his  school  issued  generals,  statesmen,  orators, 
and  historians.  Undoubtedly  through  his  pupils  he  exercised  a  wide 
influence  on  Hellenic  opinion.  While  teaching,  Isocrates  engaged 
in  the  composition  of  Orations,  which,  not  being  intended  for  de- 
livery, may  more  properly  be  termed  essays.  With  a  delicate 
taste  for  literary  form  he  gave  the  most  minute  and  prolonged 
attention  to  the  elaboration  of  a  nicely  adjusted  periodology,  and 
to  the  exquisite  choice  and  arrangement  of  words.  At  least  in 
appearance  the  stylist  in  him  dominates  over  the  thinker.  His 
writings  treat  of  political  conditions ;  he  was  the  first  and  most 
eminent  of  ancient  publicists.  In  home  politics  he  was  a  conserva- 
tive who  preferred  the  constitution  of  Solonian  and  Cleisthenean 
times  when  the  Council  of  the  Areopagus  kept  parental  watch  over 
citizens  and  magistrates.  These  views  he  sets  forth  in  his  Areo- 
pagiticus.  In  the  larger  field  of  inter-state  politics  he  long  favored 
the  union  of  all  the  Hellenes,  under  the  joint  leadership  of  Athens 
and  Sparta,  for  a  war  of  conquest  against  Persia.  The  Panegyricus, 
his  greatest  masterpiece,  380  B.C.,  embodies  this  doctrine.  Finally 
recognizing  the  futility  of  this  hope,  he  appealed  to  various  emi- 
nent men  to  take  the  leadership.  Among  them  were  Dionysius 
of  Syracuse,  Archidamus  of  Sparta,  and  lastly  Philip  of  Macedon. 
The  study  of  Isocrates  has  been  given  a  new  importance  and  a  new 


ISOCRATES  AND  DEMOSTHENES 


47 


impetus  by  the  contention  of  certain  German  scholars,  among  whom 
is  Eduard  Meyer,  that  he  is  the  truest  interpreter  of  his  time,  that 
the  study  of  fourth-century  conditions  should  proceed  from  his 
outlook  (Cf.  Gesch.  d.  Alt.  V.  p.  280).  Although  space  does  not 
permit  a  discussion  of  this  view,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  no  thinker, 
however  useful  as  sources  his  writings  may  be,  possesses  a  monopoly 
of  the  political  wisdom  of  his  age.  See  further  on  this  subject  the 
introduction  and  notes  to  the  Philippus,  no.  127  infra. 

With  Isocrates,  his  fellow-citizen  Demosthenes,  384-322,  pre- 
sents a  striking  contrast,  that  of  the  practical  against  the  theoretical, 
energy  against  lassitude,  the  dense  massing  of  facts  in  irresistible 
phalanxes  of  persuasion  as  opposed  to  a  high  dilution  of  ideas  in 
multitudes  of  perfumed,  sweet-sounding  words.  The  circumstances 
of  his  early  life,  his  mistreatment  at  the  hands  of  unfaithful  guar- 
dians, and  his  prosecution  of  the  latter  are  touched  upon  in  connec- 
tion with  the  excerpt  from  his  Oration  against  Aphobus,  no.  156 
infra.  From  this  prosecution  he  emerged  with  a  reputation  as  a 
writer  of  judicial  speeches  —  the  foundation  of  his  worldly  fortune. 
These  orations  have  equal  value  with  those  of  Lysias  as  sources  for 
social,  economic,  judicial,  and  general  cultural  conditions.  In  his 
early  life  appear  two  forces  which  admirably  support  and  supple- 
ment each  other :  the  first  is  a  certain  sternness  and  severity,  the 
second  a  clear  and  direct  manner  of  going  to  his  point  and  of  making 
it.  The  bald  truth  and  its  intrinsic  force,  rather  than  any  technical 
skill  in  rousing  emotion,  form  the  vital  quality  of  his  oratory.  In 
the  general  sweep  of  history  the  private  orations  are  lost  sight  of  in 
the  struggle  of  this  rare  man  against  the  power,  the  policy,  and  the 
personality  of  Philip,  who,  succeeding  to  the  throne  of  Macedon  in 
359,  made  of  his  country,  formerly  insignificant,  the  most  for- 
midable monarchy  of  Europe.  It  was  Philip's  achievement  to 
establish  in  his  country  a  world  power  organized  and  fitted  for 
the  purpose  which  his  son  Alexander  with  dazzling  promptitude 
accomplished  —  the  destruction  of  the  Persian  realm  and  the 
erection  on  its  ruins  of  a  vast  Hellenistic  empire. 

Against  the  growth  of  this  power,  which  overshadowed  the 
freedom  of  the  Greek  republics,  Demosthenes  almost  alone  struggled 
like  a  hero  but  in  vain.  In  the  past  century  the  pendulum  of  judg- 
ment on  his  character  and  principles  has  swung  to  violent  extremes. 


48 


THE  SOURCES 


At  the  time  when  Napoleon  I  was  crushing  Prussia  beneath  his 
iron  heel,  B.  G.  Niebuhr,  the  patriot  scholar,  saw  a  close  resemblance 
between  Philip  of  Macedon  and  the  tyrant  emperor,  while  he  looked 
to  Demosthenes  as  the  champion  of  human  freedom.  But  times 
have  changed ;  and  the  grasping  imperialism  of  Europe  cannot 
afford  to  tolerate  the  memory  of  a  man  who  contended  according 
to  his  power  for  the  liberty  of  the  weak  commonwealth.  It  is  true 
that  the  empire  of  Alexander  was  the  means  of  diffusing  Hellenic 
civilization  among  mankind  ;  it  is  equally  true  that  in  the  end,  even 
if  not  so  soon  as  Demosthenes  expected,  imperialism,  beginning 
with  Alexander  and  continuing  with  Rome,  crushed  local  freedom 
and  brought  to  ruin  the  civilization  of  the  world.  From  these  con- 
siderations it  appears  clear  that  while  the  success  of  the  Macedonian 
cause  brought  great  though  not  unalloyed  benefits  to  the  world, 
there  was  right  also  on  the  side  of  the  local  patriot ;  and  though  he 
failed,  his  inspired  eloquence  and  heroic  struggle  are  a  priceless  and 
eternal  treasure. 

iEschines,  about  389-314,  remembered  chiefly  as  the  political 
adversary  of  Demosthenes,  was  the  son  of  a  schoolmaster  of  humble 
circumstances.  In  earlier  life  ^Eschines  became  a  public  scribe, 
then  for  a  time  an  actor,  and  finally,  under  the  patronage  of  Eubulus, 
he  entered  the  political  arena.  At  first  he  favored  the  formation 
of  a  Hellenic  league  against  Philip  ;  but  in  346  he  was  a  member  of 
a  peace  embassy  to  the  Macedonian  king.  After  this  first  contact 
with  Philip  he  remained  a  steadfast  leader  of  the  pro-Macedonian 
party  at  Athens.  Whether  this  somersault  was  due  to  a  change  of 
conviction  or  a  bribe  is  under  controversy.  Demosthenes,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  same  embassy,  prosecuted  him  on  the  charge  that  he 
had  sold  himself  to  Philip  to  betray  his  country ;  and  he  narrowly 
escaped  condemnation  (343).  The  opposing  speeches  of  Demos- 
thenes and  ^Eschines  On  the  Faithless  Embassage  (Parapresbeia)  are 
extant ;  they  are  a  hopeless  tangle  of  contradictions.  Afterward, 
yEschines  prosecuted  Ctesiphon  for  proposing  high  honors  to  De- 
mosthenes. This  great  case,  begun  in  336,  was  decided  in  330. 
The  aim  of  iEschines  to  destroy  Demosthenes  in  public  life  called 
forth  the  noblest  pleading  of  antiquity,  the  oration  of  Demosthenes 
On  the  Crown,  a  defense  of  the  speaker's  career  and  character.  The 
failure  of  iEschines  was  so  complete  that  he  was  forced  to  retire  into 


CONTEMPORARIES  OF  DEMOSTHENES 


exile.  Besides  the  orations  of  ^Eschines  on  these  two  occasions 
we  have  his  speech  Against  Timarchus,  from  which  an  excerpt  is 
given  in  this  volume.  It  hardly  need  be  said  that  modern  scholars 
who  condemn  Demosthenes  are  equally  strenuous  in  attempting 
to  rehabilitate  yEschines  as  a  far-sighted  statesman  and  a  man  of 
honor.    Something  can  be  done  in  this  direction. 

Lycurgus,  a  distinguished  contemporary  and  collaborator  of 
Demosthenes,  was  like  the  latter  firm  in  support  of  measures  hos- 
tile to  the  aggression  of  Macedon.  In  the  difficult  times  which 
followed  the  catastrophe  of  Chaeroneia  he  was  preeminent  through 
the  firmness  and  the  purity  of  his  Attic  patriotism.  For  twelve 
years  he  directed  the  finances,  the  first  period  of  four  years  under 
his  own  name,  the  next  two  periods,  eight  years  in  all,  under  the 
formal  control  of  others.  During  this  time  of  twelve  years,  14,000 
talents,  or  according  to  some,  18,650  talents,  passed  through  his 
hands.  Modern  scholars  highly  extol  his  financial  administration. 
The  extant  discourse  Against  Leocrates  exhibits  a  public  character 
of  great  sternness.  Of  the  published  discourses  mentioned  in 
Suidas  as  genuine,  eight  were  prosecutions.  A  vulnerable  politi- 
cian as  a  rule  eschews  this  form  of  public  service.  Uncompromising, 
vigorous  no  less  than  rigorous,  he  appears  in  the  preserved  speech 
as  a  man  who  appropriated  the  literature  of  the  past  in  a  practical 
and  patriotic  manner,  to  illustrate  the  underlying  principles  of 
right  conduct  and  civic  duty. 

Hypereides,  389-322,  long  an  associate  of  Demosthenes  in  op- 
position to  Macedon,  was  a  man  fond  of  the  pleasures  of  life.  In 
oratory  he  possessed  in  a  notable  degree  the  quality  of  grace  (%<fy>w) 
in  contrast  with  the  Demosthenic  power,  and  an  all-round  ability 
rather  than  preeminence  in  any  one  oratorical  feature.  The  an- 
cients had  fifty-two  undoubted  speeches  ;  but  all  were  lost,  and  the 
world  of  scholarship  could  judge  of  him  through  the  medium  of 
ancient  critics  only,  till  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  individual  orations  began  to  come  to  light.  We  now  have  in 
whole  or  in  large  part  six  orations.  Among  them  is  the  Epitaphios, 
delivered  at  the  public  funeral  of  those  who  had  fallen  in  the  Lamian 
war  in  defense  of  their  country.  The  fact  that  Hypereides  was 
chosen  for  this  function  is  evidence  of  his  repute  both  as  a  patriot 
and  as  an  eloquent  orator. 


5o 


THE  SOURCES 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Attic  Orators.  —  Recent  literature  reviewed  in  Jahresb.  1907,  1912. 
Jebb,  R.  C.j  Attic  Orators  from  Antiphon  to  Isceus,  2  vols.  (2d  ed.,Macmil- 
lan,  1893) ;  Blass,  Fr.,  Geschichte  der  attischen  Beredsamkeit,  4  vols.  (2d  ed., 
Teubner). 

II.  Lysias,  Is^us,  and  Isocrates.  —  Edition  of  Lysias  by  Cobet,  C.  G. 
(2ded.  1882) ;  by  Scheibe  (2ded.,  Teubner,  1885) ;  by  Thalheim,  Th.  (Leipzig, 
1901) ;  by  Hude,  C.  (Clarendon  Press,  1913).  German  translation  by  Falk,  A. 
(Breslau,  1843).  For  studies  in  Lysias,  see  Jebb,  Attic  Orators,  I.  142-3J6; 
II.  1-368  ;  Devries,  W.  L.,  Ethopoi'ia.  A  Rhetorical  Study  of  the  Types  of  Char- 
acter in  the  Orations  of  Lysias.  Diss.  Johns  Hopkins  University  (Baltimore, 
1892);  Wolff,  Ueber  Lysias  Epitaphios  und  Isokrates  Panegyrikos  (Berlin, 
1896). 

The  best  edition  of  Isaeus  is  by  Wyse,  W.,  with  detailed  notes  on  matters 
of  Attic  law  (Cambridge  :  University  Press,  1904) ;  see  also  the  ed.  of  Thalheim 
(Leipzig,  1903).  For  studies  in  Isaeus,  see  Jebb,  Attic  Orators;  Blass,  Attische 
Beredsamkeit,  II.  452-541 ;  Goligher,  W.  A.,  "Isaeus  and  Attic  Law,"  in  Her- 
mathena,  XIV  (1907).  183-204,  481-515. 

Edition  of  Isocrates  by  Blass,  F.,  2  vols.  (Teubner,  1885) ;  by  Drerup,  E., 
vol.  I  ready  (Leipzig,  1906).  English  translation  by  Freese,  J.  H.,  vol.  I  (Bohn), 
from  which  selections  have  been  taken  for  this  volume.  The  entire  work  is 
translated  by  Dinsdale,  J.,  rev.  by  Young  (London,  1752).  A  useful  work  is 
the  Index  Isocrateus  by  Preuss,  S.  (Teubner,  1904).  For  studies  in  this  author, 
see  Adams,  C.  D.,  "Recent  Views  of  the  Political  Influence  of  Isocrates,"  in 
Class.  Philol.  VII  (1912),  343-50;  Gercke,  A.,  "Isokrates  und  Alkidamas," 
in  Rhein.  Mus.  LIV  (1899).  404-13  ;  "Die  Replik  Isokrates  gegen  Alkidamas," 
ib.  (1907).  170-202;  Hagen,  B.  v.,  "Isokrates  und  Alexander,"  in  Philol. 
LXVII  (1908).  113-33;  Hubbell,  H.  M.,  Influence  of  Isocrates  on  Cicero,  Dio- 
nysius,  and  Aristeides,  Diss.  (Yale  University  Press,  1913) ;  Kessler,  J.,  "Iso- 
krates und  die  panhellenische  Idee,"  in  St.  z.  Gesch.  u.  Kidt.  des  Alt.  IV.  3  (191 1) ; 
Kopp,  F.,  "Isokrates  als  Politiker,"  in  Preuss.  Jahrb.  LXX  (1892).  472-87; 
Meyer,  Ed.,  "Isokrates'  zweite  Philippika,"  in  Sitzb.  Berl.  Akad.  1909,  pp.  758— 
79;  Munscher,  K.,  "Die  Isokratesiiberlieferung,"  in  Philol.  LVIII  (1899).  88- 
110;  Pohlmann,  R.  v.,  "Isokrates  und  das  Problem  der  Demokratie,"  in 
Munch.  Akad.  (Munich,  1913) ;  Raeder,  H.,  "Alkidamas  und  Platon  als  Gegner 
des  Isokrates,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXIII  (1908).  495-511;  Scala,  R.  v.,  "Iso- 
krates und  die  Geschichtschreibung,"  in  Versamml.  d.  Philolog.  (Leipzig,  1892), 
102-21 ;  Wilamowitz-MoellendorrT,  U.  v.,  Aristoteles  u.  Ath.  II.  380-99. 

III.  Demosthenes.  —  Edition  by  Dindorff,  rev.  by  Blass,  F.,  3  vols. 
(Leipzig,  1891-1907).  In  1805  there  was  published  at  Leipzig  a  translation  of 
his  public  orations,  "in  order  that,  by  an  example  from  ancient  times,  the 
German  people  might  be  warned  against  the  tyranny  of  Napoleon  which 
threatened  them."  An  English  translation  by  Kennedy,  C.  R.,  4  vols.  (Bohn) 
from  which  one  or  two  of  the  selections  from  Demosthenes  for  this  volume  have 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


5i 


been  taken,  after  a  revision,  on  the  basis  of  the  Greek  text,  by  E.  G.  S.  An 
Index  Demosthenius  by  Preuss,  S.  (Teubner,  1892),  will  be  found  useful. 

For  studies  in  this  orator,  in  addition  to  Jebb  and  Blass,  see  Brodribb, 
W.  J.,  Demosthenes  (new  ed.,  London,  1898) ;  Butcher,  G.  H.,  Demosthenes 
(Macmillan,  1881) ;  Droysen,  J.  G.,  "Ueber  die  Echtheit  der  Urkunden  in  der 
Rede  vom  Kranz,"  in  Kleine  Schr.  I  (Leipzig,  1893).  95-297;  Hug,  A.,  " De- 
mosthenes als  politischer  Denker,"  in  Stud,  aus  dem  cl.  Alt.  I  (1881).  51-103; 
Kahrstedt,  Forschungen  zur.  Gesch.  d.  ausgehenden  5.  u.  dcs  4.  Jahrh.  (Berlin, 
1910).  1-154  (rev.  Bed.  Philol.  Woch.  XXX,  1913,  p.  498  sqq. ;  Gott.  gelehrt.  Anz. 

1912,  p.  17  sqq.,  unfavorably);  Francotte,  H.,  "Etudes  sur  Demosthene,''  in 
Mus.  Belg.  XVII  (1913).  69-91,  237-88;  Pickard-Cambridge,  A.  W.,  Demos- 
thenes and  the  last  Days  of  Greek  Freedom  (Putnam,  1914) ;  Schafer,  A.,  Demos- 
thenes und  seine  Zeit,  3  vols.  (Teubner,  1885-87) ;  Thalheim,  "Demosthenes," 
in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  V.  169-88,  with  references  to  modern  literature. 

IV.  ^schines,  Lycurgus,  and  Hypereides.  —  Edition  of  ^Eschines  by 
Schultz,  F.  (Leipzig,  1865) ;  by  Weidner,  A.  (Leipzig,  1872) ;  by  Blass,  F. 
(2d  ed.,  Leipzig,  1908).    Recent  literature  on  ^schines  reviewed  in  Jahresb. 

1913,  pp.  214-40.  German  translation  by  Benseler,  G.  E.,  3  vols.  (Leipzig, 
1855-60;  Two  Orations  on  the  Crown  by  Biddle,  G.  W.  (Phila.  1881).  See  also 
Preuss,  S.,  Index  Mschineus  (Teubner,  1896).  For  other  studies,  in  addition 
to  Blass,  see  Bougot,  A.,  Rivalite  d'JEschine  et  de  Demosthene  (Paris,  1891) ; 
Bruns,  I.,  Das  liter  arische  Portrait  der  Griechen,  etc.  (Stuttgart,  1896),  ch.  iv. 
§  5;  Thalheim,  "Aischines,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  1050-62. 

Edition  of  Lycurgus  by  Blass,  F.  (Leipzig,  1899) ;  a  new  fragment  by  Rabe, 
H.,  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXIII  (1908).  143  sqq. ;  Index  to  Andocides,  Lycurgus,  and 
Dinarchus  by  Forman,  L.  L.  (Oxford,  1897).  German  translation  by  Bender, 
H.  (3d  ed.,  1909).  See  also  Durrbach,  F.,  "L'Orateur  Lycurge.  Etude  hist, 
et  lit.,"  in  Bill,  des  ecoles  franc.  d'Athenes,  etc.  LVII  (Paris,  1887) ;  Droge,  C, 
De  Lycurgo  atheniensi  pecuniarum  publicarum  administrator 'e,  Diss.  (Bonn, 
1880). 

Edition  of  Hypereides  by  Blass.  F.  (3d  ed.,  Leipzig,  1894) ;  by  Kenyon 
F.  G.  (Oxford,  1907) ;  Orations  against  Athenagoras  and  Philippides,  with  a 
translation,  by  Kenyon  (London,  1893) ;  Grenfell  and  Hunt,  Oxyrhynchus 
Papyri,  IV  (1904).  Recent  literature  on  Hypereides  in  Jahresb.  19 13,  pp.  186- 
213  ;  Sandys,  J.  E.,  "Recent  Editions  of  Hypereides,"  in  Class.  Rev.  IX  (1895). 
71-4.  See  also  Bruner,  L.,  Studien  zur  Gesch.  u.  Sprache  des  Hypereides,  Progr. 
(Bamberg,  1906). 

IX.  Plato  and  Aristotle 

Plato,  427-347,  belonged  to  the  oldest  nobility  of  Athens,  and 
enjoyed  the  literary,  musical,  and  athletic  education  of  his  class. 
Through  such  accomplishments  and  more  through  his  long  pupilage 
under  Socrates  he  unfolded  a  brilliant  literary  genius  paralleled  in 


52 


THE  SOURCES 


the  fourth  century  by  that  of  Demosthenes  alone.  His  nature  was 
essentially  poetic :  his  Dialogues  are,  in  poetic  prose,  the  creation 
of  a  wonderfully  versatile  imagination.  His  philosophy,  which 
need  not  concern  us  here,  is  not,  as  expressed  in  the  Dialogues,  an 
orderly  consistent  system  of  reason ;  it  is  rather  an  ever  changing 
revelation  of  mingled  thought  and  emotion.  The  only  permanent 
element  is  idealism.  In  politics  he  was  by  birth  and  education  a 
pronounced  oligarch,  whose  hatred  of  the  democracy  was  intensified 
by  the  condemnation  of  Socrates.  For  the  attitude  of  men  of  his 
class  the  democracy  was  only  in  small  part  responsible.  The  oli- 
garchs had  long  preferred  conspiracy  and  sedition  to  open  political 
conflict  or  to  conciliation  and  compromise.  When  opportunity 
offered,  as  in  the  time  of  Critias,  a  relative  of  Plato,  they  seized 
despotic  power,  throttled  free  speech,  robbed  and  murdered  their 
fellow-citizens,  and  tried  to  reduce  the  masses  to  serfdom.  In 
times  of  quiet  their  aloofness  from  public  life  was  due  largely  to  a 
narrowness  of  political  vision  and  class  egoism  and  to  a  selfish  love 
of  sensual,  social,  or  intellectual  pleasure.  If  their  abnegation  of 
civic  duty  made  the  democracy  worse,  they  and  not  the  masses  of 
voters  should  bear  the  weight  of  blame. 

Plato  was  the  most  refined  and  gifted  of  his  class.  In  him  an- 
tipathy to  free  institutions,  the  ambition  of  the  few  for  class  des- 
potism, is  glorified  by  aspirations  for  perfect  knowledge,  justice, 
and  righteousness.  But  the  standard  of  judgment  which  permits 
him  to  condemn  Themistocles,  Pericles,  and  the  greatest  statesmen 
of  his  country  is  one  which  would  equally  force  the  condemnation 
of  every  government  in  the  world's  history  to  the  present  day. 

Only  three  or  four  of  his  masterpieces  will  here  be  mentioned. 
His  Protagoras,  a,  work  of  great  dramatic  interest,  assails  the  fun- 
damental principles  and  the  thought  methods  of  the  more  eminent 
sophists.  His  Gorgias  is  a  protest  against  democracy  as  well  as 
against  rhetoric.  His  Republic  sets  forth  the  ideal  state,  in  which 
the  masses,  practically  serfs,  are  absolutely  ruled  by  a  military- 
aristocratic-philosophic  class.  It  is  his  greatest  masterpiece,  the 
most  splendid  of  Utopias.  As  the  expression  of  a  brilliant  intellect 
on  educational,  social,  moral,  and  political  questions,  it  commands 
our  attention ;  but  the  state  here  pictured,  if  realized,  would  have 
crushed  the  genius  of  the  author,  a  state  that  no  man,  not  even  a 


PLATO  AND  ARISTOTLE 


53 


member  of  the  ruling  class,  could  endure.  The  Laws,  composed  in 
later  life,  is  a  more  sober  and  practicable  construction  of  the  ideal 
state,  and  hence  more  serviceable  to  the  student  of  actual  con- 
ditions. To  one  interested  in  social  history.,  however,  the  ideas 
of  Plato  are  less  valuable  than  his  many  and  diverse  pictures  of 
life,  which,  if  not  true  of  the  individual  persons  portrayed,  are  at 
least  representative  of  existing  social  phases. 

In  passing  from  Plato  to  Aristotle,  384-322,  we  come  to  a  new 
type  of  mind.  Whereas  the  authors  of  prose  and  verse  thus  far 
mentioned  are  essentially  creative,  Aristotle  is  a  scholar,  in  fact 
the  greatest  as  well  as  the  first  scholar  in  history.  It  was  his 
achievement  to  systematize  and  reduce  to  writing  the  knowledge 
which  the  Hellenes  had  thus  far  accumulated,  and  to  add  to  this 
store  by  his  own  researches.  His  writings  include  metaphysics, 
psychology,  the  natural  and  physical  sciences,  logic,  rhetoric,  ethics, 
and  politics.  His  authorship  of  a  hundred  and  fifty-eight  consti- 
tutional histories  has  already  been  noticed  (p.  41).  On  the  basis 
of  accumulated  facts  relating  to  the  institutions  of  individual  states 
Aristotle  constructed  his  Politics,  the  most  notable  treatise  on  the 
state  thus  far  produced  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The  circum- 
stance that  this  work,  published  within  the  years  336-332,  appeared 
somewhat  earlier  than  the  collection  of  individual  constitutions 
(p.  41)  presents  no  serious  problem ;  the  gathering  of  material  for 
the  vast  collection  was  undoubtedly  far  advanced  before  the  com- 
position of  the  Politics.  For  an  introduction  to  the  treatise  we  must 
look  to  his  Nicomachean  Ethics,  which  in  discussing  the  principles 
of  virtuous  living  conducts  the  reader  logically  to  the  state,,  as  to 
an  organism,  not  merely  for  the  protection,  but  for  the  perfection 
of  human  life  {Ethics,  x.  10). 

The  Politics  treats  exclusively  of  the  city-state  un trammeled 
by  connection  with  any  higher  political  organization.  Its  ap- 
pearance at  the  time  when  Alexander  was  founding  his  world  mon- 
archy has  puzzled  modern  scholars.  In  justification  it  may  be 
said  that  although  under  Alexander  and  his  successors  Greek  com- 
munities enjoyed  a  high  degree  of  local  freedom,  this  condition 
existed  on  sufferance  only.  The  imperial  statesmen  of  the  ancient 
world  failed  to  guarantee  to  the  municipalities  local  freedom  and 
self-government.    It  is  only  in  modern  times,  notably  in  the  case 


54 


THE  SOURCES 


of  Great  Britain,  that  monarchy  has  been  reconciled  with  democ- 
racy. As  against  the  world  monarchy,  therefore,  Aristotle  was 
right  in  his  exclusive  devotion  to  the  city-state.  The  same  thing, 
however,  cannot  be  said  of  his  neglect  of  the  federation ;  but  it 
was  long  after  his  death  that  Greece  saw  the  maturity  of  the  federal 
union  —  the  most  highly  developed  and  perfected  political  crea- 
tion of  the  Hellenes,  and  in  fact  of  the  world  before  the  founding  of 
the  United  States  of  America.  Regarding  Aristotle's  views  of 
the  several  forms  of  government  the  selected  passages,  with  their 
introductions  and  notes,  will  afford  the  necessary  information. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Plato.  —  Edition  by  Burnet,  J.,  5  vols.  (Oxford,  1900-1907) ;  Protagoras 
by  Sihler,  E.  G.  (Harper) ;  Gorgias  and  Protagoras  by  Sauppe,  H.,  and  Gercke, 
A.  (Weidmann) ;  Republic  by  Jowett,  B.,  and  Campbell,  L.,  3  vols.  (Oxford, 
1894) ;  by  Adams,  J.,  2  vols.  (Cambridge,  1902).  Translation  of  works  by 
Jowett,  5  vols.  (3d  ed.,  Macmillan,  1892) ;  of  Republic  by  Vaughan,  D.  J.,  and 
Davies,  J.  L.  (Macmillan,  191 2).  The  selections  in  this  volume  are  from 
Jowett.    Recent  literature  on  Plato  is  reviewed  in  Jahresb.  191 2,  1913. 

For  studies  in  Plato,  see  the  various  histories  of  Greek  philosophy  by 
Zeller,  Gomperz,  etc. ;  also  Adams,  J.,  The  Vitality  of  Platonism,  etc.  (Cam- 
bridge :  University  Press,  191 1) ;  Adamson,  J.  E.,  Theory  of  Education  in  Plato's 
Republic  (London,  1903) ;  Barker,  E.,  Political  Thought  of  Plato  and  Aristotle 
(London:  Methuen,  1906)  ;  Boyd,  W.,  Introduction  to  the  Republic  (London: 
Sonnenschein,  1904);  Dittenberger,  W.,  "  Sprachliche  Criterien  fur  die  Chro- 
nologie  der  platonischen  Dialoge,"  in  Hermes,  XVI  (1881).  321-45  ;  Grote,  G., 
Plato  and  the  Other  Companions  of  Socrates,  4  vols,  (new  ed.,  London,  1888) ; 
Huit,  C,  Etudes  sur  la  politique  attribue  a  Platon  (Paris,  1888) ;  La  vie  et  Vozuvre 
de  Platon,  2  vols.  (Paris,  1893) ;  Miiller,  J.,  Platons  Staatslehre  und  der  moderne 
Socialism-us,  etc.  (Sondershausen,  1886) ;  Nettleship,  R.  L.,  "Theory  of  Educa- 
tion in  the  Republic  of  Plato,"  in  Abbott,  E.,  Hellenica,  67-180 ;  Pater,  W.  H., 
Plato  and  Platonism  (Macmillan,  1908) ;  "  Genius  of  Plato,"  in  Contemp.  Rev. 
1892,  pp.  249-61;  Ritchie,  D.  G.,  Plato  (Scribner,  1902);  Ritter,  C,  Platon: 
sein  Leben,  seine  Schriften  (1909) ;  Platons  Gesetze;  Kommentar  (Teubner, 
1896);  Sihler,  E.  G.,  ''Vergil  and  Plato,"  in  Trans.  Am.  Philol.  Assoc. 
1880;  Taylor,  A.  E.,  Plato  (New  York:  Dodge,  1908);  Usener,  H.,  "Platon 
und  Aristoteles,"  in  Vortrdge  und  Aufsdtze  (Teubner,  1907).  67-102. 

II.  Aristotle.  —  Edition  of  complete  works,  Acad.  reg.  boruss.  5  vols. 
(Berlin,  1831-70),  the  pages  of  which  are  generally  cited;  the  fragments  by 
Rose,  V.  (Teubner,  1886) ;  Politics,  by  Susemihl,  F.  (Teubner,  1909) ;  ed.  with 
essays  and  notes,  by  Newman,  W.  L.,  2  vols.  (Clarendon  Press,  1887).  Trans- 
lation of  works  under  editorship  of  Smith,  J.  A.,  and  Ross,  W.  D.  (under  way, 


THE  NEW  COMEDY 


55 


Oxford:  Clarendon  Press).  Politics,  translated  by  Welldon,  J.  E.  C.  (Macmil- 
lan,  1905) ;  by  Jowett,  B.,  2  vols.  (Clarendon  Press,  1885),  from  which  the 
selections  in  this  volume  have  been  taken.  For  literature  on  Aristotle  prior  to 
1896,  see  Schwab,  M.,  Bibliographie  d 'Aristote  (Paris,  1896).  See  also  Barker, 
E.,  Political  Thought  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  (Putnam,  1906) ;  Bradley,  "Aris- 
totle's Conception  of  the  State,"  in  Abbott,  E.,  Hellenica,  181-243  ;  Eucken,  R., 
Lebensanschauungen  der  grossen  Denker  (7th  ed.,  Leipzig,  1907),  I.  3;  Giesen, 
K.,  "Quaestiones  graecae  und  Aristoteles  Politien,"  in  Philol.  LX  (1901).  446- 
71;  Loos,  I.  A.,  Studies  in  the  Politics  of  Aristotle  and  the  Republic  of  Plato 
(Iowa  City :  University  Press,  1899);  Oncken,  W.,  Staatslehre  des  Aristoteles, 
2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1870,  1875) ;  Shute,  R.,  History  of  the  Process  by  which  the 
Aristotelian  Writings  arrived  at  their  Present  Form  (Clarendon  Press,  1888). 
Further  studies  in  the  political  theories  of  Aristotle  will  be  found  in  the  various 
histories  of  Greek  philosophy  by  Zeller,  Gomperz,  and  others,  and  in  works  on 
the  political  theories  of  the  ancients,  such  as  Dunning,  W.  A.,  History  of  Polit- 
ical Theories,  Ancient  and  Mediceval  (Macmillan,  1902),  and  Willoughby,  W.  W., 
Political  Theories  of  the  Ancient  World  (Longmans,  1903). 

XII.  Writers  of  the  Hellenistic  and  Roman  Periods 

As  to  minor  authors  and  those  but  briefly  excerpted  for  this 
volume,  the  necessary  facts  are  given  in  the  introductions  to  the 
selections  from  their  writings.  This  arrangement  applies  also  to 
the  scientific  and  medical  works  quoted  in  the  volume.  Polybius, 
who  ranks  among  the  greatest  historians  of  antiquity,  is  given 
especial  attention  in  connection  with  the  selections  from  his  history 
which  illustrate  the  condition  of  historical  science  in  the  Hellenistic 
age  (ch.  xviii). 

A  characteristic  form  of  literature  of  this  period  is  the  New 
Comedy,  which  has  been  given  fresh  interest  by  the  discovery  of  a 
considerable  part  of  four  plays  of  Menander,  342-290,  its  chief 
representative.  Other  productions  in  the  field  are  the  comedies  of 
Plautus  and  Terence,  which  are  translations  of  contemporary  Greek 
plays  modified  more  or  less  in  adaptation  to  their  Roman  audience. 
The  change  in  the  character  of  comedy,  beginning  in  the  last  ac- 
tivities of  Aristophanes,  was  now  complete  ;  particularly  it  had  for- 
saken politics,  to  devote  itself  wholly  to  social  life.  It  had  also 
shaken  off  many  of  the  coarser  indecencies  and  immoralities  of  the 
Aristophanic  period.  As  has  been  pointed  out  by  Ferguson  {Hel- 
lenistic Athens,  75  sqq.),  however,  respectable  women  still  kept 
themselves  for  the  most  part  modestly  within  doors,  so  that  the 


56 


THE  SOURCES 


female  characters  on  the  stage  were  as  a  rule  those  of  ill  repute. 
Restricting  itself  to  street  scenes,  the  New  Comedy  had  to  avoid 
the  inner  life  of  the  family  and  the  more  respectable  activities  of 
society,  to  picture  the  exposure  of  infants,  the  intrigues  of  young 
men  and  hetaerae,  and  other  such  immoral  or  indecent  aspects  of 
life.  But  however  one-sided  and  imperfect  may  be  the  information 
contained  in  this  branch  of  literature,  it  throws  a  welcome  light  on 
its  limited  field  of  thought,  feeling,  character,  and  social  customs  of 
an  age  but  scantily  known. 

Another  equally  characteristic  form  of  literature  is  the  Idyll, 
represented  in  this  volume  by  Theocritus.  He  was  born  about  305, 
probably  in  Syracuse  (Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  II.  141  sq.),  and  passed 
some  years  at  the  courts  of  Syracuse  and  Alexandria.  His  pictures 
of  common  life  are  marked  by  delicacy  and  grace.  "  Theocritus 
gives  us  nature,  not  behind  the  footlights,  but  beneath  the  truthful 
blaze  of  Sicily's  sunlit  sky"  (Kynaston) ;  and  certainly  nothing 
can  bring  us  into  so  close  and  pleasing  touch  with  life  in  the  home 
and  on  the  streets  of  Alexandria  as  the  fifteenth  Idyll  reproduced 
in  this  volume.  A  few  epigrams,  too,  of  the  age,  whose  authors 
are  uncertain,  will  be  found  in  their  appropriate  chapter  (xix). 

As  we  pass  from  the  Hellenistic  to  the  Roman  age,  we  may  notice 
but  briefly  the  Roman  biographer  Cornelius  Nepos,  about  99-24 
B.C.,  a  part  of  whose  work  On  Famous  Men  {Be  viris  illustrious)  has 
been  preserved.  The  greater  number  of  biographies  in  this  frag- 
ment are  of  Greek  generals.  We  see  in  his  Epaminondas,  for  ex- 
ample, a  love  of  artificial  characterizations.  His  work  is  uni- 
versally pronounced  unreliable,  and  must  be  used  for  historical 
purposes  with  great  caution. 

His  Greek  contemporary,  Diodorus  of  Sicily,  affords  us  no  better 
proof  of  the  historiographic  capabilities  of  the  age.  The  work  of 
the  latter  was  a  Library  so  named  —  in  fact  a  general  history  of  the 
world  from  the  earliest  times  at  least  to  60  B.C.,  in  forty  books. 
In  his  Preface  (i.  4)  he  makes  great  pretensions  that  he  has  labored 
thirty  years  on  his  work,  and  has  experienced  extreme  sufferings 
and  dangers  in  visiting  the  scenes  of  his  narrative  in  Europe  and 
Asia  that  he  might  write  with  the  knowledge  of  an  eye-witness. 
The  truth  is  that  he  was  merely  a  compiler.  Much  of  his  work  he 
vitiated  by  the  use  of  inferior  sources ;  in  general  he  shows  a  lack 


HELLENISTIC  AND  ROMAN  AUTHORS  57 


of  knowledge  of  military  and  political  affairs,  and  still  worse,  a 
want  of  judgment.  Some  parts  of  his  historical  library,  however, 
are  better  than  others ;  and  for  some  subjects  and  periods,  as  for 
Sicily  during  the  fifth  and  fourth  centuries  and  for  the  earlier  Hel- 
lenistic age,  he  is  our  only  continuous  source.  We  feel  the  loss, 
therefore,  of  the  second  half  of  his  compilation,  books  xxi-xl,  cov- 
ering 301-60  B.C.,  now  represented  only  by  fragments.  Books 
vi-x  likewise  exist  only  in  fragments,  arranged  in  order  with  great 
intelligence  in  Vogel's  edition. 

In  Strabo  we  come  into  touch  with  an  authority  immeasurably 
superior  to  Diodorus.  He  was  born  in  Pontus  about  64  B.C.  and 
lived  to  19  a.d.  His  principal  work  was  a  history,  Historical  Mem- 
oirs, in  forty-three  books,  mainly  a  continuation  of  Polybius.  This 
treatise  has  been  lost  and  we  know  little  of  it.  As  a  supplement  to 
his  history  he  wrote  a  Geography  in  seventeen  books,  which  is  still 
preserved.  Composed  in  the  main  under  Augustus,  it  was  revised 
and  slightly  extended  under  Tiberius  (Pais,  Ancient  Italy,  ch.  xxvi). 
In  his  own  words  it  was  a  "  colossal  work,"  requiring  many  years, 
including  travel  and  personal  inspection,  for  the  collection  of  details 
relating  to  thousands  of  localities  distributed  over  the  known  world. 
The  treatise  is  not  a  geography  pure  and  simple,  but  includes  much 
mythical  and  historical  information  associated  with  the  various 
localities.  In  the  earlier  part  he  gives  the  general  views  of  the 
earth  held  by  himself  and  his  predecessors  of  the  Alexandrian  age. 
While  he  cannot  compare  in  originality  with  Eratosthenes  (no.  210), 
he  is  a  credit  to  his  generation,  and  his  treatise  is  worthy  of  respect- 
ful consideration  as  a  geographical  and  historical  source  of  the 
first  rank. 

Pliny  the  Elder,  23-79  a.d.,  was  a  native  of  the  Roman  munici- 
pality of  Como  (Novum  Comum)  and  an  officer  of  the  empire.  His 
leisure  he  devoted  with  amazing  diligence  and  economy  to  study 
and  authorship  in  many  fields  (Pliny  the  Younger,  Letters,  iii.  5). 
The  only  work  preserved  is  his  Natural  History  in  thirty-seven  books, 
an  encyclopedia  of  arts,  sciences,  and  antiquities  by  a  gentleman 
with  a  keen  interest  in  every  kind  of  knowledge,  yet  lacking  in 
scientific  method  and  precision.  In  his  treatment  of  the  arts  and 
sciences  he  necessarily  has  to  do  chiefly  with  the  Greeks. 

Three  late  Hellenic  writers  will  be  briefly  grouped  together. 


THE  SOURCES 


*  Pausanias,  who  lived  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  a.d., 
wrote  a  Description  of  Greece  in  ten  books,  which  is  still  extant. 
The  author  was  an  amateur  in  his  subject  and  an  archaist  in  style. 
His  work,  however,  though  compiled  with  mediocre  talent,  is  a 
treasury  of  information  on  topography,  archaeology,  religion,  and 
mythology,  including  much  historical  and  biographical  matter. 
It  is  the  foundation  of  modern  studies  in  the  topography  and  archae- 
ology of  Greece.  Diogenes  Laertius,  probably  belonging  to  the 
early  third  century,  composed  the  Lives  of  the  Philosophers,  a  work 
of  perhaps  even  less  ability  than  that  of  Pausanias,  yet  valuable 
for  the  information  contained  in  it.  Athenaeus,  seemingly  a  con- 
temporary, composed  a  work  named  Symposium  of  the  Sophists,  a 
great  part  of  which  has  come  down  to  us.  The  dinner  he  assigns 
to  a  time  shortly  after  the  death  of  Commodus  (Christ,  Griech.  Lit. 
II.  626  sq.).  During  the  symposium  the  learned  guests  (sophists) 
hold  discourse,  centering  in  the  food  and  the  customs  of  banquets, 
but  extending  to  a  multiplicity  of  subjects.  The  aim  of  the  writer 
seems  to  be  to  display  his  erudition  by  quoting  as  many  authors  — 
the  majority  of  whom  we  know  only  through  him  —  and  on  as  wide 
a  variety  of  subjects  as  possible.  Through  this  work,  accordingly, 
we  come  to  appreciate  how  vast  a  treasure  of  ancient  literature  has 
been  lost  to  the  world. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  close  this  introduction  with  a  notice  of  one  of 
the  most  admirable  and  lovable  spirits  of  classical  antiquity,  Plu- 
tarch of  Chaeroneia,  Bceotia,  about  46-125  a.d.  He  belonged  to  an 
old  and  respectable  family,  and  received  a  many-sided  education  in 
rhetoric,  history,  biography,  physics,  mathematics,  and  philosophy. 
While  broadening  his  experiences  by  travel,  he  retained  to  the  end 
his  attachment  to  his  native  city.  His  writings  on  social,  political, 
moral,  and  philosophic  subjects  are  grouped  together  under  the 
title  Moralia.  They  show  a  surprising  versatility  and  productive 
power  operating  in  the  Platonic  spirit,  which  at  that  time  and 
through  him  was  entering  a  new  religious-mystic  path.  Much  of 
this  material  can  be  utilized  in  historical  study.  Our  chief  interest 
here,  however,  is  in  his  Parallel  Lives,  the  most  popular  work  created 
by  classical  antiquity.  Forty-six  biographies  are  in  pairs,  notable 
Greeks  and  Romans  compared  and  contrasted,  with  only  four  — 
Artaxerxes,  Aratus,  Galba,  and  Otho  —  standing  as  individuals. 


PLUTARCH 


59 


Several  important  biographies,  including  the  Epaminondas,  have 
been  lost.  The  parallelism  is  artificial ;  far  better  would  be  a  his- 
torical order.  It  is  to  be  noted,  too,  that  Plutarch  has  no  concep- 
tion of  historical  development.  Men  of  primitive  times,  like  Ly- 
curgus,  Romulus,  and  Theseus,  are  furnished  with  the  same  mental 
equipment  as  the  author  himself.  He  is  equally  devoid  of  the  fac- 
ulty of  historical  criticism.  With  him  all  sources  enjoy  equal  credi- 
bility. The  truth  of  any  statement  therefore  can  be  determined 
only  by  an  inquiry  into  its  source.  We  must  admit  further  that 
in  dealing  with  conflicting  statements  regarding  a  person  or  event 
under  consideration  he  rarely  seems  conscious  of  the  necessity  of 
eliminating  the  contradiction.  Generally  such  critical  discussions 
as  appear  in  his  Lives  have  been  introduced  from  his  authorities. 
By  way  of  summary  it  may  be  stated  that  his  biographies,  only 
critically  sifted,  constitute  one  of  the  most  important  sources  for 
the  customs,  institutions,  and  personal  characters  of  Greece  and 
Rome. 

The  author  himself  regarded  the  Lives  as  a  means  of  philosophic 
instruction,  closely  akin  to  his  M  or  alia.  The  object  of  his  philos- 
ophy was  to  preserve  the  great,  the  good,  and  the  ennobling  from 
the  classic  past,  and  to  use  this  material  as  a  guide  and  an  encour- 
agement to  virtuous  living  and  to  the  upbuilding  of  a  broad,  hu- 
mane, moral  character.  He  never  descends  to  mere  preaching, 
and  therefore  never  grows  wearisome ;  but  through  every  page 
shines  in  sunny  happiness  the  liberal  kindly  human  soul,  warming 
the  reader's  heart  to  the  author  and  awakening  in  it  aspirations 
for  the  Beautiful  and  Good. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Menander  and  Theocritus.  —  Edition  of  the  newly  found  plays  to- 
gether with  the  earlier  fragments,  by  Kock,  Th.,  Com.  ait.  frag.  III.  Ed.  of  the 
newly  found  Four  Plays  of  Menander  by  Capps,  E.  (Ginn,  19 10) ;  by  Lefebvre 
and  Croiset,  M.  (Cairo,  1907) ;  ed.  with  translation  by  Unus  Multorum 
(2d  ed.,  Oxford :  Parker,  1909),  the  basis  for  the  selection  in  the  present  volume. 
See  also  Arnim,  H.  v.,  "Kunst  und  Weisheit  in  den  Komodien  Menanders,"  in 
N.  Jahrb.  XIII  (1910).  241-53  ;  Capps,  E.,  "Plot  of  Menander's  Epitrepontes," 
in  Am.  J  own.  Philol.  XXIX  (1908).  410-31 ;  Gerhard,  G.  A.,  "Zu  Menanders 
Perikeiromene,"  in  Philol.  LXIX  (1910).  10-34;  Leo,  F.,  "Der  neue  Menan- 
der," in  Hermes,  XLIII  (1908).  120-67  5  Liibke,  H.,  Menander  und  seine  Kunst. 


6o 


THE  SOURCES 


Progr.  (Berlin,  1892);  Post,  C.  R.,  "Dramatic  Art  of  Menander,"  in  Class. 
Philol.  XXIV  (1913)-  m-45;  Richards,  H.,  "The  New  Menander,"  in  Class. 
Quart.  II  (1908).  132-6,  on  the  finding  and  the  character  of  the  plays. 

Edition  of  Theocritus  with  English  notes  by  Kynaston,  H.  (5th  ed.,  Claren- 
don Press,  1892) ;  by  Edmonds,  J.,  Greek  Bucolic  Poets,  with  Eng.  trans.  (Mac- 
millan,  191 2).  Translation  also  by  Way,  A.  S.  (Cambridge:  University  Press, 
1913)  ;  by  Lang,  A.  (Macmillan,  1892),  from  which  the  selection  in  this  volume 
has  been  taken ;  Theocritus  and  Vergil's  Eclogues,  trans,  by  Calverley  (London : 
Bell,  1908). 

II.  Nepos  and  Diodorus  Siculus.  —  Edition  of  Nepos  by  Fleckeisen,  A. 
(Teubner,  1898) ;  English  translation  by  Watson,  J.  S.  (Bohn),  the  basis  of  the 
selections  for  this  volume. 

Edition  of  Diodorus  by  Midler,  C.  (Paris:  Didot,  1842-4) ;  by  Vogel,  F., 
continued  by  Fischer,  C.  T.,  5  vols.  (Teubner,  1 888-1906).  There  is  an  old  and 
poor  English  translation  by  Booth,  G.,  2  vols.  (London,  1814),  out  of  print; 
German  translation  by  Wurm,  J.  F.,  19  vols.  (Stuttgart,  1827-40).  See  also 
Mess,  A.  v.,  "  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  Arbeitsweise  Diodors,"  in  Rhein.  Mus. 
LXI  (1906).  244-66;  Schwartz,  E.,  "Diodorus,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real- 
Encycl.  V.  663-704,  an  especially  valuable  study. 

III.  Strabo,  Pliny,  and  Pausanias.  —  Edition  of  Strabo  by  Casaubon,  J., 
(Paris,  1587),  to  which  page  citations  refer;  fry  Miiller,  C,  with  maps  (Paris, 
1858) ;  by  Meineke,  A.,  3  vols.  (Teubner,  1866-77).  Fragments  of  his  History 
in  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  groec.  III.  490-4;  Otto,  P.,  "Strabonis  'laropiKwv  viro- 
[xvr)iAa.Tu)v  frag. ,"  in  Leipziger  Stud.  XI  (1889).  1-224.  English  translation  by 
Hamilton  and  Falconer,  3  vols.  (Bohn),  from  which  selections,  compared  with 
the  Greek  text  and  revised  by  E.  G.  S.,  have  been  taken  for  this  volume.  For 
studies  in  Strabo,  see  Bunbury,  E.  H.,  History  of  Ancient  Geography,  II.  chs. 
xxi,  xxii;  Tozer,  H.  F.,  History  of  Ancient  Geography  (Cambridge:  University 
Press,  1897),  ch.  xii;  Berger,  H.,  Geschichte  der  wissenschaftlichen  Erdkunde  der 
Griechen  (2d  ed.,  Leipzig,  1903),  see  Index;  Pais,  E.,  Ancient  Italy,  ch.  xxvi; 
"Straboniana,"  in  Rivista  di  filologia,  1887,  pp.  97-246;  Otto,  P.,  "Quaestiones 
strabonianae,"  in  Leipzig.  Stud.  XI  (1889).  225-350;  Niese,  B.,  "Beitrage  zur 
Biographie  Strabos,"  in  Hermes,  XIII  (1878).  33-45- 

Edition  of  Pliny's  Natural  History  by  Jahn  and  Mayhoff,  6  vols.  (Teubner, 
1892-1906).  English  translation  by  Bostock,  J.,  and  Riley,  H.  T.,  6  vols. 
(Bohn).  Chapters  on  the  History  of  Art,  trans,  by  Jex-Blake,  K.,  with  com- 
mentary by  Sellers,  E.  (Macmillan,  1896),  from  which  selections  have  been 
made  for  the  present  volume.  See  further  Furtwangler,  A.,  Plinius  in  seinen 
Quellen  iiber  die  bildenden  Kilnste  (Teubner,  1877) ;  Kalkmann,  A.  D.,  Quellen 
der  Kunstgeschichte  des  Plinius  (Berlin,  1898);  Jahn,  O.,  "Uber  die  Kunst- 
urtheile  bei  Plinius,"  in  Sachs.  Gesellsch.  1850.  2.  pp.  105-42. 

Edition  of  Pausanias  by  Hitzig,  H.,  and  Bliimner,  H.,  3  vols.  (Leipzig, 
1896-1910).  English  translation  with  extensive  commentary  and  thirty  maps 
by  Frazer,  J.  G.,  6  vols.  (2d  ed.,  London,  1913)  ;  also  by  Shilleto,  A.  R.,  2  vols. 
(Bohn),  from  which  have  been  taken  the  selections  for  this  volume.    See  also 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


61 


Robert,  C,  Pausanias  als  Schriftsteller.  Studien  und  Beobachtungen  (Berlin, 
1909).  Works  on  Greek  topography  generally  serve  as  commentaries  on 
Pausanias. 

Works  for  General  Reference 

I.  Works  on  Greek  Literature  and  Kindred  Studies.  —  Bergk,  Th., 
Griechische  Liter aturgesc hie hte,  4  vols.  (Berlin,  1872-1887)  ;  Brims,  I.,  Das  lite- 
rarische  Portrdt  der  Griechen,  etc.  (Berlin,  1896) ;  Capps,  E.,  From  Homer  to 
Theocritus  (Scribner,  1901) ;  Christ,  W.,  Geschichte  der  griechischen  Litteratur, 

2  vols.  rev.  by  Schmid,  W.  (Munich,  1908-19 13) ;  Croiset,  A.  and  M.,  Histoire 
de  la  litter attire  grecque,  5  vols.  (Paris,  1887);  Abridged  History  of  Greek  Litera- 
ture (Macmillan,  1904) ;  Hall,  F.  W.,  Companion  to  Classical  Texts  (London, 
1913) ;  Keble,  A.  J.,  Lectures  on  Greek  Poetry  183 2-1 841,  translated  from  the 
Latin  by  Francis,  2  vols.  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1912)  ;  Kirchner,  J.,  Pro- 
sopographia  Attica,  2  vols.  (Berlin,  1901,  1902) ;  Lawton,  W.  C,  Introduction 
to  Classical  Greek  Literature  (Scribner,  1903) ;  Jebb,  R.  C,  Growth  and  Influence 
of  Classical  Greek  Poetry  (London,  1893) ;  The  Attic  Orators  from  Antiphon  to 
Isceus,  2  vols.  (Macmillan,  1876);  Mackail,  J.  W.,  Lectures  on  Greek  Poetry 
(Longmans,  19 10) ;  Mahaffy,  J.  P.,  History  of  Classical  Greek  Literature,  2  vols, 
(new  ed.,  Macmillan,  1908) ;  Murray,  G.,  History  of  Ancient  Greek  Literature 
(Appleton,  1897) ;  Misch,  G.,  Geschichte  der  Autobiographic,  I:  Das  Altertum 
(Leipzig,  1907) ;  Putnam,  G.  H.,  Authors  and' their  Public  in  Ancient  Times 
(Putnam,  1894);  Peck,  H.  T.,  History  of  Classical  Philology  from  the  Seventh 
Century  B.C.,  etc.  (Macmillan,  191 1) ;  Sandys,  J.  E.,  History  of  Classical  Scholar- 
ship, 3  vols.  ( 1 906-1 908) ;  Schwartz,  E.,  Charakterkopfe  aus  der  antiken  Litteratur 
(Leipzig,  1906) ;  Symonds,  J.  A.,  Studies  in  the  Greek  Poets,  2  ser.  (London, 
1873, 1876) ;  Thompson,  E.  M.,  An  Introduction  to  Greek  and  Latin  Palceography 
(Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  191 2) ;  Whibley,  L.,  Companion  to  Greek  Studies 
(Cambridge:  University  Press,  1905);  Wilamowitz-Moellendorf,  U.  von, 
Krumbacher  and  others,  Griechische  und  lateinische  Literatur  und  Sprache 
(Teubner,  1905) ;  Greek  Literature:  A  Series  of  Lectures  delivered  at  Columbia 
University  (Columbia  University  Press,  191 2). 

II.  General  Histories  of  Greece.  —  Grote,  G.,  History  of  Greece,  12 
vols.  (Harper,  reprint  from  the  edition  of  1849-1853) ;  Curtius,  E.,  History 
of  Greece,  5  vols.  (Scribner,  1886) ;  Abbott,  E.,  History  of  Greece,  3  pts.  (Put- 
nam, 1895-1900) ;  Holm,  A.,  History  of  Greece,  4  vols.  (Macmillan,  1895-1898) ; 
Bury,  J.  B.,  History  of  Greece  (2d  ed.  Macmillan,  1913) ;  Hall,  H.  R.,  Ancient 
History  of  the  Near  East  (Methuen,  1913) ;  Busolt,  G.,  Griechische  Geschichte, 

3  vols.  (2d  ed.  Gotha,  1893-1904) ;  Beloch,  J.,  Griechische  Geschichte,  3  vols. 
(I  and  II.  1,  2d  ed. ;  the  remainder,  1st  ed.  Strassburg,  1912-1914 ;  1897-1904) ; 
Meyer,  Geschichte  des  Altertums,  5  vols.  (I,  3d  ed.  1910;  II-V,  1st  ed.  1893- 
1902);  Freeman,  E.  A.,  History  of  Sicily,  4  vols.  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press, 
1 891-1894). 

III.  Inscriptions. — Inscriptions  Grcecce,  14  vols.,  ed.  Kirchhoff,  A., 
Kaibel,  G.,  and  others  (Berl.  Akad.  1 873-1890) ;  this  is  the  new  edition  abbre- 


62 


THE  SOURCES 


viated  in  this  volume  as  Inscr.  grcec,  whereas  the  earlier  edition  of  the  Corpus 
Inscriptionum  Atticarum,  occasionally  cited,  is  abbreviated  as  CIA.;  Ditten- 
berger,  W.,  Sylloge  Inscriptionum  Grcecarum,  2d  ed.,  3  vols.  (Leipzig,  1898- 
1901) ;  Hicks,  E.  L.,  and  Hill,  G.  F.,  Manual  of  Greek  Historical  Inscriptions, 
(new  ed.,  Oxford :  Clarendon  Press,  1901) ;  Roberts,  E.  S.,  and  Gardner,  E.  A., 
Introduction  to  Greek  Epigraphy,  2  vols.  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1887, 
1905) ;  Michel,  Ch.,  Recueil  d' inscriptions  grecques  (Brussels,  1900) ;  Dareste,  R., 
Haussoullier,  B.,  and  Reinach,  Th.,  Recueil  des  inscriptions  juridiques  grecques, 
2dser.  fasc.  i-iii  (Paris:  Leroux,  1898,  1904);  Collitz,  H.,  Sammlung  der  griech- 
ische  Dialektinschriften,  4  vols.  (1884-1911) ;  Larfeld,  W.,  Griechische  Epigraphik 
(3d  ed.,  Munich:  Beck,  1914) ;  Wilhelm,  A.,  Beitrdge  zur  Inschriftskunde 
(Vienna,  1909);  "Attische  Psephismen,"  in  Hermes,  XXIV  (1889).  108-152, 
326-36;  Bockh,  A.,  Urkunden  iiber  das  Seewesen  des  attischen  Staates  (Berlin, 
1840) ;  Kohler,  U.,  "Attische  Inschriften  des  Vten  Jahrhunderts,"  in  Hermes, 
XXXI  (1896).  137-54;  Bleckmann,  F.,  Griechische  Inschriften  zur  griechischen 
Staatenkunde  (Kleine  Texte,  no.  115,  Bonn,  1913) ;  Gardthausen,  V.,  "  Wieder- 
gefundene  Originale  historischer  Inschriften  des  Altertums,"  in  N.  Jahrb. 
XXXIII  (1914).  248-54,  inscriptions  quoted  in  ancient  works;  Kern,  O., 
Tabula  in  usum  scholarum  editce,  etc.  (Bonn :  Marcus  and  Weber,  1913). 

IV.  Atlases,  Dictionaries,  and  Kindred  Helps.  —  Shepherd,  W.  R., 
Atlas  of  Ancient  History  (Holt,  1913),  the  best  historical  atlas;  Sieglin,  W., 
Schulatlas  zur  Geschichte  des  Altertums  (imported  by  Lemcke  and  Buchner, 
N.  Y.) ;  Kiepert,  H.,  Atlas  Antiquus  (Boston  :  Sanborn).  Harper's  Dictionary 
of  Classical  Literature  and  A  ntiquities,  by  H.  T.  Peck  (Harper,  1887),  most  con- 
venient ;  Smith,  W.,  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Biography  and  Mythology, 
3  vols.  (Boston,  1849),  useful  though  old;  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Geography,  2  vols.  (Boston,  1854,  1857) ;  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Antiquities,  2  vols.  (3d  ed.,  London:  Murray,  1890,  1891) ;  Daremberg  et 
Saglio,  Dictionnaire  des  antiquites  grecques  et  romaines  (Paris,  beginning  1873), 
in  many  volumes,  still  under  way ;  Pauly,  Real-Encyclopddie  der  classischen 
Altertumswissenschaft,  revised  and  greatly  enlarged  edition  under  the  super- 
vision of  Wissowa,  G.,  and  (the  later  volumes)  of  Kroll,  W.  (Stuttgart,  begin- 
ning 1894),  in  many  volumes,  still  under  way;  Hermann,  K.  F.,  Lehrbuch  der 
griechischen  Antiquitdten  (Freiburg  i.  B. :  Mohr),  new  editions  of  the  several 
volumes  are  constantly  appearing;  Muller,  I.  von,  Handbuch  der  klassischen 
Altertumswissenschaft  (Munich:  Beck),  new  editions  of  the  several  volumes 
are  constantly  appearing ;  Gercke,  A.,  and  Norden,  E.,  Einleitung  in  die  Alter- 
tumswissenschaft (Teubner) ,  in  several  volumes,  still  incomplete. 

Works  devoted  to  special  periods  or  to  special  subjects  will  be  mentioned 
in  the  several  chapter  bibliographies. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 

Approximately  3000-750  B.C. 

The  Minoan  period  begins  with  the  Bronze  age,  in  which  it  is  probable 
that  copper  was  used  for  a  time  before  the  introduction  of  bronze ;  see  Mosso, 
A.,  Dawn  of  the  Mediterranean  Civilization.  The  entire  period  is  divided  by 
Evans  {Nine  Minoan  Periods,  1915),  into  three  large  epochs,  which  he  terms 
Early,  Middle,  and  Late  Minoan,  respectively.  In  the  Middle  Minoan  period 
Crete  reached  the  height  of  her  brilliant  civilization ;  in  the  Late  Minoan  age, 
called  also  the  Mycenaean  age,  she  stagnated  and  declined,  while  Troy  ("sixth 
city"),  Mycenae,  and  other  cities  on  the  Greek  mainland  rose  to  a  brilliant 
height  of  culture  and  power.  The  Minoans  had  systems  of  writing,  first  picto- 
graphs,  out  of  which  developed  linear  scripts ;  and  a  great  store  of  inscribed 
tablets  has  been  found  in  a  room  of  the  palace  at  Cnossus,  Crete.  No  one  as 
yet  has  been  able  to  read  the  script,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  accu- 
mulated tablets  just  mentioned  were  the  archives  of  accounts,  of  dues,  receipts, 
etc.,  belonging  to  the  king.  That  the  Minoans,  endowed  as  they  were  with 
splendid  mentality,  possessed  a  literature  of  songs,  epics,  and  perhaps  chronicles, 
as  did  the  less  gifted  Orientals  of  the  same  period,  seems  certain.  Such  liter- 
ature, however,  must  have  been  consigned  to  less  durable  material,  doubtless 
papyrus  from  Egypt,  and  for  that  reason  perished.  One  of  the  most  impor- 
tant questions  bearing  upon  the  relation  of  the  Minoan  civilization  to  that  of 
historical  Hellas  is  whether  any  of  this  literature  survived,  in  any  form,  the 
downfall  of  the  culture,  so  as  to  be  used  by  the  Greeks.  The  accuracy  with 
which  Homer  pictures  the  material  civilization,  not  of  the  decadent  period  but 
of  the  splendid  Middle  Minoan  age,  suggests  the  possibility  of  a  survival  to 
his  time.  If  his  sources  were  unwritten,  at  least  the  oral  traditions  were 
remarkably  definite  and  concrete.  It  is  noteworthy,  too,  that  Aristotle  and 
Ephorus  speak  with  such  confidence  of  the  conditions  and  institutions  of  the 
age  of  Minos,  and  at  the  same  time  in  such  harmony  with  the  facts  revealed 
by  the  spade,  as  to  tempt  us  to  believe  it  possible  that  they  or  their  sources 
made  use  of  written  material  directly  or  indirectly  transmitted  from  the  Minoan 
age  to  their  time. 

Notwithstanding  this  possibility  we  are  forced  to  deal  with  the  fact  that 
our  sources  are  almost  wholly  archaeological,  and  that  references  in  Greek 
literature  to  the  Minoan  age  can  be  accepted  as  facts  or  as  probabilities  only 

63 


6a         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


in  so  far  as  they  are  supported  by  archaeological  discoveries.  With  this  under- 
standing a  few  selections  from  literature  are  presented  below.  Preceding  those 
which  relate  to  the  Minoan  age  is  an  excerpt  from  ^Eschylus  which  treats  of  the 
beginnings  of  civilized  life. 


i.  The  Primitive  Condition  of  Man  and  the  Origin  of 

Civilization 

(iEschylus,  Prometheus,  442-506.    Paley's  translation,  revised  on  the  basis  of 
Weil's  text  by  G.  W.  B.) 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  twenty-five  hundred  years  before  the  dawn  of 
anthropology  a  Greek  dramatist  should  come  so  near  the  truth  regarding  the 
origin  of  civilization.  It  is  interesting,  too,  to  notice  what  ^Eschylus  consid- 
ered the  most  vital  elements  of  civilization,  and  especially  the  great  prominence 
given  to  its  religious  features. 

Hear  of  the  evils  that  existed  among  mortals,  —  how  1 1  made 
them,  hitherto  without  reasoning  powers,  to  have  mind  and  to  be 
possessed  of  intelligence.  I  shall  tell  you  this,  without  any  wish 
to  disparage  mankind,  but  by  way  of  explaining  the  good  feeling 
implied  in  my  gifts.  They  in  the  first  place,  though  seeing  saw 
to  no  purpose,  hearing  they  did  not  understand  ;  but  like  the  forms 
of  dreams,  during  all  that  long  time  they  did  everything  in  a  con- 
fused and  random  way,  and  knew  not  brick-built  houses  turned  to 
the  sun,  nor  the  craft  of  carpentry.  But  they  used  to  dwell  in  holes 
made  in  the  earth,  like  the  tiny  ants  in  the  sunless  recesses  of  caves. 
Further,  they  had  no  sign  either  of  winter  or  of  flowery  spring,  or 
of  fruitful  summer,  to  rely  upon ;  but  they  used  to  do  everything 
without  judgment,  till  at  length  I  showed  them  the  risings  of  the 
stars  and  their  laboriously  determined  settings.  Moreover,  num- 
bers, the  best  of  inventions,  I  devised  for  them,  and  the  combining 
of  letters,  at  once  the  origin  of  literature,  and  the  means  of  remem- 
bering every  event.  I  was  the  first,  too,  to  join  together  under  the 
yoke  the  animals  that  served  them  for  drawing  and  for  riding,  that 
they  might  be  used  by  mortals  to  relieve  them  in  their  severest 
toils.    I  brought  also  under  the  car  horses,  taught  to  love  the  rein, 

1  The  speaker  is  Prometheus,  the  friend  of  mankind,  ancestor  of  the  Hellenic  race 
through  Deucalion  and  his  sons. 


THE  CARIANS 


65 


the  ornament  of  luxurious  wealth.1  Besides,  no  other  than  myself 
found  out  for  them  the  sea-traversing  canvas-winged  cars  to  con- 
vey mariners.    Such  were  the  contrivances  I  devised  for  man.  .  .  . 

If  any  one  had  fallen  into  an  illness  there  were  no  remedies  to 
avert  it,  either  to  be  swallowed  as  food,  or  to  be  used  as  ointments, 
or  to  be  taken  as  draughts  ;  but  for  want  of  drugs  they  used  to  pine 
and  waste  away,  till  I  showed  them  how  to  compose  these  assuaging 
remedies,  by  which  they  now  repel  from  themselves  every  kind  of 
malady.2  Many  ways,  too,  of  divination  I  arranged  for  them: 
first  I  taught  them  what  sort  of  dreams  were  destined  to  prove 
realities :  the  obscure  import  of  ominous  sounds  I  made  clear  to 
them,  and  the  meaning  of  objects  met  on  the  way.  The  flight  too 
of  crooked  taloned  birds  of  prey  I  clearly  defined,  both  those  which 
are  lucky  in  their  nature  and  the  unlucky  ones.  ...  I  showed 
them  also  what  the  smoothness  of  the  liver  meant,  and  what  par- 
ticular color  it  should  have  to  be  pleasing  to  the  gods.3  Such  then 
were  my  services  in  these  matters ;  but  those  great  benefits  to  man 
which  lie  hidden  under  the  earth,  —  copper,  iron,  silver,  and  gold, 
—  who  can  assert  that  he  found  them  out  before  I  did  ?  .  .  . 
In  fine,  hear  the  whole  matter :  all  arts  came  to  mortals  from 
Prometheus. 

2.  The  Carians 
(Herodotus  i.  171) 

It  is  now  generally  accepted  that  the  Minoans  were  not  Indo-Europeans, 
but  belonged  to  the  " Mediterranean "  race  (cf.  Sergi,  Mediterranean  Race). 
Of  the  same  race  were  the  Carians  who  inhabited  a  part  of  Asia  Minor,  and  in 
earlier  time,  as  Herodotus  states,  the  islands  of  the  ^Egean  Sea.  Connections 
between  the  religion  of  Caria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Minoan  Crete  have  been  pointed 
out  by  scholars.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  the  Caria  here  referred  to  had 
no  part  in  the  brilliant  Minoan  civilization. 

The  Carians  came  to  the  mainland  from  the  islands ;  for  being 
of  old  time  subjects  of  Minos  and  being  called  Leleges,  they  used 

1  Horses  were  not  used  by  the  Greeks  as  ordinary  work  animals,  but  for  riding, 
driving  in  carriages,  and  war.  They  were  so  expensive  that  only  the  relatively  wealthy 
could  afford  to  have  them. 

2  In  the  time  of  ^Eschylus,  early  fifth  century,  medical  science  was  rapidly  devel- 
oping.   Hippocrates  flourished  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  century;  see  nos.  79-81. 

3  This  system  of  divination  is  now  supposed  to  have  been  derived  from  Babylonia. 


66        MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


to  dwell  in  the  islands,  paying  no  tribute,  so  far  back  as  I  am  able 
to  arrive  by  hearsay ;  but  whenever  Minos  required  it,  they  used 
to  supply  his  ships  with  seamen  :  and  as  Minos  subdued  much  land 
and  was  fortunate  in  his  fighting,  the  Carian  nation  was  of  all 
nations  much  the  most  famous  at  that  time  together  with  him. 
And  they  produced  three  inventions  of  which  the  Hellenes  adopted 
the  use :  that  is  to  say,  the  Carians  were  those  who  first  set  the 
fashion  of  fastening  crests  on  helmets,  and  of  making  the  devices 
which  are  put  upon  shields,  and  these  also  were  the  first  who  made 
handles  for  their  shields,  whereas  up  to  that  time  all  who  were  wont 
to  use  shields  carried  them  without  handles  and  with  leathern 
straps  to  guide  them,  having  them  hung  about  their  necks  and  their 
left  shoulders.1  Then  after  the  lapse  of  a  long  time  the  Dorians 
and  Ionians  drove  the  Carians  out  of  the  islands,  and  so  they  came 
to  the  mainland.2 

(Thucydides  i.  8) 

The  islanders  were  even  more  addicted  to  piracy  than  the 
mainlanders.  They  were  mostly  Carian  or  Phoenician  settlers. 
This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  when  the  Athenians  purified  Delos 
during  the  Peloponnesian  war  and  the  tombs  of  the  dead  were 
opened,  more  than  half  of  them  were  found  to  be  Carians.  They 
were  known  by  the  fashion  of  their  arms  which  were  buried  with 
them,  and  by  their  mode  of  burial,  the  same  which  is  still  prac- 
tised among  them.3 

1  The  Minoans  used  a  man-covering  shield  suspended  from  the  neck  as  here  de- 
scribed. The  question  as  to  the  origin  of  the  round  shield  is  uncertain.  In  the  opin- 
ion of  Ridgeway,  Early  Age  of  Greece,  ch.  vi,  the  round  shield  was  introduced  from 
central  Europe  by  invading  Hellenes. 

2  In  the  colonization  described  by  no.  n. 

3  From  this  passage  it  is  clear  that  Thucydides,  the  writer,  used  a  method  of 
research  followed  by  the  archaeologists  of  to-day.  By  this  means  he  proves  that  the 
people  buried  in  past  ages  in  the  island  of  Delos  had  the  same  civilization  as  the  Carians 
of  his  own  time.  That  they  were  of  the  same  race  is  an  inference  which  he  and  most 
archaeologists  have  considered  legitimate.  Modern  historians,  on  the  contrary,  are 
convinced  that  widely  diverse  races,  as  the  Japanese,  the  negroes  of  North  America, 
and  the  western  Europeans,  may  enjoy  the  same  civilization. 


THE  MOST  FAMOUS  MINOAN 


67 


3.  Minos 

(Homer,  Odyssey  xix.  178  sq.) 

In  this  excerpt  "them"  refers  to  the  hundred  cities  of  Crete.  The  "nine- 
year  "  period  of  the  Cretan  king  was  the  same  as  in  Laconia ;  the  Cretan  king 
and  the  Lacedaemonian  kings  were  compelled,  on  the  renewal  of  a  nine-year 
period,  to  seek  divine  sanction.  The  close  connection  of  the  Cretan  king  with 
his  deity  is  also  paralleled  in  Lacedaemon.  In  brief,  the  royal  office  in  both 
countries  seems  to  have  been  a  Minoan  heritage. 

Among  them  was  Cnossus,  a  mighty  city,  wherein  Minos  ruled 
in  nine-year  periods,  he  who  had  converse  with  great  Zeus. 

(Diodorus  v.  78) 

This  excerpt  from  Diodorus  is  evidently  derived  from  early  Greek  sources 
and  well  represents  the  conventional  Greek  idea  of  Minos  and  his  legislation 
and  naval  power.  The  colonization  of  western  Hellas  (Sicily  and  southern 
Italy),  too,  is  repeated  by  many  writers.  There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever 
that  the  later  Minoans  colonized  this  region ;  cf.  no.  6. 

They  say  that  many  generations  after  the  birth  of  the  gods 
many  heroes  arose  in  Crete,  the  most  illustrious  of  whom  were 
Minos  and  Rhadamanthys  and  Sarpedon,  who  they  say  were  the 
sons  of  Zeus  and  Agenor's  sister  Europa.  She,  the  story  goes,  had 
by  a  device  of  the  gods  been  carried  off  on  a  bull's  back  to  Crete. 
Minos  as  the  eldest  was  king  of  the  island,  in  which  he  planted  no 
few  cities,  the  most  famous  among  them  being  Cnossus  in  the  part 
which  inclines  toward  Asia,  Phaestus  on  the  southern  coast,  and 
Cydonia  in  the  western  regions  opposite  Peloponnesus.  He  en- 
acted for  the  Cretans  many  laws,  professing  to  receive  them  from 
his  father  Zeus  and  to  hold  converse  with  him  in  a  certain  cave.  It 
is  said,  too,  that  he  acquired  a  great  naval  power,  conquered  most 
of  the  islands  and  was  the  first  Greek  to  establish  an  empire  at  sea. 
After  winning  great  repute  for  bravery  and  justice,  he  ended  his 
life  in  Sicily  in  an  expedition  against  Cocalus. 

(Thucydides  i.  8) 

In  the  opinion  of  Thucydides  settled  life  and  civilization  made  progress  till 
the  time  of  the  Trojan  war,  after  which  came  a  period  of  confusion  due  to  the 
Dorian  and  other  migrations.  Archaeological  discoveries,  on  the  contrary, 
seem  to  have  proved  that  Troy,  the  "sixth"  and  most  splendid  city,  was  de- 


68         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


stroyed  in  a  period,  probably  toward  the  end  of  the  period,  of  confusion  and 
turmoil  of  migration.  The  chronology  of  these  early  times  could  not  be  so 
well  known  to  the  historical  Greeks  as  the  spade  has  revealed  it  to  us.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  connection  of  economy  with  political  history  is  stated  with 
remarkable  clearness  and  accuracy :  the  willingness  of  many  to  submit  to  em- 
pire for  the  protection  of  their  property,  and  the  use  of  wealth  as  a  means  of 
conquest. 

After  Minos  had  established  a  navy,  communication  by  sea 
became  more  general.  For  after  he  had  expelled  the  pirates,  when 
he  colonized  the  greater  part  of  the  islands,  the  dwellers  on  the  sea- 
coast  began  to  grow  richer  and  to  live  in  a  more  settled  manner ; 
and  some  of  them,  finding  their  wealth  increase  beyond  their  ex- 
pectations, surrounded  their  towns  with  walls.  The  love  of  gain 
made  the  weaker  willing  to  serve  the  stronger,  and  the  command  of 
wealth  enabled  the  more  powerful  to  subjugate  the  lesser  cities. 
This  was  the  state  of  society  which  was  beginning  to  prevail  at  the 
time  of  the  Trojan  war. 

4.  Theseus  and  the  Minotaur 

(Hellanicus,  Atthis,  quoted  by  Plutarch,  Theseus,  15-17,  who  cites  also 
Philochorus  and  Aristotle) 

There  seems  to  be  a  kernel  of  truth  in  the  myth  related  below.  The  favorite 
sport  of  the  king  and  grandees  of  Cnossus  came  in  the  festival  in  which  trained 
youths  and  girls  grappled  with  bulls,  turned  somersaults  over  their  backs,  etc. ; 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  ii.  The  subject  states,  including  some  of  the 
towns  of  Attica,  had  to  furnish  the  girls  and  youths  as  tribute.  The  laby- 
rinth was  the  palace  at  Crete.  The  word  is  Carian  and  has  reference  to  the 
double-ax,  which  was  an  attribute  of  Zeus.  The  Cnossian  palace,  in  which 
this  Zeus  was  worshiped,  was  named  accordingly  "the  house  of  the  double- 
ax."  In  time,  however,  the  word  labyrinth  lost  its  original  meaning,  and  came 
to  refer  to  the  intricate  system  of  corridors  and  halls  included  in  that  palace. 
A  further  historical  truth  contained  in  the  story  is  doubtless  the  liberation  of 
Attica  from  the  tribute  by  the  hero. 

They  (the  Athenians)  sent  an  embassy  to  Minos  and  prevailed 
on  him  to  make  peace  on  condition  that  every  nine  years  they  should 
send  him  a  tribute  of  seven  youths  and  seven  girls.  The  most 
tragic  of  the  legends  states  that  these  poor  children,  when  they 
reached  Crete,  were  thrown  into  the  Labyrinth,  and  there  were 


THE  MINOTAUR 


69 


devoured  by  the  Minotaur  1  or  else  perished  with  hunger,  being 
unable  to  find  their  way  out.  The  Minotaur,  as  Euripides  tells  us, 
was 

A  form  commingled,  and  a  monstrous  birth, 
Half  man,  half  bull,  in  twofold  shape  combined. 

Philochorus  states  that  the  Cretans  do  not  recognize  this  story, 
but  say  that  the  Labyrinth  was  merely  a  prison,  like  any  other, 
from  which  escape  was  impossible,  and  that  Minos  instituted  gym- 
nastic games  in  honor  of  Androgeus,  a  son  who  had  been  treacher- 
ously slain,  in  which  the  prizes  for  the  victors  were  these  children, 
who  till  then  were  kept  in  the  Labyrinth.  .  .  .  Aristotle  himself, 
in  his  treatise  on  The  Constitution  of  the  Botticeans,2  evidently  does 
not  believe  that  the  children  were  put  to  death  by  Minos,  but  that 
they  lived  in  Crete  as  slaves  to  extreme  old  age,  and  that  once  the 
Cretans,  in  performance  of  an  ancient  vow,  sent  first-fruits  of  their 
population  to  Delphi.  Among  those  who  were  thus  sent  were  the 
descendants  of  the  Athenians ;  and  as  they  could  not  maintain 
themselves  there,  they  first  passed  over  to  Italy,  and  settled  near 
Iapygia.3  Thence  they  removed  to  Thrace,  and  took  the  name  of 
Bottiaeans.  For  this  reason  the  Bottiaean  maidens,  when  performing 
a  certain  sacrifice,  sing,  "Let  us  go  to  Athens." 

Plutarch  next  narrates  the  sailing  of  Theseus  to  kill  the  Minotaur,  after 
which  (§  1 7)  he  quotes  from  Hellanicus  the  excerpt  given  below. 

Hellariicus  says  that  the  City  did  not  select  the  youths  and  girls 
by  lot,  but  that  Minos  himself  came  thither  and  chose  them,  and 
that  he  picked  out  Theseus  first  of  all  upon  the  usual  conditions, 
that  the  Athenians  should  furnish  a  ship,  and  that  the  youths  should 
embark  in  it  and  sail  with  him,  not  carrying  with  them  any  weapon 
of  war ;  and  that  when  the  Minotaur  was  slain,  the  tribute  should 
cease.  Formerly  no  one  had  any  hope  of  safety  ;  hence  they  used 
to  send  out  the  ship  with  a  black  sail,  as  if  it  were  going  to  a  certain 

1  The  idea  and  the  name  of  the  Minotaur  (" Minos-bull")  easily  arose  from  stories 
of  the  great  king  Minos,  his  labyrinthine  palace,  and  the  festival  of  bull  grappling, 
which  circulated  through  Hellas. 

2  Bottia,  Bottiaea,  was  a  Macedonian,  not  a  Thracian,  town ;  cf.  Oberhummer, 
in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  III.  794  sq.  The  basis  of  Aristotle's  connection  of  the 
inhabitants  with  Delphi,  Italy,  and  Crete  is  unknown. 

3  Here  again  is  a  reference  to  the  Minoan  colonization  of  Italy ;  cf.  nos.  3,  6. 


7o         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 

doom  ;  but  now  Theseus  so  encouraged  his  father,  and  boasted  that 
he  would  overcome  the  Minotaur,  that  he  gave  a  second  sail,  a 
white  one,  to  the  pilot,  and  charged  him  on  his  return,  if  Theseus 
were  safe,  to  hoist  the  white  one,  if  not,  the  black  one  as  a  sign  of 
mourning. 

5.  Crete  and  the  Relation  of  her  Institutions  with 
those  of  laced^mon 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  ii.  10.  1-5,  1271  b.    Jowett's  translation,  revised  on  the 
basis  of  Susemihl's  text,  by  G.  W.  B.) 

The  opinion  of  the  writer  is  that  the  Lacedaemonians  adopted  many  of 
their  institutions  from  Crete,  and  the  Hellenic  Cretans  from  the  earlier  inhab- 
itants. We  know,  however,  that  the  Minoan  civilization  flourished  in  Laconia, 
and  it  seems  to  us,  therefore,  at  least  equally  probable  that  the  Lacedaemonians 
derived  these  institutions  directly  from  the  Minoans  of  their  own  country.  If 
what  Aristotle  says  regarding  the  Minoan  origin  is  true,  it  follows  that  the 
institutions  which  we  have  looked  upon  as  peculiarly  Dorian  belong  to  this 
earlier  civilization.  The  view  is  reasonable,  especially  as  the  complex  social 
organization  of  Laconia  and  historical  Crete  seems  to  be  the  product  of  a  highly 
developed  civilization,  like  the  Oriental,  rather  than  of  a  relatively  crude  race 
of  invaders,  such  as  were  the  Dorians. 

The  Cretan  constitution  nearly  resembles  the  Lacedaemonian, 
and  in  some  few  points  is  quite  as  good,  but  for  the  most  part  less 
perfect  in  form.  The  Lacedaemonian  is  said  to  be,  and  probably  is, 
in  most  respects  a  copy  of  the  Cretan.  In  fact  older  constitutions 
are  generally  less  elaborate  than  later.  According  to  tradition, 
Lycurgus,  when  he  ceased  to  be  guardian  of  King  Charilaus,  went 
abroad  and  spent  most  of  the  time  of  his  absence  in  Crete.  For 
the  two  countries  are  nearly  connected ;  the  Lyctians  are  a  colony 
of  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  the  colonists,  when  they  came  to  Crete, 
adopted  the  system  of  laws  which  they  found  existing  among  the 
inhabitants.  [Even  to  this  day  the  periceci  are  governed  by  the 
original  laws  which  Minos  enacted.  The  island  seems  to  be  in- 
tended by  nature  for  dominion  in  Hellas  and  to  be  well  situated ; 
it  extends  right  across  the  sea,  around  which  nearly  all  the  Hellenes 
are  settled ;  and  while  one  end  is  not  far  from  Peloponnesus,  the 
other  almost  reaches  to  the  region  of  Asia  about  Triopium  and 


CRETAN  INSTITUTIONS 


7i 


Rhodes.  Hence  Minos  acquired  the  empire  of  the  sea,  subduing 
some  of  the  islands  and  colonizing  others  ;  at  last  he  invaded  Sicily, 
where  he  died  near  Camicus.]1 

The  Cretan  institutions  resemble  the  Lacedaemonian.  The 
helots  were  the  husbandmen  of  the  one,  the  periceci  of  the  other ; 
and  both  Cretans  and  Lacedaemonians  have  common  meals,  which 
were  anciently  called  by  the  Lacedaemonians,  not  phiditia  but 
andreia ;  and  the  Cretans  have  the  same  word,  the  use  of  which 
proves  that  the  common  meals  (syssitia)  originally  came  from  Crete. 

6.  Occupation  Classes;  the  Public  Tables  and  the  Colo- 
nization of  Italy 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  vii.  10.  1-6,  1329  b.    Revision  by  G.  W.  B.,  as  in  no.  5) 

It  is  no  new  or  recent  discovery  that  the  state  ought  to  be 
divided  into  classes,  and  that  the  warriors  ought  to  be  separated 
from  the  husbandmen.  The  system  has  continued  in  Egypt  and 
in  Crete  to  the  present  day,  and  was  established,  as  is  said,  by 
Sesostris  in  Egypt  and  by  Minos  in  Crete.  The  institution  of 
common  tables  (syssitia)  also  appears  to  be  of  ancient  date,  being 
in  Crete  as  old  as  the  reign  of  Minos,  and  in  Italy  far  older.  The 
native  historians  there  say  that  a  certain  Italus  was  king  of  QEnotria, 
from  whom  the  inhabitants  were  called  Italians  instead  of  (Eno- 
trians,  and  who  gave  the  name  Italy  to  the  promontory  of  Europe 
which  lies  between  the  Scylletic  and  Lametic  gulfs,  which  are  dis- 
tant from  one  another  only  a  half-day's  journey.  They  say  that 
this  Italus  converted  the  (Enotrians  from  shepherds  into  husband- 
men, and  besides  giving  them  other  laws,  he  was  the  founder  of 
their  common  meals.  Even  in  our  day  some  who  are  derived  from 
him  retain  this  institution  and  certain  other  laws  of  his.  On  the 
side  of  Italy  toward  Tyrrhenia  (Etruria)  dwelt  the  Opici,  who  are 
now,  as  of  old,  called  Ausones ;  and  on  the  side  toward  Iapygia 
and  the  Ionian  Gulf,  in  the  district  called  Siritis,  the  Chones,  who 
are  likewise  of  (Enotrian  race.  From  this  part  of  the  world  origi- 
nally came  the  institution  of  the  common  tables ;  the  separation 
into  classes,  which  was  much  older,  from  Egypt ;  for  the  reign  of 
Sesostris  is  of  far  greater  antiquity  than  that  of  Minos. 

1  Bracketed  by  Susemihl.    On  the  naval  power  of  Minos,  see  no.  3. 


72         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


(Athenaeus  xii.  24,  probably  quoting  from  Clearchus,  Lives,  iv) 

As  indicated  by  their  language,  the  Iapygians  were  related  to  the  Tllyrians, 
and  must  have  migrated  to  Italy  far  later  than  the  Minoan  age.  There  can  be 
no  doubt,  however,  that  toward  the  end  of  the  Minoan  age  the  Cretans  or  other 
^gean  people  colonized  southern  Italy  and  Sicily ;  hence  there  may  have  been 
a  Cretan  element  in  the  Iapygian  population.  This  passage,  however,  refers 
mainly  to  later  time. 

Now  the  race  of  the  Iapygians  came  originally  from  Crete,  being 
descended  from  those  Cretans  who  came  to  seek  for  Glaucus,  and 
settled  in  that  part  of  Italy.  Afterward  forgetting  the  orderly 
life  of  the  Cretans,  they  came  to  such  a  pitch  of  luxury  and  thence 
to  such  a  degree  of  insolence  that  they  were  the  first  people  who 
painted  their  faces,  and  who  wore  headbands  and  false  hair,  and 
who  clothed  themselves  in  robes  embroidered  with  flowers,  and  who 
considered  it  disgraceful  to  cultivate  the  land  or  to  do  any  kind  of 
labor.  Most  of  them  made  their  houses  more  beautiful  than  the 
temples  of  the  Gods.  Thus,  they  say,  the  leaders  of  the  Iapygians, 
treating  the  Deity  with  insult,  destroyed  the  images  of  the  Gods  in 
the  temples,  ordering  them  to  yield  place  to  their  superiors.  For 
this  reason,  stricken  with  fire  and  thunderbolts,  they  gave  rise  to 
this  report;  for  in  fact  the  thunderbolts  with  which  they  were 
stricken  down  were  visible  a  long  time  afterward.  To  this  very 
day  all  their  descendants  live  with  shaven  heads  and  in  mourning 
apparel,  in  want  of  the  luxuries  which  previously  belonged  to  them. 

7.  Cretan  Education  and  the  Public  Tables 

(Ephorus,  Histories,  quoted  by  Strabo  x.  4.  20) 

The  most  illustrious  and  powerful  of  the  youths  form  troops 
(aye\ai)}  each  individual  assembling  together  as  many  youths  of 
his  age  as  possible.  Generally  the  governor  of  the  troop  is  the 
father  of  the  youth  who  has  gathered  it,  the  former  has  the  function 
of  taking  them  to  hunt,  of  exercising  them  in  running,  and  of  pun- 
ishing the  disobedient.  They  are  maintained  at  the  public  expense. 
On  certain  set  days  troop  encounters  troop,  marching  in  time  to  the 
sound  of  the  pipe  and  lyre,  as  is  their  custom  in  actual  war.  They 
inflict  blows,  some  with  the  hand  and  some  even  with  iron  weapons. 


PUBLIC  TABLES 


73 


A  certain  number  are  selected  from  time  to  time  from  the  troop 
and  compelled  forthwith  to  marry.  They  do  not,  however,  take 
the  young  women  whom  they  have  married  immediately  to  their 
homes,  but  wait  until  they  are  qualified  to  administer  household 
affairs. 

(Dosiades,  Cretica,  iv,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  iv.  22,  143) 

Dosiades  was  a  native  of  Crete  of  the  Hellenistic  age,  who  composed  the 
work  named  above,  dealing  evidently  with  the  history  and  antiquities  of  his 
island.  Little  else  is  known  of  him  (cf.  Schwartz,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real- 
Encycl.  V.  1596  sq.) ;  but  he  must  have  had  access  to  abundant  sources  of  infor- 
mation lost  to  us. 

The  people  of  Lycti  conduct  their  public  tables  as  follows.  Each 
brings  in  a  tenth  of  the  produce,  and  also  the  revenues  of  the  state, 
which  the  authorities  of  the  state  distribute  among  the  several 
houses.  And  each  slave  contributed  an  iEginetan  stater  as  poll 
tax. 

On  reaching  manhood  the  youth  then  passed  from  the  troop  to 
the  club  (hetceria).  All  the  citizens  are  grouped  in  clubs.  These 
institutions  they  call  andreia.  The  management  of  a  syssition 
(common  table  of  an  andreion)  is  in  charge  of  a  woman,  who  calls 
to  her  assistance  three  or  four  common  men  (B^fjuoriKOi).  Each 
of  these  men  is  accompanied  by  two  slaves  as  wood-carriers,  called 
/ca\ocf)6pot.  In  every  Cretan  city  are  two  houses  for  syssitia. 
One  they  call  the  andreion :  the  other,  in  which  they  entertain 
strangers,  the  inn  (fcoifjLrjrripLov) .  In  the  andreion  stand  in  the  first 
place  two  tables  assigned  to  guests,  at  which  aliens  who  are  present 
sit,  then  the  other  tables  in  their  order. 

An  equal  portion  is  served  to  each  one  present,  whereas  a  half 
portion  is  assigned  to  the  younger  men,  who  touch  nothing  of  the 
other  dishes.  Then  wine  mixed  with  water  is  served,  and  all  who 
sit  at  a  common  table  drink  together.  When  they  have  finished 
eating,  a  further  supply  of  wine  is  furnished.  For  the  boys,  too,  a 
common  bowl  is  mixed,  while  to  the  elders,  if  they  wish,  the  priv- 
ilege is  given  of  drinking  more.  The  best  of  everything  the  woman 
in  charge  of  the  syssition  takes  from  the  table  in  the  sight  of  all 
and  gives  to  those  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  war  or  by 
their  wisdom.  After  dinner  it  is  customary  first  to  deliberate  on 
public  affairs,  then  to  converse  about  the  deeds  of  war  and  to  praise 


74         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


those  who  have  shown  themselves  good  men,  the  object  being  to 
encourage  the  young  to  manliness. 

(Pyrgion,  Cretan  Customs,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  iv.  22,  143.    Translated  by 

G.  W.  B.) 

In  their  syssitia  the  Cretans  eat  sitting.  The  youngest  (the 
children)  stand  and  serve  the  rest.  After  pouring  an  offering  to 
the  gods  for  good  fortune,  they  divide  among  all  the  food  brought 
to  the  table.  They  assign  to  the  sons  who  stand  behind  their 
fathers'  chairs  portions  one  half  of  those  placed  before  men.  The 
orphans,  however,  have  equal  portions.  Whatever  is  served  them 
is  prepared  without  seasoning  according  to  the  specifications  of 
their  customary  law. 

8.  The  Pyrrhic  Dance  and  the  Hymn  of  the  Curetes 

(Ephorus,  Histories,  quoted  by  Strabo  x.  4.  16) 

That  courage  and  not  fear  might  predominate,  they  were  ac- 
customed from  childhood  to  the  use  of  arms  and  to  endure  fatigue. 
Hence  they  disregarded  heat  and  cold,  rugged  and  steep  roads, 
blows  received  in  gymnastic  exercises  and  in  set  battles. 

They  practised  archery  and  the  dance  in  armor,  which  the  curetes 
first  invented,  and  which  was  afterward  perfected  by  Pyrrhichus 
and  called  after  him  Pyrrhic.  Hence  even  their  sports  were  not 
without  their  use  in  training  for  war.  With  the  same  intention  they 
used  the  Cretan  measures  in  their  songs.  The  tones  of  these  meas- 
ures are  extremely  loud ;  they  were  invented  by  Thales  (Thaletas) , 
to  whom  are  ascribed  the  paeans  and  other  native  songs  and  many 
customs.  They  adopted  a  military  dress  and  shoes,  and  considered 
armor  the  most  valuable  of  all  presents. 

the  hymn 

The  curetes,  mentioned  above,  were  young,  unmarried  men,  initiated  into 
the  mystic  rites  of  the  society,  and  worshipers  of  Zeus  Kouros,  the  Divine  Youth, 
with  emotional  rites  and  ecstatic  dances  in  armor.  See  Harrison,  J.  E.,  "The 
Kouretes  and  Zeus  Kouros,"  in  the  Annual  of  the  British  School  at  Athens,  XV 
(1908-9).  308-338.  A  hymn  of  the  curetes,  recently  discovered  and  published 
in  op.  cit.  XV.  357  sqq.,  is  translated  as  follows  by  Gilbert  Murray. 


HYMN  OF  THE  CURETES 


75 


Io,  Kouros  most  Great,  I  give  thee  hail,  Kronion,  Lord  of  all  that 
is  wet  and  gleaming,  thou  art  come  at  the  head  of  thy  Daimones 
(spirits).  To  Dicte  for  the  year,  Oh,  march,  and  rejoice  in  the 
dance  and  song, 

That  we  make  to  thee  with  harps  and  pipes  mingled  together, 
and  sing  as  we  come  to  a  stand  at  thy  well-fenced  altar. 
Io,  etc. 

For  here  the  shielded  Nurturers  took  thee,  a  babe  immortal, 
from  Rhea,  and  with  noise  of  beating  feet  hid  thee  away. 
Io,  etc. 

(The  next  stanza  is  unintelligible.) 

And  the  seasons  began  to  be  fruitful  year  by  year  (?)  and  Justice 
to  possess  mankind,  and  all  wild  living  things  were  held  about  by 
wealth-loving  Peace. 

Io,  etc. 

To  us  also  leap  for  full  jars,  and  leap  for  fleecy  flocks,  and  leap 
for  fields  of  fruit,  and  for  hives  to  bring  increase. 
Io,  etc. 

Leap  for  our  cities  and  leap  for  our  sea-borne  ships  and  leap  for 
young  citizens  and  for  goodly  law.1 

9.  The  Condition  of  Greece  during  and  after  the 
Hellenic  Migration 

(Thucydides  i.  2-12.    Jowett,  verified  on  the  basis  of  the  Greek  text  by  E.  G.  S.) 

This  passage  best  applies  to  the  period  of  Indo-European  immigration  into 
Greece  and  of  the  gradual  emergence  of  Hellenic  civilization  from  the  blending 
of  the  invaders  with  the  decadent  Minoans.  At  the  same  time  the  selection 
illustrates  the  method  of  Thucydides  in  dealing  with  early  times. 

2.  The  country  which  is  now  called  Hellas  was  not  regularly 
settled  in  ancient  times.  The  people  were  migratory,  and  readily 
left  their  homes  whenever  they  were  overpowered  by  numbers. 

1  The  curetes  were  themselves  the  daimones,  spirits,  attendant  on  the  god.  He 
was  a  year  god,  who  brought  fertility,  increase,  and  prosperity.  The  curetes  are 
called  nurturers  because  they  received  the  child  Zeus  from  his  mother  Rhea  and  hid 
him  from  the  father  Cronos.  Though  the  exhortation  "  leap  "  is  addressed  to  Zeus, 
the  curetes  themselves  performed  the  act  while  singing.  From  Crete  the  institution 
of  the  curetes  extended  to  many  parts  of  Greece. 


76         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


There  was  no  commerce,  and  they  could  not  safely  hold  intercourse 
with  one  another  either  by  land  or  sea.  The  several  tribes  culti- 
vated their  own  soil  just  enough  to  obtain  a  maintenance  from  it. 
But  they  had  no  accumulations  of  wealth,  and  did  not  plant  the 
ground ;  for,  being  without  walls,  they  were  never  sure  that  an 
invader  might  not  come  and  despoil  them.  Living  in  this  manner 
and  knowing  that  they  could  anywhere  obtain  a  bare  subsistence, 
they  were  always  ready  to  migrate ;  so  that  they  had  neither  great 
cities  nor  any  considerable  resources.  The  richest  districts  were 
most  constantly  changing  their  inhabitants  ;  for  example,  the  coun- 
tries which  are  now  called  Thessaly  and  Bceotia,  the  greater  part  of 
the  Peloponnesus  with  the  exception  of  Arcadia,1  and  all  the  best 
parts  of  Hellas.  For  the  productiveness  of  the  land  increased  the 
power  of  individuals  ;  this  in  turn  was  a  source  of  quarrels  by  which 
communities  were  ruined,  while  at  the  same  time  they  were  more 
exposed  to  attacks  from  without.  Certainly  Attica,  of  which  the 
soil  was  poor  and  thin,  enjoyed  a  long  freedom  from  civil  strife, 
and  therefore  retained  its  original  inhabitants.  And  a  striking 
confirmation  of  my  argument  is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  Attica 
through  immigration  increased  in  population  more  than  any  other 
region.  For  the  leading  men  of  Hellas,  when  driven  out  of  their 
own  country  by  war  or  revolution,  sought  an  asylum  at  Athens ; 
and  from  the  very  earliest  times,  being  admitted  to  rights  of  citizen- 
ship, so  greatly  increased  the  number  of  inhabitants  that  Attica 
became  incapable  of  containing  them,  and  was  at  last  obliged  to 
send  out  colonies  to  Ionia.2 

3.  The  feebleness  of  antiquity  is  further  proved  to  me  by  the 
circumstance  that  there  appears  to  have  been  no  common  action  in 
Hellas  before  the  Trojan  War.  And  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
the  very  name  was  not  as  yet  given  to  the  whole  country,  and  in 
fact  did  not  exist  at  all  before  the  time  of  Hellen,  the  son  of  Deu- 
calion ;  the  different  tribes,  of  which  the  Pelasgian  3  was  the  most 

1  It  was  the  common  belief  of  his  time  that  Arcadia  alone  of  all  Peloponnesian 
states  had  never  changed  inhabitants;  it  is  certain  that  they  were  among  the  oldest 
of  Hellenic  races. 

2  Thucydides  has  in  mind  especially  the  tradition  that  the  inhabitants  of  northern 
Peloponnese,  expelled  by  the  invading  Dorians,  took  refuge  in  Attica  and  afterward 
joined  in  the  colonization  of  Ionia. 

3  In  the  time  of  Thucydides  it  was  commonly  believed  that  the  Pelasgians  had 


HELLENES  AND  BARBARIANS 


77 


widely  spread,  gave  their  own  names  to  different  districts.  But 
when  Hellen  and  his  sons  became  powerful  in  Phthiotis,  their  aid 
was  invoked  by  other  cities,  and  those  who  associated  with  them 
gradually  began  to  be  called  Hellenes,  though  a  long  time  elapsed 
before  the  name  prevailed  over  the  whole  country.  Of  this  Homer 
affords  the  best  evidence ;  for  he,  although  he  lived  long  after 
the  Trojan  War,  nowhere  uses  this  name  collectively,  but  con- 
fines it  to  the  followers  of  Achilles  from  Phthiotis,  who  were 
the  original  Hellenes ;  when  speaking  of  the  entire  host  he  called 
them  Danaans,  or  Argives,  or  Achaeans.  Neither  is  there  any 
mention  of  Barbarians  in  his  poems,  clearly  because  there  were  as 
yet  no  Hellenes  opposed  to  them  by  a  common  distinctive  name. 
Thus  the  several  Hellenic  tribes  (and  I  mean  by  the  term  Hellenes 
those  who,  while  forming  separate  communities,  had  a  common 
language,  and  were  afterward  called  by  a  common  name),  owing 
to  their  weakness  and  isolation,  were  never  united  in  any  great 
enterprise  before  the  Trojan  War.  And  they  only  made  the  ex- 
pedition against  Troy  after  they  had  gained  considerable  experience 
of  the  sea. 

4.  Minos  is  the  first  to  whom  tradition  ascribes  the  possession 
of  a  navy.  He  made  himself  master  of  a  great  part  of  what  is  now 
termed  the  Hellenic  sea ;  he  conquered  the  Cyclades,  and  was  the 
first  colonizer  of  most  of  them,  expelling  the  Carians  and  appointing 
his  own  sons  to  govern  in  them.  Lastly,  it  was  he  who,  from  a 
natural  desire  to  protect  his  growing  revenues,  sought,  as  far  as  he 
was  able,  to  clear  the  sea  of  pirates. 

5.  For  in  ancient  times  both  Hellenes  and  Barbarians,  as  well 
the  inhabitants  of  the  coast  as  of  the  islands,  when  they  began  to 
find  their  way  to  one  another  by  sea  had  recourse  to  piracy.  They 
were  commanded  by  powerful  chiefs,  who  took  this  means  of  in- 
creasing their  wealth  and  providing  for  their  poorer  followers. 
They  would  fall  upon  the  unwalled  and  straggling  towns,  or  rather 
villages,  which  they  plundered,  and  maintained  themselves  by  the 
plunder  of  them ;  for,  as  yet,  such  an  occupation  was  held  to  be 

once  occupied  a  great  part  of  Hellas.  This  opinion,  however,  seems  to  have  been 
due  to  an  erroneous  method  of  reconstructing  the  past.  Homer  knew  only  of  a  Pelasgic 
Argos  and  Pelasgians  in  Crete ;  from  such  small  beginnings  the  antiquarians  developed 
their  great  theory;  cf.  Meyer,  E.,  Forsch.  zur  alten  Geschichte,  I.  1-124. 


78         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


honorable  and  not  disgraceful.  This  is  proved  by  the  practice  of 
certain  tribes  on  the  mainland  who,  to  the  present  day,  glory  in 
piratical  exploits,  and  by  the  witness  of  the  ancient  poets,  in  whose 
verses  the  question  is  invariably  asked  of  newly-arrived  voyagers, 
whether  they  are  pirates  ;  which  implies  that  neither  those  who  are 
questioned  disclaim,  nor  those  who  are  interested  in  knowing 
censure,  the  occupation.  The  land  too  was  infested  by  robbers ; 
and  there  are  parts  of  Hellas  in  which  the  old  practices  still  continue, 
as  for  example  among  the  Ozolian  Locrians,  iEtolians,  Acarnanians, 
and  the  adjacent  regions  of  the  continent.  The  fashion  of  wearing 
arms  among  these  continental  tribes  is  a  relic  of  their  old  predatory 
habits.1 

6.  For  in  ancient  times  all  Hellenes  carried  weapons  because 
their  homes  were  undefended  and  intercourse  was  unsafe ;  like  the 
Barbarians  they  went  armed  in  their  every-day  life.  And  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  custom  in  certain  parts  of  the  country  proves  that 
it  once  prevailed  everywhere. 

The  Athenians  were  the  first  who  laid  aside  arms  and  adopted 
an  easier  and  more  luxurious  way  of  life.  Quite  recently  the  old- 
fashioned  refinement  of  dress  still  lingered  among  the  elder  men  of 
their  richer  class,  who  wore  undergarments  of  linen,  and  bound 
back  their  hair  in  a  knot  with  golden  clasps  in  the  form  of  grass- 
hoppers ;  and  the  same  customs  long  survived  among  the  elders  of 
Ionia,  having  been  derived  from  their  Athenian  ancestors.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  simple  dress  which  is  now  common  was  first 
worn  at  Sparta ;  and  there,  more  than  anywhere  else,  the  life  of 
the  rich  was  assimilated  to  that  of  the  people.  The  Lacedaemo- 
nians too  were  the  first  who  in  their  athletic  exercises  stripped  naked 
and  rubbed  themselves  over  with  oil.  But  this  was  not  the  ancient 
custom ;  athletes  formerly,  even  when  they  were  contending  at 
Olympia,  wore  girdles  about  their  loins,  a  practice  which  lasted 
until  quite  lately,  and  still  prevails  among  Barbarians,  especially 
those  of  Asia,  where  the  combatants  at  boxing  and  wrestling  matches 
wear  girdles.    And  many  other  customs  which  are  now  confined 

1The  method  of  the  historian  is  to  study  the  undeveloped  peoples  of  Hellas  for 
information  on  the  early  condition  of  those  peoples  who  had  made  progress.  The 
same  method  is  employed  at  present  in  the  study  of  religion,  social  conditions,  and 
other  elements  of  civilization. 


KINGS  OF  MYCEN^L 


79 


to  the  Barbarians  might  be  shown  to  have  existed  formerly  in 
Hellas.1 

7.  In  later  times,  when  navigation  had  become  general  and 
wealth  was  beginning  to  accumulate,  cities  were  built  upon  the 
seashore  and  fortified ;  peninsulas  too  were  occupied  and  walled- 
off  with  a  view  to  commerce  and  defence  against  the  neighboring 
tribes.  But  the  older  towns  both  in  the  islands  and  on  the  con- 
tinent, in  order  to  protect  themselves  against  the  piracy  which  so 
long  prevailed,  were  built  inland ;  and  there  they  remain  to  this 
day.  For  the  piratical  tribes  plundered,  not  only  one  another,  but 
all  those  who,  without  being  sailors,  lived  on  the  sea-coast.  ... 

9.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Agamemnon  succeeded  in  col- 
lecting the  expedition,2  not  because  the  suitors  of  Helen  had  bound 
themselves  by  oath  to  Tyndareus,  but  because  he  was  the  most 
powerful  king  of  his  time.  Those  Peloponnesians  who  possess  the 
most  accurate  traditions  say  that  originally  Pelops  gained  his  power 
by  the  great  wealth  which  he  brought  with  him  from  Asia  into  a 
poor  country,  whereby  he  was  enabled,  although  a  stranger,  to 
give  his  name  to  the  Peloponnesus ;  and  that  still  greater  fortune 
attended  his  descendants  after  the  death  of  Eurystheus,  king  of 
Mycenae,  who  was  slain  in  Attica  by  the  Heraclidae.  For  Atreus  the 
son  of  Pelops  was  the  maternal  uncle  of  Eurystheus,  who,  when  he 
went  on  the  expedition,  naturally  committed  to  his  charge  the 
kingdom  of  Mycenae.  Now  Atreus  had  been  banished  by  his 
father  on  account  of  the  murder  of  Chrysippus.  But  Eurystheus 
never  returned  ;  and  the  Mycenaeans,  dreading  the  Heraclidae,  were 
ready  to  welcome  Atreus,  who  was  considered  a  powerful  man  and 
had  ingratiated  himself  with  the  multitude.  Thus  he  succeeded 
to  the  throne  of  Mycenae  and  the  other  dominions  of  Eurystheus. 
The  house  of  Pelops  accordingly  prevailed  over  that  of  Perseus. 

1  In  their  admiration  for  the  human  form,  their  recognition  of  its  nobility,  and 
their  pleasure  in  viewing  it  unclad,  especially  in  action,  the  Hellenes  contrasted  with 
the  Orientals,  who  thought  it  shameful  to  expose  the  body  to  view.  It  was  this  atti- 
tude of  the  Greeks  which  made  possible  the  creation  of  their  art  and  the  elevation  of  the 
human  being  to  a  dignity  and  nobility  of  which  the  Orientals  appear  never  even  to  have 
dreamed. 

2  Ch.  8  has  not  been  omitted,  but  merely  transferred ;  see  nos.  2,3.  At  the  close 
of  the  chapter  Thucydides  speaks  of  the  Trojan  war.  The  expedition  here  men- 
tioned, therefore,  is  that  of  the  Hellenes  against  Troy. 


8o        MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


And  it  was,  as  I  believe,  because  Agamemnon  inherited  this 
power  and  also  because  he  was  the  greatest  naval  potentate  of  his 
time  that  he  was  able  to  assemble  the  expedition ;  and  the  other 
princes  followed  him,  not  from  good-will,  but  from  fear.  Of  the 
chiefs  who  came  to  Troy,  he,  if  the  witness  of  Homer  be  accepted, 
brought  the  greatest  number  of  ships  himself,  besides  supplying 
the  Arcadians  with  them.  In  the  'Handing  down  of  the  Sceptre' 
he  is  described  as  '  The  king  of  many  islands,  and  of  all  Argos.'  But, 
living  on  the  mainland,  he  could  not  have  ruled  over  any  except 
the  adjacent  islands  (which  would  not  be  'many')  unless  he  had 
possessed  a  considerable  navy.  From  this  expedition  we  must 
form  our  conjectures  about  the  character  of  still  earlier  times. 

10.  When  it  is  said  that  Mycenae  was  but  a  small  place,  or  that 
any  other  city  which  existed  in  those  days  is  inconsiderable  in  our 
own,  this  argument  will  hardly  prove  that  the  expedition  was  not 
as  great  as  the  poets  relate  and  as  is  commonly  imagined.  Suppose 
the  city  of  Sparta  to  be  deserted,  and  nothing  left  but  the  temples 
and  the  ground-plan,  distant  ages  would  be  very  unwilling  to  be- 
lieve that  the  power  of  the  Lacedaemonians  was  at  all  equal  to  their 
fame.  And  yet  they  own  two-fifths  of  the  Peloponnesus,  and  are 
acknowledged  leaders  of  the  whole,  as  well  as  of  numerous  allies 
in  the  rest  of  Hellas.  But  their  city  is  not  regularly  built,  and  has 
no  splendid  temples  or  other  edifices ;  it  rather  resembles  a  strag- 
gling village  like  the  ancient  towns  of  Hellas,  and  would  therefore 
make  a  poor  show.  Whereas  if  the  same  fate  befell  the  Athenians, 
the  ruins  of  Athens  would  strike  the  eye,  and  we  should  infer  their 
power  to  have  been  twice  as  great  as  it  really  is.  We  ought  not 
then  to  be  unduly  sceptical.  The  greatness  of  cities  should  be 
estimated  by  their  real  power  and  not  by  appearances.  And  we 
may  fairly  suppose  the  Trojan  expedition  to  have  been  greater 
than  any  which  preceded  it,  although  according  to  Homer,  if  we 
may  once  more  appeal  to  his  testimony,  not  equal  to  those  of  our 
own  day.  He  was  a  poet,  and  may  therefore  be  expected  to  ex- 
aggerate ;  yet,  even  upon  his  showing,  the  expedition  was  compara- 
tively small.  For  it  numbered,  as  he  tells  us,  twelve  hundred  ships, 
those  of  the  Boeotians  carrying  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  each, 
those  of  Philoctetes  fifty ;  and  by  these  numbers  he  may  be  pre- 
sumed to  indicate  the  largest  and  the  smallest  ships ;  else  why  in 


THE  TROJAN  WAR 


81 


the  catalogue  is  nothing  said  about  the  size  of  any  others  ?  That 
the  crews  were  all  righting  men  as  well  as  rowers  he  clearly  implies 
when  speaking  of  the  ships  of  Philoctetes ;  for  he  tells  us  that  all 
the  oarsmen  were  likewise  archers.  And  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  many  who  were  not  sailors  would  accompany  the  expedition, 
except  the  kings  and  principal  officers ;  for  the  troops  had  to  cross 
the  sea,  bringing  with  them  the  materials  of  war,  in  vessels  without 
decks,  built  after  the  old  piratical  fashion.  Now  if  we  take  a  mean 
between  the  crews,  the  invading  forces  will  appear  not  to  have  been 
very  numerous  when  we  remember  that  they  were  drawn  from  the 
whole  of  Hellas.1 

ii.  The  cause  of  the  inferiority  was  not  so  much  the  want  of 
men  as  the  want  of  money ;  the  invading  army  was  limited  by  the 
difficulty  of  obtaining  supplies  to  such  a  number  as  might  be  ex- 
pected to  live  on  the  country  in  which  they  were  to  fight.  After 
their  arrival  at  Troy,  when  they  had  won  a  battle  (as  they  clearly 
did,  for  otherwise  they  could  not  have  fortified  their  camp),  even 
they  appear  not  to  have  used  the  whole  of  their  force,  but  to  have 
been  driven  by  want  of  provisions  to  the  cultivation  of  the  Cher- 
sonese and  to  pillage.  And  in  consequence  of  this  dispersion  of 
their  forces,  the  Trojans  were  enabled  to  hold  out  against  them 
during  the  whole  ten  years,  being  always  a  match  for  those  who 
remained  on  the  spot.  Whereas  if  the  besieging  army  had  brought 
abundant  supplies,  and,  instead  of  betaking  themselves  to  agri- 
culture or  pillage,  had  carried  on  the  war  persistently  with  all  their 
forces,  they  would  easily  have  been  masters  of  the  field  and  have 
taken  the  city ;  since,  even  divided  as  they  were,  and  with  only  a 
part  of  their  army  available  at  any  one  time,  they  held  their  ground. 
Or,  again,  they  might  have  regularly  invested  Troy,  and  the  place 
would  have  been  captured  in  less  time  and  with  less  trouble.  Pov- 
erty was  the  real  reason  why  the  achievements  of  former  ages  were 
insignificant,  and  why  the  Trojan  War,  the  most  celebrated  of  them 
all,  when  brought  to  the  test  of  facts,  falls  short  of  its  fame  and  of 
the  prevailing  traditions  to  which  the  poets  have  given  authority. 

1  From  this  passage  it  is  evident  that  Thucydides  regarded  the  Iliad  as  history, 
modified  somewhat  by  poetic  exaggeration.  Historians  of  to-day  do  not  take  this  view ; 
they  regard  the  persons  and  events  of  the  poem  as  mainly  fictitious,  while  admitting 
that  the  story  may  contain  a  nucleus  of  fact. 


82         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


12.  Even  in  the  age  which  followed  the  Trojan  War,  Hellas 
was  still  in  process  of  ferment  and  settlement,  and  had  not  time  for 
peaceful  growth.  The  return  of  the  Hellenes  from  Troy  after 
their  long  absence  led  to  many  changes ;  quarrels  too  arose  in 
nearly  every  city,  and  those  who  were  expelled  by  them  went  forth 
and  founded  other  cities.  Thus  in  the  sixtieth  year  after  the  fall 
of  Troy,  the  Boeotian  people,  having  been  expelled  from  Arne  by 
the  Thessalians,  settled  in  the  country  formerly  called  Cadmeis, 
but  now  Bceotia :  a  portion  of  the  tribe  already  dwelt  there,  and 
some  of  them  had  joined  in  the  Trojan  expedition.  In  the  eightieth 
year  after  the  war,  the  Dorians  led  by  the  Heraclidae  conquered  the 
Peloponnesus.  A  considerable  time  elapsed  before  Hellas  became 
finally  settled ;  after  a  while,  however,  she  recovered  tranquillity 
and  began  to  send  out  colonies.  The  Athenians  colonized  Ionia 
and  most  of  the  islands ;  the  Peloponnesians  the  greater  part  of 
Italy  and  Sicily,  and  various  places  in  Hellas.  These  colonies  were 
all  founded  after  the  Trojan  War. 

10.  Crete  after  the  Hellenic  Colonization 
(Homer,  Odyssey,  170-9) 

This  excerpt  describes  the  ethnic  composition  of  Crete  as  it  was  in  the  time 
of  Homer.  The  "Cretans  of  Crete"  (Eteo-Cretans,  "genuine  Cretans")  and 
the  Cydonians  were  the  pre-Hellenic  inhabitants,  the  Minoans.  The  Pelas- 
gians  had  possibly  migrated  from  Thessaly,  where,  according  to  Homer,  was  a 
"Pelasgic  Argos";  cf.  no.  9,  n.  3.  The  Achaeans  and  Dorians  were  Greeks. 
Although  the  idea  arose  in  ancient  times,  and  has  found  modern  supporters, 
that  the  Dorians  here  mentioned  came  directly  from  Thessaly,  it  is  far  more 
probable  that  they  were  from  Peloponnese. 

The  selection  is  especially  interesting  as  a  description  of  a  part  of  Hellas 
after  the  immigration  of  the  Indo-Europeans  but  before  assimilation  had  per- 
ceptibly advanced. 

Yet  even  so  I  will  tell  thee  what  thou  askest  and  inquirest. 
There  is  a  land  called  Crete  in  the  midst  of  the  wine-dark  sea,  a  fair 
land  and  a  rich,  begirt  with  water,  and  therein  are  many  men  in- 
numerable, and  ninety  cities.  And  all  have  not  the  same  speech, 
but  there  is  confusion  of  tongues ;  there  dwell  Achaeans  and  there 
too  Cretans  of  Crete,  high  of  heart,1  and  Cydonians  there  and 

1  Naturally  the  natives  prided  themselves  on  their  descent. 


COLONIZATION  Or   ASIA  MINOR 


83 


Dorians  of  waving  plumes  1  and  goodly  Pelasgians.  And  among 
these  cities  is  the  mighty  city  Cnossus,  wherein  Minos  ruled  in 
nine-year  periods,2  he  who  held  converse  with  great  Zeus,  and  was 
the  father  of  my  father,  even  of  Deucalion,  high  of  heart. 

11.  Ionian,  Dorian,  and  ^Eolian  Colonization 

(Herodotus  i.  142-50.    Macaulay,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  material  contained  in  this  selection  Herodotus  drew  from  a  study  of 
the  situation,  climate,  soil,  customs,  and  traditions  of  the  Greek  cities  of  Asia 
Minor.  It  is  highly  probable  that  he  found  considerable  of  this  work  already 
done  by  the  logographers  and  especially  by  Hecataeus,  his  most  distinguished 
predecessor  (see  p.  21).  While  he  correctly  described  the  customs,  his  expla- 
nation of  their  origin,  for  instance  the  separation  of  women  and  men  at  tables, 
does  not  always  seem  probable. 

142.  These  Ionians  to  whom  belongs  the  Panionion  3  had  the 
fortune  to  build  their  cities  in  the  most  favorable  position  for 
climate  and  seasons  of  any  men  whom  we  know :  for  neither  the 
regions  above  Ionia  nor  those  below,  neither  those  toward  the  East 
nor  those  toward  the  West,  produce  the  same  results  as  Ionia  itself, 
the  regions  in  the  one  direction  being  oppressed  by  cold  and  mois- 
ture, and  those  in  the  other  by  heat  and  drought.  These  people 
do  not  use  all  the  same  speech,  but  have  four  different  variations  of 
language.  First  of  their  cities  on  the  side  of  the  South  lies  Miletus, 
and  next  to  it  Myus  and  Priene.  These  are  settlements  made  in 
Caria,  and  speak  the  same  language  with  one  another;  and  the 
following  are  in  Lydia,  —  Ephesus,  Colophon,  Lebedus,  Teos, 
Clazomenae,  Phocaea :  these  cities  resemble  not  at  all  those  men- 
tioned before  in  the  speech  which  they  use,  but  they  agree  one  with 
another.    There  remain  besides  three  Ionian  cities,  of  which  two 

1  Of  all  the  inhabitants  the  Dorians  were  most  conspicuously  warriors. 

2  See  no.  3  (introd.). 

3  The  Panionion  was  a  shrine  of  all  the  Ionians  for  the  worship  of  Poseidon.  It 
was  situated  on  the  promontory  of  Mycale  in  the  territory  of  Priene,  one  of  the  twelve 
Ionic  cities;  see  ch.  148  of  this  selection.  The  league  of  twelve  cities  was  for  protec- 
tion from  foreign  enemies,  especially  from  the  Lydians  and  Persians ;  but  the  union  was 
loose  and  the  component  states  often  fought  among  themselves  or  failed  to  support 
one  another  in  foreign  wars;  see  Wilamowitz-Moellendorfl,  U.  v.,  "Panionion,"  in 
Sitzb.  Berl.  Akad.  1906.  pp.  38-57. 


84         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


are  established  in  the  islands  of  Samos  and  Chios,  and  one  is  built 
upon  the  mainland,  namely  Erythrae.  Now  the  men  of  Chios  and 
of  Erythrae  use  the  same  form  of  language,  but  the  Samians  have 
one  for  themselves  alone.  Thus  there  result  four  separate  forms  of 
language. 

143.  Of  these  Ionians  those  of  Miletus  were  sheltered  from  the 
danger,  since  they  had  sworn  an  agreement ;  and  those  of  them  who 
lived  in  islands  had  no  cause  of  fear,1  for  the  Phoenicians  were  not 
yet  subjects  of  the  Persians  and  the  Persians  themselves  were  not 
seamen.  Now  these  were  parted  off  from  the  other  Ionians  for  no 
other  reason  than  this  :  the  whole  Hellenic  nation  was  at  that  time 
weak,  but  of  all  its  races  the  Ionian  was  much  the  weakest  and  of 
least  account.  With  the  exception  of  Athens,  indeed,  it  had  no 
considerable  city.  The  other  Ionians,  and  among  them  the  Athe- 
nians, avoided  the  name,  not  wishing  to  be  called  Ionians,  nay  even 
now  I  perceive  that  the  greater  number  of  them  are  ashamed  of 
the  name ; 2  but  these  twelve  cities  not  only  prided  themselves  on 
the  name  but  established  a  temple  of  their  own,  to  which  they  gave 
the  name  of  Panionion,  and  they  made  resolution  not  to  grant  a 
share  in  it  to  any  other  Ionians  ;  nor  indeed  did  any  ask  to  share  it 
except  those  of  Smyrna.3 

144.  Likewise  the  Dorians  of  that  district  which  is  now  called 
the  Five  Cities,  but  was  formerly  called  the  Six  Cities,  take  care 
not  to  admit  any  of  the  neighboring  Dorians  to  the  temple  of  Tri- 
opion,  and  even  exclude  from  sharing  in  it  those  of  their  own  body 
who  commit  any  offence  as  regards  the  temple.    For  example, 

1  Herodotus  has  in  mind  the  situation  in  546,  after  Cyrus  had  conquered  Lydia 
and  was  on  the  point  of  proceeding  against  the  Greek  cities  along  the  coast;  see 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  x. 

2  At  the  time  when  the  History  of  Herodotus  was  being  composed,  third  quarter 
of  the  fifth  century,  the  Ionians  had  greatly  declined  in  creative  power  and  personal 
worth,  and  were  subject  allies  of  the  Athenians.  There  was  reason  then  that  the 
x\thenians  should  be  ashamed  of  kinship  with  them;  but  in  the  time  of  which  he 
writes  no  such  reason  existed ;  in  fact  the  Athenians  claimed  the  Ionians  as  their  colo- 
nists. The  true  reason  why  the  Athenians  did  not  call  themselves  Ionians  seems  to 
be,  (1)  the  Ionians  were  only  in  part  of  the  same  race,  having  come  from  other  places 
besides  Attica  and  having  mixed  extensively  with  the  natives  of  Asia  Minor,  (2)  the 
name  "  Ionian  "  seems  to  have  originated  in  Asia  Minor  and  to  have  extended  but 
faintly  as  far  west  as  Attica. 

3  The  people  of  Smyrna  were  originally  ^Eolian,  but  their  city  had  afterward  been 
taken  by  the  Ionians ;  see  ch.  1 50. 


DORIANS  AND  IONIANS 


35 


in  the  games  of  the  Triopian  Apollo  they  used  formerly  to  set  bronze 
tripods  as  prizes  for  the  victors,  and  the  rule  was  that  those  who 
received  them  should  not  carry  them  out  of  the  temple  but  dedicate 
them  then  and  there  to  the  god.  There  was  a  man  then  of  Hali- 
carnassus, whose  name  was  Agasicles,  who  being  a  victor  paid  no 
regard  to  this  rule,  but  carried  away  the  tripod  to  his  own  house 
and  hung  it  up  there  upon  a  nail.  On  this  ground  the  other  five 
cities,  Lindus,  Ialysus  and  Cameirus,  Cos  and  Cnidus,  excluded 
the  sixth  city  Halicarnassus  from  sharing  in  the  temple.1 

145.  Upon  these  people  they  laid  this  penalty:  but  as  for  the 
Ionians,  I  think  that  the  reason  why  they  made  of  themselves  twelve 
cities  and  would  not  receive  any  more  into  their  body,  was  because 
when  they  dwelt  in  Peloponnesus  there  were  of  them  twelve  di- 
visions, just  as  now  there  are  twelve  divisions  of  the  Achaeans  who 
drove  the  Ionians  out : 2  for  first,  (beginning  from  the  side  of  Sicyon) 
comes  Pellene,  then  iEgeira  and  Aigae,  in  which  last  is  the  river 
Crathis  with  a  perpetual  flow  (whence  the  river  of  the  same  name  in 
Italy  received  its  name),  and  Bura  and  Helice,  to  which  the  Ionians 
fled  for  refuge  when  they  were  worsted  by  the  Achaeans  in  fight, 
and  iEgion  and  Rhypes  and  Patreis  and  Phareis  and  Olenus,  where 
is  the  great  river  Peirus,  and  Dyme  and  Tritaeeis,  of  which  the  last 
alone  has  an  inland  position.  These  now  form  twelve  divisions 
of  the  Achaeans,  and  in  former  times  they  were  divisions  of  the 
Ionians. 

146.  For  this  reason  then  the  Ionians  also  made  for  themselves 
twelve  cities ;  for  at  any  rate  to  say  that  these  are  any  more  Ionians 
than  the  other  Ionians,  or  have  at  all  a  nobler  descent,  is  mere  folly, 
considering  that  a  large  part  of  them  are  Abantians  from  Euboea, 
who  have  no  share  even  in  the  name  of  Ionia,  and  Minyae  of  Or- 

1  Originally  a  Dorian  city,  Halicarnassus  became  so  Ionized  before  the  fifth  century 
as  to  use  the  Ionic  language  for  official  purposes ;  see  the  inscription  in  Ionic  of  about 
460-455  B.C.  in  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  27.  Herodotus,  who  was  a  native  of  this  city, 
and  who  wrote  in  the  Ionic  dialect,  undoubtedly  learned  it  at  home. 

2  The  supposition  of  Herodotus  is  that  the  northern  coast  land  of  Peloponnese, 
in  his  time  called  Achaea,  was  formerly  inhabited  by  Ionians,  who  at  the  time  of  the 
Dorian  invasion  were  expelled  by  the  Achaeans.  These  Ionians  passed  ultimately  to 
Ionia  in  Asia  Minor.  The  notion  that  the  Ionians  of  Asia  Minor  in  any  way  imitated 
those  of  northern  Peloponnese  is  baseless.  It  was  usual  for  early  peoples  to  adopt 
an  arithmetical  scheme  of  organization,  in  which  the  numbers  three  and  four  play 
an  important  part. 


86         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


chomenus  have  been  mingled  with  them,  and  Cadmeians  and  Dryo- 
pians  and  Phocians  who  seceded  from  their  native  State,  and  Mo- 
lossians  and  Pelasgians  of  Arcadia,  and  Dorians  of  Epidaurus,  and 
many  other  races  have  been  mingled  with  them.  Those  of  them 
who  set  forth  to  their  settlements  from  the  Prytaneum  1  of  Athens 
and  who  esteem  themselves  the  most  noble  by  descent  of  the  Ionians, 
these,  I  say,  brought  no  women  with  them  to  their  settlement,  but 
took  Carian  women,  whose  parents  they  slew :  and  on  account  of 
this  slaughter  these  women  laid  down  for  themselves  a  rule,  im- 
posing oaths  on  one  another,  and  handed  it  on  to  their  daughters, 
that  they  should  never  eat  with  their  husbands,  nor  should  a  wife 
call  her  own  husband  by  name,  for  this  reason,  because  the  Ionians 
had  slain  their  fathers  and  husbands  and  children  and  then  having 
done  this  had  them  to  wife.    This  happened  at  Miletus.2 

147.  Moreover  some  of  them  set  Lycian  kings  over  them,  de- 
scendants of  Glaucus  and  Hippolochus,  while  others  were  ruled  by 
Cauconians  of  Pylos,  descendants  of  Codrus  the  son  of  Melanthus, 
and  others  again  by  princes  of  these  two  races  combined.  Since 
however  these  hold  on  to  the  name  more  than  the  other  Ionians, 
let  them  be  called,  if  they  will,  the  Ionians  of  truly  pure  descent ; 
but  in  fact  all  are  Ionians  who  have  their  descent  from  Athens  and 
who  keep  the  feast  of  Apaturia  ; 3  and  this  they  all  keep  except  the 
men  of  Ephesus  and  Colophon :  for  these  alone  of  all  the  Ionians 
do  not  keep  the  Apaturia,  and  that  on  the  ground  of  some  murder 
committed. 

148.  Now  the  Panionion  is  a  sacred  place  on  the  north  side  of 
Mycale,  set  apart  by  common  agreement  of  the  Ionians  for  Poseidon 
of  Helice;  and  this  Mycale  is  a  promontory  of  the  mainland  run- 
ning out  westward  towards  Samos,  where  the  Ionians  gathering 
together  from  their  cities  used  to  hold  a  festival  which  they  called 
the  Panionia.  [And  not  only  the  feasts  of  the  Ionians  but  also 
those  of  all  the  Hellenes  equally  are  subject  to  this  rule,  that  their 

1  The  City  Hall,  containing  a  sacred  hearth  of  the  community. 

2  For  a  time  after  the  colonization  the  social  condition  of  Ionia  closely  resembled 
that  of  Crete  and  Laconia ;  there  were  lords,  serfs,  public  tables  for  the  men,  and  mili- 
tary training;  cf.  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  iii.  These  facts  help  explain  the 
separation  of  women  and  men  at  table,  a  custom  afterward  accentuated  by  the  Ori- 
entalizing tendency  to  seclude  women. 

3  The  phratric  festival  of  the  Ionians;  see  no.  144. 


^OLIANS 


87 


names  all  end  in  the  same  letter,  just  like  the  names  of  the 
Persians.] 1 

149.  These  then  are  the  Ionian  cities  ;  and  those  of  ^olis  are  as 
follows :  Kyme,  which  is  called  Phriconis,  Larisae,  Neonteichus, 
Temnus,  Cilia,  Notion,  iEgiroessa,  Pitane,  yEgaiae,  Myrina,  Gry- 
neia ;  these  are  the  ancient  cities  of  the  ^Eolians,  eleven  in  number, 
since  one,  Smyrna,  was  severed  from  them  by  the  Ionians  ;  for  these 
cities,  that  is  those  on  the  mainland,  used  also  formerly  to  be  twelve 
in  number.  The  iEolians  had  the  fortune  to  settle  in  a  land  which 
is  more  fertile  than  that  of  the  Ionians  but  in  respect  of  climate  less 
favored  .^150.  Now  the  Cohans  lost  Smyrna  in  the  following  man- 
ner :  certain  men  of  Colophon,  who  had  been  worsted  in  party 
strife  and  had  been  driven  from  their  native  city,  were  received  there 
for  refuge  :  and  after  this  the  Colophonian  exiles  watched  for  a  time 
when  the  men  of  Smyrna  were  celebrating  a  festival  to  Dionysus 
outside  the  walls,  and  then  they  closed  the  gates  against  them  and 
got  possession  of  the  city.  After  this,  when  the  whole  body  of 
iEolians  came  to  the  rescue,  they  made  an  agreement  that  the 
Ionians  should  give  up  the  movable  goods,  and  that  on  this  con- 
dition the  Cohans  should  abandon  Smyrna.  When  the  men  of 
Smyrna  had  done  this,  the  remaining  eleven  cities  divided  them 
amongst  themselves  and  made  them  their  own  citizens.  151.  These 
then  are  the  dorian  cities  upon  the  mainland,  with  the  exception 
of  those  situated  on  Mount  Ida,  for  they  are  separate  from  the  rest. 
Of  those  which  are  in  the  islands,  there  are  five  in  Lesbos,  for  the 
sixth  which  was  situated  in  Lesbos,  namely  Arisba,  was  enslaved 
by  the  men  of  Methymna,  though  its  citizens  were  of  the  same  race 
as  they ;  and  in  Tenedos  there  is  one  city,  and  another  in  what  are 
called  the  "Hundred  Isles."  Now  the  Lesbians  and  the  men  of 
Tenedos,  like  those  Ionians  who  dwelt  in  the  islands,  had  no  cause 
for  fear ;  but  the  remaining  cities  came  to  a  common  agreement  to 
follow  the  Ionians  whithersoever  they  should  lead.2 

1  Evidently  an  interpolation  by  a  Greek  grammarian. 

2  Before  narrating  the  conquest  of  the  Asiatic  Greeks  by  the  Persians,  Herodotus 
pauses  to  describe,  in  the  selection  here  given,  the  condition  of  the  Greek  colonies  of 
Asia  Minor.  The  "  common  agreement  to  follow  the  Ionians  "  refers  to  measures  of 
defence  against  Persia. 


88         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


12.  Homeric  Council  and  Assembly;   Preparation  for 

Battle 

(Homer,  Iliad,  ii.  1-483.    The  following  selections  from  Homer,  translated  by 
Lang,  have  been  verified  on  the  bases  of  the  Greek  text  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  selection  here  given  presents  an  interesting  view  of  public  life  as  pic- 
tured by  Homer.  At  the  same  time  it  affords  information  on  social  classes  and 
social  feeling  as  Homer  conceives  them.  Noteworthy  are  the  vast  pretensions 
of  the  king,  and  only  in  a  less  degree,  of  the  councilors,  and  their  utter  contempt 
for  the  commons.    We  may  learn  from  it,  too,  the  essentials  of  Homeric  religion. 

Now  all  other  gods  and  chariot-driving  men  slept  all  night  long, 
only  Zeus  was  not  holden  of  sweet  sleep ;  rather  was  he  pondering 
in  his  heart  how  he  should  do  honor  to  Achilles  and  destroy  many 
beside  the  Achaeans' 1  ships.  And  this  design  seemed  to  his  mind  the 
best,  to  wit,  to  send  a  baneful  dream  upon  Agamemnon  son  of 
Atreus.  So  he  spake,  and  uttered  to  him  winged  words:  "Come 
now,  thou  baneful  Dream,  go  to  the  Achaeans'  fleet  ships,  enter 
into  the  hut  of  Agamemnon  son  of  Atreus,  and  tell  him  every  word 
plainly  as  I  charge  thee.  Bid  him  call  to  arms  the  flowing-haired 
Achaeans  with  all  speed,  for  that  now  he  may  take  the  wide-wayed 
city  of  the  Trojans.  For  the  immortals  that  dwell  in  the  halls  of 
Olympus  are  no  longer  divided  in  counsel,  since  Hera  hath  turned 
the  minds  of  all  by  her  beseeching,  and  over  the  Trojans  sorrows 
hang."  2 

So  spake  he,  and  the  Dream  went  his  way  when  he  had  heard 
the  charge.  With  speed  he  came  to  the  Achaeans'  fleet  ships,  and 
went  to  Agamemnon  son  of  Atreus,  and  found  him  sleeping  in  his 
hut,  and  ambrosial  slumber  poured  over  him.  So  he  stood  over 
his  head  in  seeming  like  unto  the  son  of  Neleus,  even  Nestor,  whom 
most  of  all  the  elders  3  Agamemnon  honored ;  in  his  likeness  spake 
to  him  the  heavenly  Dream : 

1  The  host  besieging  Troy  are  called  Achaeans,  Argives,  and  Danaans,  apparently 
without  discrimination.  It  is  not  likely  that  all  who  are  represented  as  taking  part  in 
the  expedition  against  Troy  had  a  common  name  (Thuc.  i.  3  ;  no.  9) ;  but  a  common 
name  was  necessary  for  Homer's  literary  purpose,  and  we  may  accordingly  suppose 
that  the  use  of  the  terms  Achaean  in  his  poems  is  essentially  literary. 

2  Zeus  seems  to  have  harbored  no  scruple  about  practising  deception,  and  in 
general  the  Homeric  gods  were  far  from  being  patterns  of  virtue. 

3  The  "  elders  "  were  the  members  of  his  council.  Throughout  the  Iliad  we  find 
Nestor  initiating  most  of  the  plans  of  the  council. 


AGAMEMNON'S  DREAM 


89 


"Sleepest  thou,  son  of  wise  Atreus  tamer  of  horses?  To  sleep 
all  night  through  beseemeth  not  one  that  is  a  counsellor,  to  whom 
peoples  are  entrusted  1  and  so  many  cares  belong.  But  now  hearken 
straightway  to  me,  for  I  am  a  messenger  to  thee  from  Zeus,  who 
though  he  be  afar  yet  hath  great  care  for  thee  and  pity.  He  biddeth 
thee  call  to  arms  the  flowing-haired  Achaeans  with  all  speed,  for  that 
now  thou  mayest  take  the  wide-wayed  city  of  the  Trojans.  For 
the  immortals  that  dwell  in  the  halls  of  Olympus  are  no  longer 
divided  in  counsel,  since  Hera  hath  turned  the  minds  of  all  by  her 
beseeching,  and  over  the  Trojans  sorrows  hang  by  the  will  of  Zeus. 
But  do  thou  keep  this  in  thy  heart,  nor  let  forgetfulness  come  upon 
thee  when  honeyed  sleep  shall  leave  thee." 

So  spake  the  Dream,  and  departed  and  left  him  there,  deeming 
in  his  mind  things  that  were  not  to-  be  fulfilled.  For  indeed  he 
thought  to  take  Priam's  city  that  very  day ;  fond  man,  in  that  he 
knew  not  the  plans  that  Zeus  had  in  mind,  who  was  willed  to  bring 
yet  more  grief  and  wailing  on  Trojans  alike  and  Danaans  through- 
out the  course  of  stubborn  fights.  Then  woke  he  from  sleep,  and 
the  heavenly  voice  was  in  his  ears.  So  he  rose  up  sitting,  and 
donned  his  soft  chiton,  fair  and  bright,  and  cast  around  him  his 
great  cloak,  and  beneath  his  glistening  feet  he  bound  his  fair  sandals, 
and  over  his  shoulder  cast  his  silver-studded  sword,  and  grasped 
his  sire's  sceptre,  imperishable  for  ever,  wherewith  he  took  his  way 
amid  the  mail-clad  Achaeans'  ships. 

Now  went  the  goddess  Dawn  to  high  Olympus,  foretelling  day- 
light to  Zeus  and  all  the  immortals ;  and  the  king  bade  the  clear- 
voiced  heralds  summon  to  the  assembly  the  flowing-haired  Achaeans. 
So  did  those  summon,  and  these  gathered  with  speed.2 

But  first  the  council3  of  the  great-hearted  elders  met  beside 
the  ship  of  king  Nestor  the  Pylos-born.    And  he  that  had  assembled 

1  Here  is  a  hint  of  the  divine  basis  of  the  king's  office.  Immediately  below  is  an 
indication  that  the  king  was  the  special  object  of  Zeus'  care. 

2  The  usual  Homeric  manner  of  calling  the  assembly  of  the  people  is  here  indi- 
cated. Ordinarily  the  warriors  formed  the  assembly,  but  sometimes  the  working- 
people  on  the  ships  attended ;  in  fact  it  was  not  in  this  age  in  any  way  exclusive. 

3  Here  are  pictured  the  summoning  of  the  council  of  elders  and  with  great  brevity 
the  procedure  of  its  meeting .  From  other  meetings  we  learn  that  it  was  customary 
to  continue  the  discussion  till  opposition  to  the  proposal  ceased.  There  was  no  idea  of 
a  majority  vote. 


go         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


them  framed  his  cunning  counsel :  "  Hearken,  my  friends.  A  dream 
from  heaven  came  to  me  in  my  sleep  through  the  ambrosial  night, 
and  chiefly  to  goodly  Nestor  was  very  like  in  shape  and  bulk  and 
stature.  And  it  stood  over  my  head  and  charged  me  saying : 
'Sleepest  thou,  son  of  wise  Atreus  tamer  of  horses?  To  sleep  all 
night  through  beseemeth  not  one  that  is  a  counsellor,  to  whom 
peoples  are  entrusted  and  so  many  cares  belong.  But  now  hearken 
straightway  to  me,  for  I  am  a  messenger  to  thee  from  Zeus,  who 
though  he  be  afar  yet  hath  great  care  for  thee  and  pity.  He  biddeth 
thee  call  to  arms  the  flowing-haired  Achaeans  with  all  speed,  for 
that  now  thou  mayest  take  the  wide-wayed  city  of  the  Trojans. 
For  the  immortals  that  dwell  in  the  palaces  of  Olympus  are  no 
longer  divided  in  counsel,  since  Hera  hath  turned  the  minds  of  all 
by  her  beseeching,  and  over  the  Trojans  sorrows  hang  by  the  will 
of  Zeus.  But  keep  thou  this  in  thy  heart.'  So  spake  the  dream 
and  was  flown  away,  and  sweet  sleep  left  me.  So  come,  let  us  now 
call  to  arms  as  we  may  the  sons  of  the  Achaeans.  But  first  I  will 
speak  to  make  trial  of  them  as  is  fitting,  and  will  bid  them  flee  with 
their  benched  ships  ;  only  do  ye  from  this  side  and  from  that  speak 
to  hold  them  back." 

So  spake  he  and  sat  him  down  ;  and  there  stood  up  among  them 
Nestor,  who  was  king  of  sandy  Pylos.  He  of  good  intent  made 
harangue  to  them  and  said:  "My  friends,  captains  and  rulers  of 
the  Argives,  had  any  other  of  the  Achaeans  told  us  this  dream  we 
might  deem  it  a  false  thing,  and  rather  turn  away  therefrom ;  but 
now  he  hath  seen  it  who  of  all  Achaeans  avoweth  himself  far  greatest. 
So  come,  let  us  call  to  arms  as  we  may  the  sons  of  the  Achaeans." 

So  spake  he,  and  led  the  way  forth  from  the  council,  and  all  the 
other  sceptred  chiefs  rose  with  him  and  obeyed  the  shepherd  of  the 
host ;  and  the  people  hastened  to  them.1  Even  as  when  the  tribes 
of  thronging  bees  issue  from  some  hollow  rock,  ever  in  fresh  pro- 
cession, and  fly  clustering  among  the  flowers  of  spring,  and  some  on 
this  hand  and  some  on  that  fly  thick ;  even  so  from  ships  and  huts 
before  the  low  beach  marched  forth  their  many  tribes  by  companies 
to  the  place  of  assembly.  And  in  their  midst  blazed  forth  Rumor, 
messenger  of  Zeus,  urging  them  to  go  ;  and  so  they  gathered.  And 

1  Here  begins  the  gathering  of  the  people  in  the  assembly.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  popular  assemblies  of  the  Hellenic  states  originally  had  this  informal  character. 


» 


THE  ASSEMBLY  91 

the  place  of  assemblage  was  in  an  uproar,  and  the  earth  echoed  again 
as  the  hosts  sat  them  down,  and  there  was  turmoil.  Nine  heralds 
restrained  them  with  shouting,  if  perchance  they  might  refrain 
from  clamor,  and  hearken  to  their  kings,  the  fosterlings  of  Zeus.1 
And  hardly  at  the  last  would  the  people  sit,  and  keep  them  to  their 
benches  and  cease  from  noise.  Then  stood  up  lord  Agamemnon 
bearing  his  sceptre,  that  Hephaestus  had  wrought  curiously. 
Hephaestus  gave  it  to  king  Zeus  son  of  Cronos,  and  then  Zeus  gave 
it  to  the  messenger-god  the  slayer  of  Argus  ; 2  and  king  Hermes  gave 
it  to  Pelops  the  charioteer,  and  Pelops  again  gave  it  to  Atreus  shep- 
herd of  the  host.  And  Atreus  dying  left  it  to  Thyestes  rich  in 
flocks,  and  Thyestes  in  his  turn  left  it  to  Agamemnon  to  bear,  that 
over  many  islands  and  all  Argos  he  should  be  lord.  Thereon  he 
leaned  and  spake  his  saying  to  the  Argives  3 :  — 

"My  friends,  Danaan  warriors,  men  of  Ares'  company,  Zeus 
Cronos'  son  hath  bound  mg  with  might  in  grievous  blindness  of 
soul ;  hard  of  heart  is  he,  for  that  erewhile  he  promised  me  and 
pledged  his  nod  that  not  till  I  had  wasted  well-walled  Ilios  should 
I  return ;  but  now  see  I  that  he  planned  a  cruel  wile  and  biddeth 
me  return  to  Argos  dishonored,  with  the  loss  of  many  of  my  folk. 
So  meseems  it  pleaseth  most  mighty  Zeus,  who  hath  laid  low  the 
head  of  many  a  city,  yea,  and  shall  lay  low  ;  for  his  is  highest  power. 
Shame  is  this  even  for  them  that  come  after  to  hear ;  how  so  goodly 
and  great  a  folk  of  the  Achaeans  thus  vainly  warred  a  bootless 
war,  and  fought  scantier  enemies,  and  no  end  thereof  is  yet  seen. 
For  if  perchance  we  were  minded,  both  Achaeans  and  Trojans,  to 
swear  a  solemn  truce,  and  to  number  ourselves,  and  if  the  Trojans 
should  gather  together  all  that  have  their  dwellings  in  the  city,  and 
we  Achaeans  should  marshal  ourselves  by  tens,  and  every  company 
choose  a  Trojan  to  pour  their  wine,  then  would  many  tens  lack  a 
cup-bearer  :  so  much,  I  say,  do  the  sons  of  the  Achaeans  outnumber 
the  Trojans  that  dwell  within  the  city.  But  allies  from  many 
cities,  even  warriors  that  wield  the  spear,  are  therein,  and  they 

1  These  were  Agamemnon,  the  over-lord,  and  the  members  of  his  council,  all  of  them 
"  kings  "  (basilees)  and  all  under  divine  protection. 

2  The  meaning  of  the  word  '  ApyeKpdvrrjs,  Argeiphontes,  is  uncertain;  possibly  it 
signifies,  not  "  slayer  of  Argus,"  but  "  appearing  in  brightness." 

3  The  history  of  the  scepter  is  further  evidence  of  the  divine  origin  of  Agamemnon's 
royalty. 


f 


92         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 

hinder  me  perforce,  and  for  all  my  will  suffer  me  not  to  waste  the 
populous  citadel  of  Ilios.  Already  have  nine  years  of  great  Zeus 
passed  away,  and  our  ships'  timbers  have  rotted  and  the  tackling 
is  loosed ;  while  there  our  wives  and  little  children  sit  in  our  halls 
awaiting  us ;  yet  is  our  task  utterly  unaccomplished  wherefor  we 
came  hither.  So  come,  even  as  I  shall  bid  let  us  all  obey.  Let 
us  flee  with  our  ships  to  our  dear  native  land ;  for  now  shall  we 
never  take  wide- way ed  Troy." 

So  spake  he,  and  stirred  the  spirit  in  the  breasts  of  all  throughout 
the  multitude,  as  many  as  had  not  heard  the  council.  And  the 
assembly  swayed  like  high  sea-waves  of  the  Icarian  Main  that  east 
wind  and  south  wind  raise,  rushing  upon  them  from  the  clouds  of 
father  Zeus  ;  and  even  as  when  the  west  wind  cometh  to  stir  a  deep 
cornfield  with  violent  blast,  and  the  ears  bow  down,  so  was  all  the 
assembly  stirred,  and  they  with  shouting  hasted  toward  the  ships ; 
and  the  dust  from  beneath  their  feet  ljpse  and  stood  on  high.  And 
they  bade  each  man  his  neighbor  to  seize  the  ships  and  drag  them 
into  the  bright  salt  sea,  and  cleared  out  the  launching-ways,  and  the 
noise  went  up  to  heaven  of  their  hurrying  homeward ;  and  they 
began  to  take  the  props  from  beneath  the  ships. 

Then  would  the  Argives  have  accomplished  their  return  against 
the  will  of  fate,  but  that  Hera  spake  a  word  to  Athene  :  " Out  on  it, 
daughter  of  aegis-bearing  Zeus,  unwearied  maiden !  Shall  the 
Argives  thus  indeed  flee  homeward  to  their  dear  native  land  over 
the  sea's  broad  back?  But  they  would  leave  to  Priam  and  the 
Trojans  their  boast,  even  Helen  of  Argos,  for  whose  sake  many 
an  Achaean  hath  perished  in  Troy,  far  away  from  his  dear  native 
land.  But  go  thou  now  amid  the  host  of  the  mail-clad  Achaeans ; 
with  thy  gentle  words  restrain  thou  every  man,  neither  suffer  them 
to  draw  their  curved  ships  down  to  the  salt  sea." 

So  spake  she,  and  the  bright-eyed  goddess  Athene  disregarded 
not ;  but  went  darting  down  from  the  peaks  of  Olympus,  and  came 
with  speed  to  the  fleet  ships  of  the  Achaeans.  There  found  she 
Odysseus  standing,  peer  of  Zeus  in  counsel,  neither  laid  he  any  hand 
upon  his  decked  black  ship,  because  grief  had  entered  into  his 
heart  and  soul.  And  bright-eyed  Athene  stood  by  him  and  said 
"  Heaven- sprung  son  of  Laertes,  Odysseus  of  many  devices,  will  ye 
indeed  fling  yourselves  upon  your  benched  ships  to  flee  homeward 


SOCIAL  CLASSES  IN  THE  ARMY 


93 


to  your  dear  native  land?  But  ye  would  leave  to  Priam  and  the 
Trojans  their  boast,  even  Helen  of  Argos,  for  whose  sake  many  an 
Achaean  hath  perished  in  Troy,  far  from  his  dear  native  land.  But 
go  thou  now  amid  the  host  of  the  Achaeans,  and  tarry  not;  and 
with  thy  gentle  words  refrain  every  man,  neither  suffer  them  to 
draw  their  curved  ships  down  to  the  salt  sea." 

So  said  she,  and  he  knew  the  voice  of  the  goddess  speaking  to 
him,  and  set  him  to  run,  and  cast  away  his  mantle,  the  which  his 
herald  gathered  up,  even  Eurybates  of  Ithaca,  that  waited  on  him. 
And  himself  he  went  to  meet  Agamemnon  son  of  Atreus,  and  at  his 
hand  received  the  sceptre  of  his  sires,  imperishable  for  ever,  where- 
with he  took  his  way  amid  the  ships  of  the  mail-clad  Achaeans. 

Whenever  he  found  one  that  was  a  captain  and  a  man  of  mark, 
he  stood  by  his  side,  and  refrained  him  with  gentle  words  : 1  "  Good 
sir,  it  is  not  seemly  to  affright  thee  like  a  coward,  but  do  thou  sit 
thyself  and  make  all  thy  folk  sit  down.  For  thou  knowest  not  yet 
clearly  what  is  the  purpose  of  Atreus'  son ;  now  is  he  but  making 
trial,  and  soon  he  will  afflict  the  sons  of  the  Achaeans.  And  heard 
we  not  all  of  us  what  he  spake  in  the  council  ?  Beware  lest  in  his 
anger  he  evilly  entreat  the  sons  of  the  Achaeans.  For  proud  is  the 
soul  of  heaven-fostered  kings ;  because  their  honor  is  of  Zeus,  and 
the  god  of  counsel  loveth  them." 

But  whatever  man  of  the  people  he  saw  and  found  him  shouting, 
him  he  drave  with  his  sceptre  and  chode  him  with  loud  words : 
"Good  sir,  sit  still  and  hearken  to  the  words  of  others  that  are  thy 
betters ;  but  thou  art  no  warrior,  and  a  weakling,  never  reckoned 
whether  in  battle  or  in  council.  In  no  wise  can  we  Achaeans  all  be 
kings  here.  A  multitude  of  masters  is  no  good  thing ;  let  there  be 
one  master,  one  king,  to  whom  the  son  of  crooked-counselling 
Cronos  hath  granted  it,  [even  the  sceptre  and  judgments,  that  he 
may  rule  among  you"].2 

So  masterfully  ranged  he  the  host ;  and  they  hasted  back  to  the 
assembly  from  ships  and  huts,  with  noise  as  when  a  wave  of  the 
loud-sounding  sea  roareth  on  the  long  beach  and  the  main  re- 
soundeth. 

1  Contrast  the  bearing  of  Odysseus  toward  the  captains  and  the  people  respec- 
tively. 

2  This  line  seems  to  have  been  interpolated. 


MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


Now  all  the  rest  sat  down  and  kept  their  place  upon  the  benches, 
only  Thersites  1  still  chattered  on,  the  uncontrolled  of  speech,  whose 
mind  was  full  of  words  many  and  disorderly,  wherewith  to  strive 
against  the  chiefs  idly  and  in  no  good  order,  but  even  as  he  deemed 
that  he  should  make  the  Argives  laugh.  And  he  was  ill-favored 
beyond  all  men  that  came  to  Ilios.  Bandy-legged  was  he,  and 
lame  of  one  foot,  and  his  two  shoulders  rounded,  arched  down  upon 
his  chest ;  and  over  them  his  head  was  warped,  and  a  scanty  stubble 
sprouted  on  it.  Hateful  was  he  to  Achilles  above  all  and  to  Odys- 
seus, for  them  he  was  wont  to  revile.  But  now  with  shrill  shout  he 
poured  forth  his  upbrai dings  upon  goodly  Agamemnon.  With 
him  the  Achaeans  were  sore  vexed  and  had  indignation  in  their 
souls.  But  he  with  loud  shout  spake  and  reviled  Agamemnon : 
"Atreides,  for  what  art  thou  now  ill  content  and  lacking?  Surely 
thy  huts  are  full  of  bronze  and  many  women  are  in  thy  huts,  the 
chosen  spoils  that  we  Achaeans  give  thee  first  of  all,  whene'er  we 
take  a  town.  Can  it  be  that  thou  yet  wantest  gold  as  well,  such  as 
some  one  of  the  horse-taming  Trojans  may  bring  from  Ilios  to  ran- 
som his  son,  whom  I  perchance  or  some  other  Achaean  have  led 
captive ;  or  else  some  young  girl,  to  know  in  love,  whom  thou 
mayest  keep  apart  to  thyself?  2  But  it  is  not  seemly  for  one  that 
is  their  captain  to  bring  the  sons  of  the  Achaeans  to  ill.  Soft  fools, 
base  things  of  shame,  ye  women  of  Achaea  and  men  no  more,  let  us 
depart  home  with  our  ships,  and  leave  this  fellow  here  in  Troy-land 
to  gorge  him  with  meeds  of  honor,  that  he  may  see  whether  our  aid 
avail  him  aught  or  no ;  even  he  that  hath  now  done  dishonor  to 
Achilles,  a  far  better  man  than  he  ;  for  he  hath  taken  away  his  meed 
of  honor  and  keepeth  it  by  his  own  violent  deed.  Of  a  very  surety 
is  there  no  wrath  at  all  in  Achilles'  mind,  but  he  is  slack ;  else  this 
despite,  thou  son  of  Atreus,  were  thy  last." 

So  spake  Thersites,  reviling  Agamemnon  shepherd  of  the  host. 
But  goodly  Odysseus  came  straight  to  his  side,  and  looking  sternly 
at  him  with  hard  words  rebuked  him  :  "  Thersites,  reckless  in  words, 

1  Thersites  was  a  man  of  the  people.  It  was  not  forbidden  such  people  to  speak 
in  the  assembly,  but  they  were  under  obligations  to  show  respect  to  the  nobles.  Ther- 
sites failed  in  the  requirement  and  was  punished. 

2  A  right  of  the  assembly  of  warriors  after  a  victory  was  to  divide  the  spoil  and 
assign  shares  even  to  the  leaders. 


THERSITES 


95 


shrill  orator  though  thou  art,  refrain  thyself ,  nor  aim  to  strive  singly 
against  kings.  For  I  deem  that  no  mortal  is  baser  than  thou  of  all 
that  with  the  sons  of  Atreus  came  before  Ilios.  Therefore  were  it 
well  that  thou  shouldest  not  have  kings  in  thy  mouth  as  thou  talkest, 
and  utter  revilings  against  them  and  be  on  the  watch  for  departure. 
We  know  not  yet  clearly  how  these  things  shall  be,  whether  we  sons 
of  the  Achaeans  shall  return  for  good  or  for  ill.  Therefore  now  dost 
thou  revile  continually  Agamemnon  son  of  Atreus,  shepherd  of  the 
host,  because  the  Danaan  warriors  give  him  many  gifts,  and  so 
thou  talkest  tauntingly.  But  I  will  tell  thee  plain,  and  that  I  say 
shall  even  be  brought  to  pass  :  if  I  find  thee  again  raving  as  now  thou 
art,  then  may  Odysseus'  head  no  longer  abide  upon  his  shoulders, 
nor  may  I  any  more  be  called  father  of  Telemachus,  if  I  take  thee 
not  and  strip  from  thee  thy  garments,  thy  mantle  and  chiton  that 
cover  thy  nakedness,  and  for  thyself  send  thee  weeping  to  the  fleet 
ships,  and  beat  thee  out  of  the  assembly  with  shameful  blows." 

So  spake  he,  and  with  his  staff  smote  his  back  and  shoulders : 
and  he  bowed'  down  and  a  big  tear  fell  from  him,  and  a  bloody  weal  |(ps^ 
stood  up  from  his  back  beneath  the  golden  sceptre.    Then  he  sat  £it<*vu*t 

down  and  was  amazed,  and  in  pain  with  helpless  look  wiped  away  /,  

the  tear.    But  the  rest,  though  they  were  sorry,  laughed  lightly 

at  him,  and  thus  would  one  speak  looking  at  another  standing  by :  Q**<*L***+*? 

"Go  to,  of  a  truth  Odysseus  hath  wrought  good  deeds  without 

number  ere  now,  standing  foremost  in  wise  counsels  and  setting 

battle  in  array,  but  now  is  this  thing  the  best  by  far  that  he  hath 

wrought  among  the  Argives,  to  wit,  that  he  hath  stayed  this  prating 

railer  from  his  harangues.    Never  again,  forsooth,  will  his  proud 

soul  henceforth  bid  him  revile  the  kings  with  slanderous  words." 

So  said  the  common  sort ;  but  up  rose  Odysseus  waster  of  cities, 
with  the  sceptre  in  his  hand.  And  by  his  side  bright-eyed  Athene 
in  the  likeness  of  a  herald  bade  the  multitude  keep  silence,  that  the 
sons  of  the  Achaeans,  both  the  nearest  and  the  farthest,  might  hear 
his  words  together  and  give  heed  to  his  counsel.  He  of  good  intent 
made  harangue  to  them  and  said:  "Atreides,  now  surely  are  the 
Achaeans  for  making  thee,  O  king,  most  despised  among  all  mortal 
men,  nor  will  they  fulfil  the  promise  that  they  pledged  thee  when 
they  still  were  marching  hither  from  horse-pasturing  Argos ;  that 
thou  shouldest  not  return  till  thou  hadst  laid  well-walled  Ilios  waste. 


96         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


For  like  young  children  or  widow  women  do  they  wail  each  to  the 
other  of  returning  home.  Yea,  here  is  toil  to  make  a  man  depart 
disheartened.  For  he  that  stayeth  away  but  one  single  month  far 
from  his  wife  in  his  benched  ship  fretteth  himself  when  winter  storms 
and  the  furious  sea  imprison  him  ;  but  for  us,  the  ninth  year  of  our 
stay  here  is  upon  us  in  its  course.  Therefore  do  I  not  marvel  that 
the  Achaeans  should  fret  beside  their  beaked  ships  ;  yet  nevertheless 
is  it  shameful  to  wait  long  and  to  depart  empty.  Be  of  good  heart, 
my  friends,  and  wait  a  while,  until  we  learn  whether  Calchas  1  be  a 
true  prophet  or  no.  For  this  thing  verily  we  know  well  in  our  hearts, 
and  ye  all  are  witnesses  thereof,  even  as  many  as  the  fates  of  death 
have  not  borne  away.  It  was  as  it  were  but  yesterday  or  the  day 
before  that  the  Achaeans'  ships  were  gathering  in  Aulis,  freighted 
with  trouble  for  Priam  and  the  Trojans ;  and  we  round  about  a 
spring  were  offering  on  the  holy  altars  unblemished  hecatombs  to 
the  immortals,  beneath  a  fair  plane-tree  whence  flowed  bright  water, 
when  there  was  seen  a  great  portent :  a  snake  blood-red  on  the  back, 
terrible,  whom  the  god  of  Olympus  himself  had  sent  forth  to  the 
light  of  day,  sprang  from  beneath  the  altar  and  darted  to  the  plane- 
tree.  Now  there  were  there  the  brood  of  a  sparrow,  tender  little 
ones,  upon  the  topmost  branch,  nestling  beneath  the  leaves ;  eight 
were  they  and  the  mother  of  the  little  ones  was  the  ninth,  and  the 
snake  swallowed  these  cheeping  pitifully.  And  the  mother  fluttered 
around  wailing  for  her  dear  little  ones ;  but  he  coiled  himself  and 
caught  her  by  the  wing  as  she  screamed  about  him.  Now  when  he 
had  swallowed  the  sparrow's  little  ones  and  the  mother  with  them, 
the  god  who  revealed  him  made  of  him  a  sign  ;  for  the  son  of  crooked- 
counselling  Cronos  turned  him  to  stone,  and  we  stood  by  and  mar- 
velled to  see  what  was  done.  So  when  the  dread  portent  brake  in 
upon  the  hecatombs  of  the  gods,  then  did  Calchas  forthwith 
prophesy,  and  said :  '  Why  hold  ye  your  peace,  ye  flowing-haired 
Achaeans  ?  To  us  hath  Zeus  the  counsellor  shown  this  great  sign, 
late  come,  of  late  fulfilment,  the  fame  whereof  shall  never  perish. 
Even  as  he  swallowed  the  sparrow's  little  ones  and  herself,  the  eight 
wherewith  the  mother  that  bare  the  little  ones  was  the  ninth,  so 
shall  we  war  there  so  many  years,  but  in  the  tenth  year  shall  we 


1  Calchas  the  seer  (//.  i.  68  sqq.). 


THE  ASSEMBLY  DECIDES 


97 


take  the  wide-wayed  city.'  So  spake  the  seer;  and  now  are  all 
these  things  being  fulfilled.  So  come,  abide  ye  all,  ye  well-greaved 
Achaeans,  even  where  ye  are,  until  we  have  taken  the  great  city  of 
Priam." 

So  spake  he,  and  the  Argives  shouted  aloud,  and  all  round  the 
ships  echoed  terribly  to  the  voice  of  the  Achaeans  as  they  praised 
the  saying  of  god-like  Odysseus.  And  then  spake  among  them 
knightly  Nestor  of  Gerenia :  "Out  on  it;  in  very  truth  ye  hold 
assembly  like  silly  boys  that  have  no  care  for  deeds  of  war.  What 
shall  come  of  our  covenants  and  our  oaths?  Let  all  counsels  be 
cast  into  the  fire  and  all  devices  of  warriors  and  the  pure  drink-offer- 
ings and  the  right  hands  of  fellowship  wherein  we  trusted.  For  we 
are  vainly  striving  with  words  nor  can  we  find  any  device  at  all, 
for  all  our  long  tarrying  here.  Son  of  Atreus,  do  thou  still,  as  erst, 
keep  steadfast  purpose  and  lead  the  Argives  amid  the  violent  fray ; 
and  for  these,  let  them  perish,  the  one  or  two  Achaeans  that  take 
secret  counsel  — ■  though  fulfilment  shall  not  come  thereof  —  to 
depart  to  Argos  first,  before  they  know  whether  the  promise  of 
aegis-bearing  Zeus  be  a  lie  or  no.  Yea,  for  I  say  that  most  mighty 
Cronion  pledged  us  his  word  that  day  when  the  Argives  embarked 
upon  their  fleet  ships,  bearing  unto  the  Trojans  death  and  fate ; 
for  by  his  lightning  upon  our  right  he  manifested  signs  of  good. 
Therefore  let  no  man  hasten  to  depart  home  till  each  have  lain  by 
some  Trojan's  wife  and  paid  back  his  strivings  and  groans  for 
Helen's  sake.  But  if  any  man  is  overmuch  desirous  to  depart 
homeward,  let  him  lay  his  hand  upon  his  decked  black  ship,  that 
before  all  men  he  may  encounter  death  and  fate.  But  do  thou, 
my  king,  take  good  counsel  thyself,  and  hearken  to  another  that 
shall  give  it ;  the  word  that  I  speak,  whate'er  it  be,  shall  not  be 
cast  away.  Separate  thy  warriors  by  tribes  and  by  phratries, 
»  Agamemnon,  that  phratry  may  give  aid  to  phratry  and  tribe  to 
tribe.1  If  thou  do  thus  and  the  Achaeans  hearken  to  thee,  then  wilt 
thou  know  who  among  thy  captains  and  who  of  the  common  sort 
is  a  coward,  and  who  too  is  brave ;  for  they  will  fight  each  after 
their  sort.    So  wilt  thou  know  whether  it  is  even  by  divine  com- 

1  The  division  of  the  host  into  tribes  and  phratries  was  doubtless  the  military 
organization  of  the  primitive  Greeks.  In  time  the  phratries  disappeared  from  the  army, 
but  in  many  states,  as  in  Athens,  the  tribes  continued  in  it  to  the  end. 


98         MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


mand  that  thou  shalt  not  take  the  city,  or  by  the  baseness  of  thy 
warriors  and  their  ill  skill  in  battle." 

And  lord  Agamemnon  answered  and  said  to  him :  "Verily  hast 
thou  again  outdone  the  sons  of  the  Achaeans  in  speech,  old  man. 
Ah,  father  Zeus  and  Athene  and  Apollo,  would  that  among  the 
Achaeans  I  had  ten  such  councillors ;  then  would  the  city  of  king 
Priam  soon  bow  beneath  our  hands,  captive  and  wasted.  But 
aegis-bearing  Zeus,  the  son  of  Cronos,  hath  brought  sorrows  upon 
me,  in  that  he  casteth  my  lot  amid  fruitless  wranglings  and  strifes. 
For  in  truth  I  and  Achilles  fought  about  a  damsel  with  violent  words, 
and  I  was  first  to  be  angry ;  but  if  we  can  only  be  at  one  in  council, 
then  will  there  no  more  be  any  putting  off  the  day  of  evil  for  the 
Trojans,  no  not  for  an  instant.  But  now  go  ye  to  your  meal  that 
we  may  join  battle.  Let  each  man  sharpen  well  his  spear  and  be- 
stow  well  his  shield,  and  let  him  well  give  his  fleet-footed  steeds 
their  meal,  and  look  well  to  his  chariot  on  every  side  and  take 
*** thought  for  battle,  that  all  day  long  we  may  contend  in  hateful 
y**u«>wH«ft  waj.  For  of  respite  shall  there  intervene  no,  not  a  whit,  only  that 
tf/_^Athe  coming  of  night  shall  part  the  fury  of  warriors.  On  each  man's 
'breast  shall  the  baldrick  of  his  covering  shield  be  wet  with  sweat, 
and  his  hand  shall  grow  faint  about  the  spear,  and  each  man's 
horse  shall  sweat  as  he  draweth  the  polished  chariot.  And  whom- 
soever I  perceive  minded  to  tarry  far  from  the  fight  beside 
the  beaked  ships,  for  him  shall  there  be  no  hope  hereafter  to  escape 
the  dogs  and  birds  of  prey." 

So  spake  he,  and  the  Argives  shouted  aloud,1  like  to  a  wave  on  a 
steep  shore,  when  the  south  wind  cometh  and  stirreth  it ;  even  on 
a  jutting  rock,  that  is  never  left  at  peace  by  the  waves  of  all  winds 
that  rise  from  this  side  and  from  that.  And  they  stood  up  and 
scattered  in  haste  throughout  the  ships,2  and  made  fires  in  the  huts 
and  took  their  meal.  And  they  did  sacrifice  each  man  to  one  of 
the  everlasting  gods,  praying  for  escape  from  death  and  the  tumult 
of  battle.  But  Agamemnon  king  of  men  slew  a  fat  bull  of  five 
years  to  most  mighty  Cronion,  and  called  the  elders,  the  princes  of 
the  Achaean  host,  Nestor  first  and  king  Idomeneus,  and  then  the 
two  Aiantes  and  Tydeus'  son,  and  sixthly  Odysseus  peer  of  Zeus 

1  This  was  an  emphatic  affirmative,  dissent  being  indicated  by  silence. 

2  This  closes  the  fullest  account  of  the  popular  assembly  given  in  Homer's  poems. 


THE  CALL  TO  ARMS  QQ 

in  counsel.  And  Menelaiis  of  the  loud  war-cry  came  to  him  un- 
bidden, for  he  knew  in  his  heart  how  his  brother  toiled.  Then 
stood  they  around  the  bull  and  took  the  barley-meal.  And  Aga- 
memnon made  his  prayer  in  their  midst  and  said:  "Zeus,  most 
glorious,  most  great,  god  of  the  storm-cloud,  that  dwellest'in  the 
heaven,  vouchsafe  that  the  sun  set  not  upon  us  nor  the  darkness 
come  near,  till  I  have  laid  low  upon  the  earth  Priam's  palace 
smirched  with  smoke,  and  burnt  the  doorways  thereof  with  con- 
suming fire,  and  rent  on  Hector's  breast  his  doublet  cleft  with  the 
blade ;  and  about  him  may  full  many  of  his  comrades  prone  in  the 
dust  bite  the  earth." 

So  spake  he,  but  not  as  yet  would  Crbnion  grant  him  fulfilment ; 
he  accepted  the  sacrifice,  but  made  toil  to  wax  unceasingly. 

Now  when  they  had  prayed  and  sprinkled  the  barley-meal  they 
first  drew  back  the  bull's  head  and  cut  his  throat  and  flayed  him, 
and  cut  slices  from  the  thighs  and  wrapped  them  in  fat,  making  a 
double  fold,  and  laid  raw  collops  thereon.    And  these  they  burnt 
on  cleft  wood  stript  of  leaves,  and  spitted  the  vitals  and  held  them 
over  Hephaestus'  flame.    Now  when  the  thighs  were  burnt  and  they 
had  tasted  the  vitals,  then  sliced  they  all  the  rest  and  pierced  it 
through  with  spits,  and  roasted  it  carefully  and  drew  all  off  again. 
So  when  they  had  rest  from  the  task  and  had  made  ready  the  ban- 
quet, they  feasted,  nor  was  their  heart  aught  stinted  of  the  fair 
banquet.    But  when  they  had  put  away  from  them  the  desire  of 
meat  and  drink,  then  did  knightly  Nestor  of  Gerenia  open  his  saying 
to  them  :  "Most  noble  son  of  Atreus,  Agamemnon  king  of  men,  let 
us  not  any  more  hold  long  converse  here,  nor  for  long  delay  the  work 
that  god  putteth  in  our  hands ;  but  come,  let  the  heralds  of  the 
mail-clad  Achaeans  make  proclamation  to  the  folk  and  gather  them 
throughout  the  ships ;  and  let  us  go  thus  in  concert  through  the 
wide  host  of  the  Achaeans,  that  the  speedier  we  may  arouse  keen 
war." 

So  spake  he  and  Agamemnon  king  of  men  disregarded  not. 
Straightway  he  bade  the  clear-voiced  heralds  summon  to  battle 
the  flowing-haired  Achaeans.  So  those  summoned  and  these 
gathered  with  all  speed.  And  the  kings,  the  fosterlings  of  Zeus 
that  were  about  Atreus'  son,  eagerly  marshalled  them,  and  bright- 
eyed  Athene  in  the  midst,  bearing  the  holy  aegis  that  knoweth  neither 


ioo       MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


age  nor  death,  whereon  wave  an  hundred  tassels  of  pure  gold,  all 
deftly  woven  and  each  one  an  hundred  oxen  worth.  Therewith 
she  passed  dazzling  through  the  Achaean  folk,  urging  them  forth ; 
and  in  every  man's  heart  she  roused  strength  to  battle  without 
ceasing  and  to  fight.  So  was  war  made  sweeter  to  them  than  to 
depart  in  their  hollow  ships  to  their  dear  native  land.  Even  as 
ravaging  fire  kindleth  a  boundless  forest  on  a  mountain's  peaks, 
and  the  blaze  is  seen  from  afar,  even  so  as  they  marched  went  the 
dazzling  gleam  from  the  innumerable  bronze  through  the  sky  even 
unto  the  heavens. 

And  as  the  many  tribes  of  feathered  birds,  wild  geese  or  cranes 
or  long-necked  swans,  on  the  Asian  mead  by  Cayster's  stream,  fly 
hither  and  thither  joying  in  their  plumage,  and  with  loud  cries 
settle  ever  onwards,  and  the  mead  resounds ;  even  so  poured  forth 
the  many  tribes  of  warriors  from  ships  and  huts  into  the  Scaman- 
drian  plain.  And  the  earth  echoed  terribly  beneath  the  tread  of 
men  and  horses.  So  stood  they  in  the  flowery  Scamandrian  plain, 
unnumbered  as  are  leaves  and  flowers  in  their  season.  Even  as 
the  many  tribes  of  thick  flies  that  hover  about  a  herdsman's  stead- 
ing in  the  spring  season,  when  milk  drencheth  the  pails,  even  in 
like  number  stood  the  flowing-haired  Achaeans  upon  the  plain  in 
face  of  the  Trojans,  eager  to  rend  them  asunder.  And  even  as  the 
goatherds  easily  divide  the  ranging  flocks  of  goats  when  they  mingle 
in  the  pasture,  so  did  their  captains  marshal  them  on  this  side  and 
on  that,  to  enter  into  the  fray,  and  in  their  midst  lord  Agamemnon, 
his  head  and  eyes  like  unto  Zeus  whose  joy  is  in  the  thunder,  and 
his  waist  like  unto  Ares  and  his  breast  unto  Poseidon.  Even  as  a 
bull  standeth  out  far  foremost  amid  the  herd,  for  he  is  pre-eminent 
amid  the  pasturing  kine,  even  such  did  Zeus  make  Atreides  on  that 
day,  pre-eminent  among  many  and  chief  amid  heroes. 


13.  The  Shield  of  Achilles  and  the  Scenes  from  Life  that 
were  wrought  upon  it 

(Homer,  Iliad,  xviii.  467-608) 

At  the  request  of  the  goddess  Thetis,  Hephaestus  the  divine  artisan  fashions 
for  her  son  Achilles  a  great  shield  and  adorns  it  with  scenes  from  life. 

It  was  formerly  supposed  that  such  Homeric  creations  were  purely  imagi- 


PICTURES  FROM  LIFE 


IOI 


nary ;  but  since  the  explorations  at  Mycenae,  Troy,  Cnossus,  and  other  Minoan 
sites  have  revealed  a  pre-Homeric  skill  in  the  fashioning  and  decoration  of 
metals  that  fills  us  with  astonishment,  we  can  no  longer  doubt  that  his  pictures 
of  art  objects  have  a  basis  of  reality.  We  are  by  no  means  to  suppose  that  he 
had  knowledge,  for  example,  of  a  shield  precisely  like  the  one  here  described, 
but  rather  that  many  of  the  elements  of  his  pictures  are  real. 

In  like  manner  the  scenes  from  life  wrought  on  the  shield  were  probably 
taken  from  the  world  about  him  but  idealized  after  the  manner  of  a  great 
creative  poet. 

Thus  saying  he  left  her  there  and  went  unto  his  bellows  and 
turned  them  upon  the  fire  and  bade  them  work.  And  the  bellows, 
twenty  in  all,  blew  on  the  crucibles,  sending  deft  blasts  on  every 
side,  now  to  aid  his  labor  and  now  anon  howsoever  Hephaestus 
willed,  and  the  work  went  on.  And  he  threw  bronze  that  weareth 
not  into  the  fire,  and  tin  and  precious  gold  and  silver,  and  next  he 
set  on  an  anvil-stand  a  great  anvil,  and  took  in  his  hand  a  sturdy 
hammer,  and  in  the  other  he  took  the  tongs. 

First  fashioned  he  a  shield  great  and  strong,  adorning  it  all  over, 
and  set  thereto  a  shining  rim,  triple,  bright-glancing,  and  there- 
from a  silver  baldrick.  Five  were  the  folds  of  the  shield  itself ;  and 
therein  fashioned  he  much  cunning  work  from  his  wise  heart. 

There  wrought  he  the  earth,  and  the  heavens,  and  the  sea,  and 
the  unwearying  sun,  and  the  moon  waxing  to  the  full,  and  the  signs 
every  one  wherewith  the  heavens  are  crowned,  Pleiads  and  Hyads 
and  Orion's  might,  and  the  Bear  that  men  call  also  the  Wain,  her 
that  turneth  in  her  place  and  watcheth  Orion,  and  alone  hath  no 
part  in  the  baths  of  Ocean. 

Also  he  fashioned  therein  two  fair  cities  of  mortal  men.  In  the 
one  were  espousals  and  marriage  feasts,  and  beneath  the  blaze 
of  torches  they  were  leading  the  brides  from  their  chambers  through 
the  city,  and  loud  arose  the  bridal  song.  And  young  men  were 
whirling  in  the  dance,  and  among  them  flutes  and  viols  sounded 
high ;  and  the  women  standing  each  at  her  door  were  marvelling. 
But  the  folk  were  gathered  in  the  assembly  place  ;  for  there  a  strife 
was  arisen,  two  men  striving  about  the  blood-price  of  a  man  slain ; 
the  one  claimed  to  pay  full  atonement,  expounding  to  the  people, 
but  the  other  denied  him  and  would  take  naught ;  and  both  were 
fain  to  receive  arbitrament  at  the  hand  of  a  daysman.  And  the 
folk  were  cheering  both,  as  they  took  part  on  either  side.  And 


io2       MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


heralds  kept  order  among  the  folk,  while  the  elders  on  polished 
stones  were  sitting  in  the  sacred  circle,  and  holding  in  their  hands 
staves  from  the  loud-voiced  heralds.  Then  before  the  people  they 
rose  up  and  gave  judgment  each  in  turn.  And  in  the  midst  lay  two 
talents  of  gold,  to  be  given  unto  him  who  should  plead  among  them 
most  righteously.1 

But  around  the  other  city  were  two  armies  in  siege  with  glitter- 
ing arms.    And  two  counsels  found  favor  among  them,  either  to 
sack  the  town  or  to  share  all  with  the  townsfolk  even  whatsoever 
substance  the  fair  city  held  within.    But  the  besieged  were  not  yet 
yielding,  but  arming  for  an  ambushment.    On  the  wall  there  stood 
to  guard  it  their  dear  wives  and  infant  children,  and  with  these  the 
old  men ;  but  the  rest  went  forth,  and  their  leaders  were  Ares  and 
Pallas  Athene,  both  wrought  in  gold,  and  golden  was  the  vesture 
they  had  on./KGoodly  and  great  were  they  in  their  armor,  even  as 
gods,  far  seen  around,  and  the  folk  at  their  feet  were  smaller/^  And 
Vvt  Vu**^         when  they  came  where  it  seemed  good  to  them  to  lay  ambush,  in 
#J|vml  juSua-c  a  river  bed  where  there  was  a  common  watering-place  of  herds, 
*J  Uu  &v»*.   there  they  set  them,  clad  in  glittering  bronze.    And  two  scouts 
^-y^  were  posted  by  them  afar  off  to  spy  the  coming  of  flocks  and  of 

oxen  with  crooked  horns.  And  presently  came  the  cattle,  and  with 
them  two  herdsmen  playing  on  pipes,  that  took  no  thought  of  the 
guile.  Then  the  others  when  they  beheld  these  ran  upon  them  and 
quickly  cut  off  the  herds  of  oxen  and  fair  flocks  of  white  sheep,  and 
slew  the  shepherds  withal.  But  the  besiegers,  as  they  sat  before 
the  speech-places  2  and  heard  much  din  among  the  oxen,  mounted 
forthwith  behind  their  high-stepping  horses,  and  came  up  with 
speed.  Then  they  arrayed  their  battle  and  fought  beside  the  river 
banks,  and  smote  one  another  with  bronze-shod  spears.  And 
among  them  mingled  Strife  and  Tumult,  and  fell  Death,  grasping 
one  man  alive  fresh- wounded,  another  without  wound,  and  drag- 
ging another  dead  through  the  mellay  by  the  feet ;  and  the  raiment 

1  We  notice  that  the  court  was  made  up  of  "  elders  "  without  the  king.  The  case 
was  not  criminal ;  it  was  a  question  of  property,  brought  before  the  elders  for  arbitra- 
tion. The  elders  gave  their  opinion  in  succession  while  the  people  cheered.  Probably 
that  elder  was  thought  to  have  spoken  most  wisely  whom  the  people  most  vigorously 
cheered.  Here,  then,  was  the  germ  of  popular  jurisdiction.  The  talent  here  mentioned 
must  have  been  a  small  weight,  far  less  than  the  later  Attic  talent. 

2  From  which  the  orators  spoke ;  Aristarchus,  cited  by  Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myres. 


RURAL  SCENES      ,  IG3 

on  her  shoulders  was  red  with  the  blood  of  men.  Like  living  mor- 
tals they  hurled  together  and  fought,  and  haled  the  corpses  each  of 
the  other's  slain. 

Furthermore  he  set  in  the  shield  a  soft  fresh-ploughed  field,  rich 
tilth  and  wide,  the  third  time  ploughed  ;  and  many  ploughers  therein 
drave  their  yokes  to  and  fro  as  they  wheeled  about.  Whensoever 
they  came  to  the  boundary  of  the  field  and  turned,  then  would  a 
man  come  to  each  and  give  into  his  hands  a  goblet  of  sweet  wine, 
while  others  would  be  turning  back  along  the  furrows,  fain  to  reach 
the  boundary  of  the  deep  tilth.  And  the  field  grew  black  behind 
and  seemed  as  it  were  a-ploughing,  albeit  of  gold,  for  this  was  the 
great  marvel  of  the  work. 

Furthermore  he  set  therein  the  demesne-land  of  a  king,  where 
hinds  were  reaping  with  sharp  sickles  in  their  hands.  Some  arm- 
fuls  along  the  swathe  were  falling  in  rows  to  the  earth,  whilst  others 
the  sheaf-binders  were  binding  in  twisted  bands  of  straw.  Three 
sheaf-binders  stood  over  them,  while  behind  boys  gathering  corn 
and  bearing  it  in  their  arms  gave  it  constantly  to  the  binders ;  and 
among  them  the  king  in  silence  was  standing  at  the  swathe  with  his 
staff,  rejoicing  in  his  heart.  And  henchmen  apart  beneath  an  oak 
were  making  ready  a  feast,  and  preparing  a  great  ox  they  had 
sacrificed;  while  the  women  were  strewing  much  white  barley  to 
be  a  supper  for  the  hinds. 

Also  he  set  therein  a  vineyard  teeming  plenteously  with  clusters, 
wrought  fair  in  gold ;  black  were  the  grapes,  but  the  vines  hung 
throughout  on  silver  poles.  And  around  it  he  ran  a  ditch  of  cyanus, 
and  round  that  a  fence  of  tin ;  and  one  single  pathway  led  to  it,' 
whereby  the  vintagers  might  go  when  they  should  gather  the  vin- 
tage. ^  And  maidens  and  striplings  in  childish  glee  bare  the  sweet 
fruit  in  plaited  baskets.  And  in  the  midst  of  them  a  boy  made 
pleasant  music  on  a  clear-toned  viol,  and  sang  thereto  a  sweet 
Linos-song  1  with  delicate  voice ;  while  the  rest  with  feet  falling 
together  kept  time  with  the  music  and  song. 

Also  he  wrought  therein  a  herd  of  kine  with  upright  horns,  and 
the  kine  were  fashioned  of  gold  and  tin,  and  with  lowing  they  hurried 
from  the  byre  to  pasture  beside  a  murmuring  river,  beside  the 


1  "Probably  a  lament  for  departing  summer;"  Lang,  Leaf,  and  Myres. 


io4       MINOAN  „  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


waving  reed.  And  herdsmen  of  gold  were  following  with  the  kine, 
four  of  them,  and  nine  dogs  fleet  of  foot  came  after  them.  But 
two  terrible  lions  among  the  foremost  kine  had  seized  a  loud-roaring 
bull  that  bellowed  mightily  as  they  haled  him,  and  the  dogs  and 
the  young  men  sped  after  him.  The  lions  rending  the  great  bull's 
hide  were  devouring  his  vitals  and  his  black  blood  ;  while  the  herds- 
men in  vain  tarred  on  their  fleet  dogs  to  set  on,  for  they  shrank 
from  biting  the  lions  but  stood  hard  by  and  barked  and  swerved 
away. 

Also  the  glorious  lame  god  wrought  therein  a  pasture  in  a  fair 
glen,  a  great  pasture  of  white  sheep,  and  a  steading,  and  roofed 
huts,  and  folds. 

[Also  did  the  glorious  lame  god  devise  a  dancing-place  like  unto 
that  which  once  in  wide  Cnossus  Daedalus 1  wrought  for  Ariadne  of 
the  lovely  tresses.  There  were  youths  dancing  and  maidens  of 
costly  wooing,  their  hands  upon  one  another's  wrists.  Fine  linen 
the  maidens  had  on,  and  the  youths  well-woven  doublets  faintly 
glistening  with  oil.  Fair  wreaths  had  the  maidens,  and  the  youths 
daggers  of  gold  hanging  from  silver  baldrics.  And  now  would  they 
run  round  with  deft  feet  exceeding  light,  as  when  a  potter  sitting 
by  his  wheel  that  fitteth  between  his  hands  maketh  trial  of  it  whether 
it  run :  and  now  anon  they  would  run  in  lines  to  meet  each  other. 
And  a  great  company  stood  round  the  lovely  dance  in  joy;  and 
among  them  a  divine  minstrel  was  making  music  on  his  lyre,  and 
through  the  midst  of  them,  leading  the  measure,  two  tumblers 
whirled.] 2 

Also  he  set  therein  the  great  might  of  the  River  of  Ocean  around 
the  uttermost  rim  of  the  cunningly-fashioned  shield. 

14  (a).  A  Visit  to  the  Homeric  Palace  at  Sparta 
(Homer,  Odyssey,  iv.  1-46) 

Telemachus,  son  of  Odysseus,  king  of  Ithaca,  resolves  to  go  to  Sparta  to 
make  inquiry  of  King  Menelaus  concerning  his  father,  who  in  returning  from 
Troy  has  been  wandering  far  and  wide,  driven  by  angry  Poseidon.  Telemachus 

1  Such  a  dancing-place,  orchestra,  actually  exists  in  the  ruins  of  the  palace  at 
Cnossus  ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  ii. 

2  This  entire  passage  is  bracketed  by  Dindorf-Hentze,  ed.  of  1909. 


THE  PALACE  AT  SPARTA 


is  accompanied  by  Peisistratus,  son  of  Nestor,  king  of  Pylos.  They  make  their 
journey  in  a  two-horse  car. 

The  account  of  the  palace,  given  in  this  selection  and  in  the  number  follow- 
ing, corresponds  so  closely  with  the  palaces  unearthed  at  Tiryns,  Mycenae,  and 
elsewhere  as  to  force  us  to  the  conclusion  that  Homer  either  actually  saw  palaces 
of  the  kind  or  learned  of  them  through  a  perfectly  reliable  source. 

Excavations  on  the  site  of  Sparta  have  shown  that  no  Minoan  city  had 
existed  there,  and  that  the  settlement  was  made  about  iooo  B.C.  There  were, 
however,  Minoan  cities  in  the  vicinity  and  in  various  parts  of  Laconia.  We 
should  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  whereas  the  ancients  supposed  Homer  to 
have  lived  before  the  "Dorian  migration,"  evidence  now  exists  that  he  lived 
afterward:  he  knew,  for  instance,  that  there  were  Dorians  in  Crete  (no.  10) 
and  that  at  Sparta  were  Castor  and  Pollux,  deities  of  the  two  royal  families. 

And  they  came  to  Lacedaemon  lying  low  among  the  caverned 
hills,  and  drave  to  the  dwelling  of  renowned  Menelaiis.  Him  they 
found  giving  a  feast  in  his  house  to  many  friends  of  his  kin,  a  feast 
for  the  wedding  of  his  noble  son  and  daughter.  His  daughter  he 
was  sending  to  the  son  of  Achilles  cleaver  of  the  ranks  of  men,  for 
in  Troy  he  first  had  promised  and  covenanted  to  give  her,  and  now 
the  gods  were  bringing  about  their  marriage.  So  now  he  was  speed- 
ing her  on  her  way  with  chariot  and  horses,  to  the  famous  city  of 
the  Myrmidons  1  among  whom  her  lord  bare  rule.  And  for  his  son 
he  was  bringing  to  his  home  the  daughter  of  Alector  out  of  Sparta, 
for  his  well-beloved  son,  strong  Megapenthes,  born  of  a  slave 
woman,  for  the  gods  no  more  showed  promise  of  seed  to  Helen,  from 
the  day  that  she  bare  a  lovely  child,  Hermione,  as  fair  as  golden 
Aphrodite.  So  they  were  feasting  through  the  great  vaulted  hall, 
the  neighbors  and  the  kinsmen  of  renowned  Menelaiis,  making 
merry  ;  and  among  them  a  divine  minstrel  was  singing  to  the  lyre, 
and  as  he  began  the  song  two  tumblers  in  the  company  whirled 
through  the  midst  of  them. 

Meanwhile  those  twain,  the  hero  Telemachus  and  the  splendid 
son  of  Nestor,  made  halt  at  the  entry  of  the  gate,  they  and  their 
horses.  And  the  lord  Eteoneus  came  forth  and  saw  them,  the  ready 
squire  of  renowned  Menelaiis ;  and  he  went  through  the  palace  to 

1  A  tribe  in  Thessaly  non-existent  in  historical  times.  The  intermarriage  between 
families  of  different  states  continued  down  to  the  early  fifth  century,  when  Athens  and 
doubtless  other  states  became  too  exclusive  to  permit  the  continuance  of  the  custom ; 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xiii. 


io6       MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


bear  the  tidings  to  the  shepherd  of  the  people,1  and  standing  near 
spake  to  him  winged  words  : 

'  Menelaus,  fosterling  of  Zeus,  here  are  two  strangers,  whosoever 
they  be,  two  men  like  to  the  lineage  of  great  Zeus.  Say,  shall  we 
loose  their  swift  horses  from  under  the  yoke,  or  send  them  onward 
to  some  other  host  who  shall  receive  them  kindly  ? ' 

Then  in  sore  displeasure  spake  to  him  Menelaus  of  the  fair  hair  : 
'Eteoneus  son  of  Boethous,  truly  thou  wert  not  a  fool  aforetime, 
but  now  for  this  once  like  a  child  thou  talkest  folly.  Surely  our- 
selves ate  much  hospitable  cheer  of  other  men,  ere  we  twain  came 
hither,  even  if  in  time  to  come  Zeus  haply  give  us  rest  from  affliction. 
Nay  go,  unyoke  the  horses  of  the  strangers,  and  as  for  the  men, 
lead  them  forward  to  the  house  to  feast  with  us.' 

So  spake  he,  and  Eteoneus  hasted  from  the  hall,  and  called  the 
other  ready  squires  to  follow  him.  So  they  loosed  the  sweating 
horses  from  beneath  the  yoke,  and  fastened  them  at  the  stalls  of 
the  horses,  and  threw  beside  them  spelt,  and  therewith  mixed  white 
barley,  and  tilted  the  chariot  against  the  shining  faces  of  the  gate- 
way, and  led  the  men  into  the  hall  divine.  And  they  beheld  and 
marvelled  as  they  gazed  throughout  the  palace  of  the  king,  the 
fosterling  of  Zeus  ;  for  there  was  a  gleam  as  it  were  of  sun  or  moon 
through  the  lofty  palace  of  renowned  Menelaus.  But  after  they  had 
gazed  their  fill  they  went  to  the  polished  baths  and  bathed  them.2 
Now  when  the  maidens  had  bathed  them  and  anointed  them  with 
olive  oil,  and  cast  about  them  thick  cloaks  and  doublets,  they  sat 
on  chairs  by  Menelaus,  son  of  Atreus.  And  a  handmaid  bare 
water  for  the  hands  in  a  goodly  golden  ewer,  and  poured  it  forth 
over  a  silver  basin  to  wash  withal;  and  to  their  side  she  drew  a 
polished  table,  and  a  grave  dame  bare  food  and  set  it  by  them,  and 
laid  upon  the  board  many  dainties,  giving  freely  of  such  things  as 
she  had  by  her,  and  a  carver  lifted  and  placed  by  them  platters  of 
divers  kinds  of  flesh,  and  nigh  them  he  set  golden  bowls.  So  Mene- 
laus of  the  fair  hair  greeted  the  twain  and  spake: 

'Taste  ye  food  and  be  glad  and  thereafter  when  ye  have  supped, 
we  will  ask  what  men  you  are ;  for  the  blood  of  your  parents  is  not 

1  A  common  designation  of  the  Homeric  king. 

8  A  bathroom  with  drains  has  been  found  in  the  palace  at  Tiryns. 


THE   PHEACIAN  PALACE 


lost  in  you,  but  ye  are  of  the  line  of  men  that  are  sceptered  kings 
the  fosterlings  of  Zeus ;  for  no  churls  could  beget  sons  like  you.' 

So  spake  he,  and  took  and  set  before  them  the  fat  ox-chine 
roasted,  which  they  had  given  him  as  his  own  mess  by  way  of 
honor.  And  they  stretched  forth  their  hands  upon  the  good  cheer 
set  before  them.  Now  when  they  had  put  from  them  the  desire 
of  meat  and  drink  Telemachus  spake  to  the  son  of  Nestor,  holding 
his  head  close  to  him,  that  those  others  might  not  hear: 

"Son  of  Nestor,  delight  of  my  heart,  mark  the  flashing  of  bronze 
through  the  echoing  halls,  and  the  flashing  of  gold  and  of  amber  and 
of  silver  and  of  ivory.  Such  like,  methinks,  is  the  court  of  Olym- 
pian Zeus  within,  for  the  world  of  things  that  are  here ;  wonder 
comes  over  me  as  I  look  thereon."  1 

14  (b).  The  Visit  of  Odysseus  to  the  Palace  of  Alcinous, 
the  Ph^acian  King 

(Homer,  Odyssey,  vii.  78-132) 

Odysseus  in  his  wanderings  has  been  wrecked  on  Scheria,  the  Phaeacian  island, 
and  rescued  by  the  princess  Nausicaa,  who  sends  him  to  the  palace  of  her  father 
Alcinous.  The  goddess  Athena  has  met  and  conversed  with  him  on  the  way, 
after  which  she  takes  her  flight  to  Athens,  and  Odysseus  enters  the  palace. 
This  selection  gives  some  features  of  the  palace  not  mentioned  in  no.  14(a), 
and  presents  a  charming  picture  of  the  garden  attached  to  the  palace. 

Therewith  grey-eyed  Athene  departed  over  the  unharvested 
seas,  and  left  pleasant  Scheria,  and  came  to  Marathon  and  wide- 
wayed  Athens,  and  entered  the  good  house  of  Erechtheus.2  Mean- 
while Odysseus  went  to  the  famous  palace  of  Alcinous,  and  his 
heart  was  full  of  many  thoughts  as  he  stood  there  or  ever  he  had 
reached  the  threshold  of  bronze.  For  there  was  a  gleam  as  it  were 
of  sun  or  moon  through  the  high-roofed  hall  of  great-hearted  Al- 
cinous. Brazen  were  the  walls  which  ran  this  way  and  that  from  the 
threshold  to  the  inmost  chamber,  and  round  them  was  a  frieze  of 

1  Excavations  of  palaces  and  tombs  show  that  this  passage  is  no  great  exaggera- 
tion of  their  interior  decorations. 

2  These  lines  have  been  included  in  this  selection  in  order  to  call  attention  to  the 
existence  of  a  temple  to  Athena  and  Erechtheus  at  Athens  at  the  time  of  the  com- 
position of  this  poem.  It  is  curious  that  the  poet  thought  of  Marathon  as  the  proper 
way  of  approach  to  Athens. 


io8       MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


blue,1  and  golden  were  the  doors  that  closed  in  the  good  house. 
Silver  were  the  door  posts  that  were  set  on  the  brazen  threshold, 
and  silver  the  lintel  thereupon,  and  the  hook  of  the  door  was  of 
gold.  And  on  either  side  stood  golden  hounds  and  silver,  which 
Hephaestus  wrought  by  his  cunning,  to  guard  the  palace  of  great- 
hearted Alcinous  being  free  from  death  and  age  all  their  days.  And 
within  were  seats  arrayed  against  the  wall  this  way  and  that,  from 
the  threshold  even  to  the  inmost  chamber  2  and  thereon  were  spread 
light  coverings  finely  woven,  the  handiwork  of  women.  There  the 
Phaeacian  chieftains  were  wont  to  sit  eating  and  drinking,  for  they 
had  continual  store.  Yea,  and  there  were  youths  fashioned  in 
gold,  standing  on  firm-set  bases,  with  flaming  torches  in  their  hands, 
giving  light  through  the  night  to  the  feasters  in  the  palace.  And 
he  had  fifty  handmaids  in  the  house,  and  some  grind  the  yellow 
grain  on  the  millstone,  and  others  weave  webs  and  turn  the  yarn 
as  they  sit,  restless  as  the  leaves  of  the  tall  poplar  tree : 3  and  the 
soft  olive  oil  drops  off  that  linen,  so  closely  is  it  woven.  For  as 
the  Phaeacian  men  are  skilled  beyond  all  others  in  driving  a  swift 
ship  upon  the  deep,  even  so  are  the  women  the  most  cunning  at 
the  loom,  for  Athene  hath  given  them  notable  wisdom  in  all  fair 
handiwork  and  cunning  wit.  And  without  the  courtyard  hard  by 
the  door  is  a  great  garden,  of  four  ploughgates,4  and  a  hedge  runs 
round  on  either  side.  And  there  grow  tall  trees  blossoming,  pear- 
trees  and  pomegranates,  and  apple-trees  with  bright  fruit,  and 
sweet  figs,  and  olives  in  their  bloom.  The  fruit  of  these  trees  never 
perisheth  neither  faileth,  winter  nor  summer,  enduring  through 
all  the  year.  Evermore  the  West  Wind  blowing  brings  some  fruits 
to  birth  and  ripens  others.    Pear  upon  pear  waxes  old,  and  apple 

1  This  blue-glass  paste  has  been  found  in  considerable  quantities  at  Tiryns,  a  fact 
which  proves  that  Homer  in  speaking  of  the  frieze  is  dealing  with  something  real. 
For  patterns  of  friezes  and  other  interior  decorations,  see  any  illustrated  work  on 
Minoan  civilization. 

2  Such  seats,  arrayed  along  the  wall,  have  been  found  in  the  palace  at  Cnossus. 
For  an  illustration,  see  Botsford,  Ancient  World,  71. 

3  In  the  palace  at  Cnossus  an  "industrial  quarter"  has  been  found,  in  which  were 
manufactured  by  hundreds  of  hands  the  objects  of  use  and  luxury  of  the  royal  family 
and  their  attendants.  The  palace  of  Alcinous  was  far  more  modest,  and  the  industrial 
equipment  was  on  a  correspondingly  smaller  scale.  In  Homeric  life  most  of  the  working 
people  of  the  palace  were  women. 

4  This  measure  is  unknown. 


THE  PALACE  GARDEN 


109 


upon  apple,  yea  and  cluster  ripens  upon  cluster  of  the  grape,  and  fig 
upon  rig.  There  too  hath  he  a  fruitful  vineyard  planted,  whereof 
the  one  part  is  being  dried  by  the  heat,  a  sunny  plot  on  level  ground, 
while  other  grapes  men  are  gathering,  and  yet  others  they  are 
treading  in  the  wine-press.  In  the  foremost  row  are  unripe  grapes 
that  cast  the  blossom,  and  others  there  be  that  are  growing  black 
to  vintaging.1  There  too,  skirting  the  furthest  line,  are  all  manner 
of  garden  beds,  planted  trimly,  that  are  perpetually  fresh,  and 
therein  are  two  fountains  of  water,  whereof  one  scatters  his  streams 
all  about  the  garden,  and  the  other  runs  over  against  it  beneath 
the  threshold  of  the  courtyard,  and  issues  by  the  lofty  house,  and 
thence  did  the  townsfolk  draw  water.  These  were  the  splendid 
gifts  of  the  gods  in  the  palace  of  Alcinous. 

15.  The  Creation  of  Earth,  Heaven,  and  the  Gods 
(Hesiod,  Theogony,  1 16-138) 

When  the  Greeks  first  began  to  think  of  the  origin  of  things,  their  lively 
imagination  hit  upon  birth  as  the  process  of  creation.  In  the  following  passage 
Hesiod  expresses  no  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  Chaos,  Earth,  Tartarus,  and 
Love  were  formed,  but  of  them  were  born  the  remaining  elements  of  the  world. 

First  verily  was  created  Chaos,  and  then  broad-bosomed  Earth, 
the  habitation  unshaken  forever  of  all  the  deathless  gods'  who  keep 
the  top  of  snowy  Olympus,  and  misty  Tartarus  within  the  wide- 
wayed  Earth,  and  Love  (Eros)  which  is  the  fairest  among  the  death- 
less gods;  which  looseth  the  limbs  and  overcometh  within  the 
breasts  of  all  gods  and  all  men  their  mind  and  counsel  wise. 

From  Chaos  sprang  Erebus  and  black  Night ;  and  from  Night 
in  turn  sprang  Bright  Sky  (Ether)  and  Day,  whom  Night  conceived 
and  bare  after  loving  union  with  Erebus.  Earth  first  bare  the 
starry  Heaven,  of  equal  stature  to  herself,  that  he  might  cover  her 
utterly  about,  to  the  end  that  there  might  be  for  the  blessed  gods 
a  habitation  steadfast  forever ;  and  she  bare  the  lofty  Hills,  the 
pleasant  haunts  of  the  goddess  Nymphs  who  dwell  among  the 
gladed  Hills.    Also  she  bare  the  unharvested  deep  with  raging  flood, 

1  It  is  evident  that  Homer  was  acquainted  with  all  these  fruits,  although  the 
garden,  particularly  with  reference  to  the  seasons,  is  idealized. 


no       MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


even  the  Sea  (Pontus),  without  the  sweet  rites  of  love.  And  then 
in  the  couch  of  Heaven  (Ouranos)  she  bare  the  deep-eddying 
Oceanus,  and  Cceus  and  Crius,  and  Hyperion  and  Iapetus  and 
Theia  and  Rhea  and  Themis  and  Mnemosyne  and  Thebe  of  the 
golden  crown  and  lovely  Tethys.  After  these  was  born  her  young- 
est son,  even  Cronos  of  crooked  counsels,  of  all  her  children  most 
terrible,  and  he  hated  his  lusty  sire. 


16.  Earliest  Attempts  at  History  in  Prose 
(Acusilaus,  Genealogies) 

The  numbers  of  the  excerpts  are  those  of  Miiller,  Frag.  Hist.  Grcsc.  I.  p.  100 
^-av**  irl-ifaurr)  saa-    Translated  by  G.  W.  B. 

*f*^**  ^^J**^  7-  Deucalion,  in  whose  time  was  the  Deluge,  was  the  son  of 
futlJU',*~  Prometheus  and,  as  most  writers  say,  of  Clymene,  according  to 
^.tii--«"  jjesioc[  however,  of  Pandora ;  but  the  authority  of  Acusilaus  is  that 
X)**_Ln fog  wag  born  0f  Hesione,  daughter  of  Oceanus,  and  of  Prometheus. 
0<n*+L  Cr*»  *  Well  known  is  the  story  of  Deucalion  and  Pyrrha,  and  Acusilaus 
4.Cx^vv«v*^     testifies  that  the  stones  thrown  behind  their  backs  were  made  men. 

11  a.  Throughout  his  first  book  Acusilaus  has  made  it  clear 
that  Acheloiis  is  the  eldest  of  all  rivers,  for  he  says :  Oceanus 
married  Tethys,  his  own  sister ;  and  of  them  were  born  three  thou- 
sand rivers,  and  Acheloiis  is  the  eldest  and  most  highly  honored. 

12.  Of  Niobe  and  Zeus  was  born  a  son  Argos,  as  Acusilaus  says, 
and  Pelasgus,  after  whom  were  named  the  Pelasgians  who  inhabited 
Peloponnese. 

13.  Before  Ogyges  nothing  was  done  among  the  Hellenes  worth 
mentioning,  apart  from  (the  deeds  of)  Phoroneus,  his  contemporary, 
and  Phoroneus'  father  Inachus,  who,  as  Acusilaus  narrates,  was  the 
first  king  of  the  Argives. 

15.  Hellanicus  and  Acusilaus  and,  in  addition  to  them,  Ephorus 
and  Nicolaiis  narrate  that  the  ancients  lived  a  thousand  years. 

16.  The  account  ascribed  to  Acusilaus  which  makes  Myceneus 
son  of  Sparto,  and  Sparto  of  Phoroneus,  I  could  not  for  my  part 
accept,  as  the  Lacedaemonians  themselves  would  not  accept  it. 

31.  The  Homeridae :  a  genos  of  Chios,  as  Acusilaus  states  in  his 
third  book. 


HISTORICAL  CRITICISM 


in 


(Hecataeus,  Circuit  of  the  Earth  and  Genealogies.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 
The  numbers  are  those  of  Miiller. 

I.  I  laugh  when  I  see  that  many  have  drawn  the  circuit  of  the 
earth  with  no  show  of  sense,  who  mark  out  the  Ocean  flowing  around 
it,  and  assume  that  the  earth  is  a  circle,  as  though  drawn  by  a  pair 
of  compasses,  and  that  Asia  is  equal  to  Europe  (from  Herodotus 
iv.  36). 

276.  Formerly  when  Hecataeus  the  logopoios  was  in  Thebes  and 
had  traced  his  descent  and  connected  his  family  with  a  god  in  the 
sixteenth  generation  before  his  time,  the  priests  of  Zeus  did  for  him 
about  the  same  as  they  did  for  me,  although  I  had  not  traced  my 
lineage.  They  took  me  into  the  sanctuary  of  the  temple,  which  is 
of  great  size,  and  showing  colossal  wooden  statues  in  number  as 
they  stated,  they  counted  them  up  to  that  number ;  for  each  chief 
priest  in  his  lifetime  sets  up  an  image  of  himself.  The  priests, 
accordingly,  counting  and  showing  me  these  statues,  declared  that 
each  one  of  them  was  a  son  succeeding  his  father,  and  they  went  up 
through  the  series  of  images  from  the  image  of  the  one  who  had  died 
last,  until  they  had  declared  this  of  the  whole  number.  When 
Hecataeus  had  traced  his  descent  and  connected  his  family  with  a 
god  in  the  sixteenth  generation,  they  traced  a  descent  opposed  to 
his,  in  addition  to  their  numbering,  not  accepting  his  idea  that  a 
man  had  been  born  of  a  god.  In  the  following  manner  they  traced 
their  counter-descent,  saying  that  each  one  of  the  statues  had 
been  'piromis'  son  of  'piromis,'  until  they  had  declared  this  of  the 
whole  three  hundred  and  forty-five  statues,  each  surnamed  'pi- 
romis,' and  neither  with  a  god  nor  with  a  hero  did  they  connect 
their  descent.  Now  'piromis'  means  in  Greek  'honorable  and  good 
man'  (from  Herodotus  ii.  143). 

355.  Hecataeus  of  Miletus  in  the  third  book  of  his  Genealogies,  in 
describing  an  Arcadian  dinner,  says  it  consisted  of  barley-bread  and 
pork. 

362.  After  the  Pelasgians  had  been  expelled  from  Attica  by  the 
Athenians,  whether  justly  or  unjustly  I  am  unable  to  say  except 
what  is  reported,  that  Hecataeus  son  of  Hegesander  says  in  his 
narratives  that  it  happened  unjustly  ;  for  when  the  Athenians  saw 
the  land  at  the  foot  of  Hymettus  which  they  had  given  them  to 


ii2    THE  MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


inhabit  as  pay  for  building  the  wall  around  the  Acropolis,  —  when 
they  saw  this  land  well  cultivated  which  was  formerly  barren  and 
worthless,  they  entertained  a  grudge,  and  a  desire  for  the  land,  and 
for  that  reason  expelled  them,  not  alleging  any  other  pretext  (from 
Herodotus  vi.  137). 

17.  Certain  Kings  of  Attica 

(Philochorus,  Atthis,  ii,  quoted  by  Eusebius,  Chronica,  i;  Miiller,  Frag.  Hist. 
GrcBc.  I.  385.  10.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

In  their  attempts  to  reconstruct  the  regal  period  of  their  country  the  chron- 
iclers adopted  the  habit  of  assigning  existing  customs  and  institutions  to  the 
various  kings  —  a  process  illustrated  by  the  following  selections. 

Cecrops  the  diphyes  (double-natured)  reigned  as  king  over 
Akte,  now  Attica,  fifty  years,  so  called  because  of  the  height  of  his 
person,  as  Philochorus  says,  or  because,  being  an  Egyptian,  he 
understood  two  languages.1 

(Philochorus,  op.  cit.  in  Strabo  ix.  20;  Miiller,  op.  cit.  I.  386.  n) 

Philochorus  says*  that  as  the  country  was  harried  from  the  sea 
by  Carians  and  on  the  land  by  the  Boeotians,  whom  they  called 
Aones,  Cecrops  first  gathered  the  multitude  into  twelve  cities, 
whose  names  are  Cecropia,2  Tetrapolis,  Epacria,  Deceleia,  Eleusis, 
Aphidna,  which  many  call  also  by  the  plural  number  Aphidnae, 
Thoricus,  Brauron,  Cytherus,  Sphettus,  Cephisia,  Phalerus.  Later, 
too,  Theseus  is  said  to  have  concentrated  the  twelve  into  the  one 
city  which  now  exists. 

(Philochorus,  op.  cit.  in  Athenaeus  ii.  7) 

Philochorus  relates  that  Amphictyon,3  king  of  the  Athenians, 
having  learned  of  Dionysus  the  art  of  mixing  wine,  was  the  first 
man  who  ever  did  mix  it,  and  that  it  is  owing  to  him  that  men  who 
have  been  drinking  on  his  system  can  afterward  walk  straight,  when 
before  they  used  to  stagger  about  after  drinking  clear  wine.  On 

1  In  myth  he  was  half-man,  half-serpent,  and  in  this  respect  "  double-natured  " ; 
but  the  chronicler  has  rationalized  the  myth,  as  was  the  habit  of  such  writers. 

2  Traditionally  the  earlier  name  of  Athens. 

3  The  historical  truth  at  the  basis  of  this  mythical  king  is  the  fact  that  Athens  in 
early  time  became  a  member  of  the  Delphic  amphictyony. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  RECONSTRUCTION 


this  account  he  erected  an  altar  to  the  straight  Dionysus  in  the 
temple  of  the  Seasons ;  for  they  are  the  Nymphs  who  cherish  the 
fruit  of  the  vine.  Near  it  he  built  also  an  altar  to  the  Nymphs  as 
a  memorial  to  all  who  used  diluted  drinks ;  for  the  Nymphs  are 
said  to  have  been  the  nurses  of  Dionysus.  Further  he  made  a 
law  to  bring  unmixed  wine  after  meals,  only  just  enough  to  taste, 
as  a  token  of  the  power  of  the  Good  Deity.  But  the  rest  of  the  wine 
was  put  on  the  table  ready  diluted  in  whatever  quantity  any  one 
chose.  Then  he  enjoined  the  guests  to  invoke  in  addition  the  name 
of  Zeus  Saviour,  for  the  sake  of  instructing  and  reminding  the 
drinkers  that  by  using  wine  in  that  way  they  would  be  preserved 
from  injury. 


18.  The  Fully  Developed  List  of  Kings  of  Argos  and  of 

Athens 

Homer,  Hesiod,  and  the  logographers  reckoned  time  by  generations  and  by 
reigns.  Gradually  greater  precision  was  acquired,  and  attempts  were  made  to 
reconstruct  the  lists  of  kings  with  the  length  of  their  respective  reigns.  In 
earlier  time  the  list  of  kings  of  a  country  contained  few  names,  but  new  names 
were  gradually  inserted.  In  the  Alexandrian  period  scholars  busied  themselves 
with  such  chronologies,  and  their  work  has  come  down  to  us  mainly  through 
Eusebius,  who  lived  in  the  fourth  century  a.d.  The  two  lists  given  below  will 
sufficiently  illustrate  the  nature  of  their  work.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  perhaps 
not  a  single  name  in  either  list  (or  at  most  one  or  two)  is  that  of  a  real  person. 


ARGIVE  AND  ATHENIAN  KINGS 
(Eusebius,  Chronicle,  ed.  Karst,  p.  148  sq.) 


ARGIVE  KINGS 


ATHENIAN  KINGS 


Inachus  50  yrs. 
Phoroneus  60 


Apis 

Argus 

Criasus 

Phorbas 

Triopas 

Crotopus 

Sthenelus 

Danaiis 

Linceus 


35 
70 

54 
35 
47 
21 
11 
5o 
4i 


In  the  thirty-second  year  of  the 

1.  Cecrops  Diphyes  50  yrs. 

2.  Cranaus  9 

3.  Amphiction  10 

4.  Erichthonius  50 

5.  Pantion  40 

6.  Erechtheus  50 

7.  Cecrops  II  40 


reign  of  Phorbas, 
the  first  (king) 
reigned  over  the 
Athenians 


ii4    THE  MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


ARGIVE  KINGS 


ATHENIAN  KINGS 


Abas 

Proi'tus 

Acrisius 


O  1 

z6 

8 
o. 

J.  dllLlUll 

25 

T  1 

n 
V- 

T^.crP'ii'i  [cnn  1 

•2  T 

of  PanHon 

a8 

IO 

TV)  pqpi  1  c    (  cn  n  ^ 

r»f  T^.  or  pile 

3° 

II. 

Menestheus  (son) 

L»l   X  CLCUS 

23 

12. 

Dpmnnlinn  ( cnn  1 

of  Xheseus 

OO 

13. 

Oxintes 

12 

14. 

Aphidas 

I 

15. 

Thimoitus 

8 

16. 

Melanthus 

37 

17. 

Codrus 

21 

19.  Dates  of  Certain  Great  Events 

(Porphyry,  Philosophic  History,  i,  quoted  by  Eusebius,  Chronicle,  i.  31.  Migne, 
Patrologice  Grcecce,  XIX.  220.) 

From  the  capture  of  Ilium  to  the  descent  of  the  Heracleids  upon 
Peloponnese,  according  to  Apollodorus,  80  years  elapsed ;  then 
from  the  descent  to  the  colonization  of  Ionia,  60  years ;  thence  to 
Lycurgus,  159  years;  from  Lycurgus  to  the  first  Olympiad,  108 
years  ;  the  sum  total  of  years  from  the  capture  of  Ilium  to  the  first 
Olympiad  was  407  years. 

For  bibliography  on  the  Homeric  age,  see  p.  6. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  THE  MINOAN  CIVILIZATION 

I.  Sources.  —  Substantially  the  only  sources  are  the  objects  discovered  in 
explorations.  They  may  be  studied  directly  or  by  means  of  illustrations  and 
descriptions.  In  addition  to  the  illustrations  in  the  works  mentioned  below, 
see  especially  Evans,  A.,  Atlas  of  Cnossian  Antiquities  (Macmillan,  191 5); 
Maraghiannis,  G.,  Antiquites  cretoises,  2  vols.  (Vienna,  1906,  191 1).  Tradi- 
tions from  that  period  have  been  so  contaminated  by  later  conditions  as  to 
retain  little  or  no  independent  value. 

II.  General.  —  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  ii. ;  Bury,  History  of  Greece 
(new  ed.  1913),  ch.  i ;  Hall,  Ancient  History  of  the  Near  East,  31-72  ;  Meyer,  E., 
Gesch.  d.  Alt.  I.  pp.  677-803. 

Schuchhardt,  C,  Schliemann's  Excavations,  trans,  by  E.  Sellers  (Mac- 
millan, 1891),  contains  the  results  of  his  labors,  and  the  substance  of  his  writ- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


ings;  Hawes,  C.  H.  and  H.,  Crete  the  Forerunner  of  Greece  (Harper,  1909), 
excellent  scholarly  summary,  without  illustrations;  Evans,  E.,  Nine  Minoan 
Periods  (Macmillan,  1915),  by  the  excavator  of  Cnossus  ;  Baikie,  J.,  Sea-Kings 
of  Crete  (London  :  Adam  and  Ch.  Black,  1910),  popular  but  generally  accurate ; 
Mosso,  A.,  Palaces  of  Crete  (Putnam,  1907),  useful  for  special  topics;  Dawn  of 
Mediterranean  Civilization  (N.  Y. :  Baker  and  Taylor,  191 1),  asserts  the  exist- 
ence of  a  copper  age  of  considerable  length;  Dessaud,  R.,  Les  civilizations 
prehellenique  dans  le  bassin  de  la  mer  Egee  (2d  ed.,  Paris,  1914),  the  most 
thoroughly  illustrated  treatment  of  the  general  subject ;  Lichtenberg,  R.  F.  v., 
Aegdische  Kultur  (Leipzig,  191 1) ;  Fimmen,  D.,  Die  Zeit  und  Dauer  der  kre- 
tisch-mykenischen  Kultur  (Freiburg,  1909),  most  valuable  for  chronology; 
Myres,  J.  L.,  Dawn  of  History  (Holt,  191 1),  general  study  of  beginnings  in  the 
ancient  world;  Tsountas,  C,  and  Manatt,  J.  I.,  Mycencean  Age  (Houghton 
Mifflin,  1897),  a  brilliant  work,  in  need  of  revision;  Ridgeway,  W.,  Early  Age 
of  Greece,  I  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1901) ;  Hall,  H.  R.,  sEgean  Arche- 
ology (London:  Warner,  191 5). 

III.  Special.  —  (a)  Of  primary  importance  are  the  reports  of  excavators, 
as  those  of  Evans  and  others,  Annual  of  British  School  at  Athens,  beginning 
with  vol.  VII  (1900-1901) ;  Journal  of  Hellenic  Studies,  beginning  1899 ; 
Boyd,  H.,  in  Transactions  of  the  Department  of  Archeology,  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, I  (1904),  for  her  excavations  at  Gournia;  Monumenti  Antichi,  be- 
ginning XII  (1900-1901),  for  excavations  at  Phaestus,  etc. ;  Dorpfeld,  W., 
and  others,  Troja  und  Ilion,  2  vols.  (Athens,  1902) ;  Seager,  R.  B.,  Exploration 
in  the  Island  of  Mochlos:  American  School  of  Classical  Studies  at  Athens,  191 2  ; 
Excavations  on  the  Island  of  Pseira  (University  Museum,  Phila.  19 10) ;  Atkin- 
son, T.  D.,  and  others,  Excavations  at  Philakopi  in  Melos  (Macmillan,  1904)  ; 
Wace,  A.  J.  B.,  and  Thompson,  M.  S.,  Prehistoric  Thessaly  (Cambridge: 
University  Press,  191 2) ;  Ashmolean  Museum  Report,  1907;  Frickenhaus,  A., 
and  others,  Tiryns.  Die  Ergebnisse  der  Ausgrabungen  des  K.  deutsch.  arch.  Inst, 
in  Athen  (Athens,  191 2) ;  Hall,  E.  H.,  Excavations  in  Eastern  Crete,  Anthropo- 
logical Publications,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  1913. 

(b)  Palaces  and  Tombs.  — Dorpfeld,  W.,  "Die  kretischen,  mykenischen und 
homerischen  Palaste,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  XXX  (1905).  257-97;  Mackenzie,  D., 
"  Cretan  Palaces  and  the  ^gean  Civilization,"  in  Annual  of  the  British  School 
at  Athens,  XI  (1904-1905).  181-223  ;  XII.  216-57  5  XIII.  423-45  ;  XIV.  343- 
422  (aims  to  derive  civilization  from  north  Africa) ;  Noack,  F.,  Homerische 
Palaste  (Leipzig,  1903);  Ovalhaus  und  Palast  in  Kreta  (Teubner,  1908),  im- 
portant; Evans,  A.,  "Prehistoric  Tombs  of  Knossos,"  in  Archceologia,  LIX 
(1905).  391-562;  Lichtenberg,  R.  F.  v.,  Haus,  Dorf,  Stadt  (Leipzig,  1909). 

(c)  Pottery  and  Painting. — Hall,  E.  H.,  Decorative  Art  of  Crete  in  the  Bronze 
Age  (Phila. :  Winston,  1907) ;  Mackenzie,  D.,  "Pottery  of  Knossus,"  in  J.  H.  S. 
XXIII  (1903).  157-206;  "Middle  Minoan  Pottery,"  ib.  XXVI.  243-67; 
Forsdyke,  E.  J.,  "  Minoan  Pottery  from  Cyprus  and  the  Origin  of  the  Mycenaean 
Style,"  ib.  XXXI.  1 10-18;  Furtwangler  and  Loeschke,  Mykenische  Vasen 


n6    THE  MINOAN  AND  HOMERIC  CIVILIZATIONS 


(Berlin,  1886) ;  Pfuhl,  E.,  "Die  griechische  Malerei,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  XIV  (1911). 
161-85. 

(d)  Religion.  —  Harrison,  J.  E.,  Themis:  A  Study  of  the  Social  Origins  of 
Greek  Religion  (Cambridge  University  Press,  191 2),  speculative;  Prinz,  H., 
"Bemerkungen  zur  altkretischen  Religion,"  Ath.  Mitt.  "XXXV  (1910),  149-76; 
Reichel,  A.,  "Die  Stierspiele  in  der  kretisch-mykenischen  Kultur,"  Ath.  Milt. 
XXIV  (1909).  85-99,  has  religious  connections. 

Aly,  W.,  "Ursprung  und  Entwickelung  der  kretischen  Zeusreligion,"  in 
Philologus,  LXXI  (1912).  457-78;  Bethe,  "Minos,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXV 
(1910).  200-32  ;  Frothingham,  A.  L.,  "Medusa,  Apollo,  and  the  Great  Mother," 
in  Am.  Journ.  Arch.  XV  (1911).  349-77,  connections  with  Crete;  Pernier,  L., 
"Culto  di  Rhea  a  Phaestos,"  in  Saggi  di  Storia  antica,  etc.  (Rome,  1910),  241- 
53  ;  Schaefer,  J.,  De  Jove  apud  Cretas  culto.    Diss.  (Halle,  191 2). 

(e)  Writing.  —Evans,  A.,  Scripta  Minoa,  I  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press, 
1909)  ;  Sundwall,  J.,  Ueber  die  vor griechische  linearische  Schrift  auf  Kreta  (brief 
study,  1914) ;  Meyer,  E.,  "Der  Diskus  von  Phaestos  und  die  Philister  auf 
Kreta,"  in  Sitzb.  Berl.  Akad.  1909,  pp.  1022-9;  Hall,  H.  R.,  "Note  on  the 
Phaestus  Disk,"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXXI  (1911).  119-23;  Hempl,  G.,  in  Harper's 
Monthly,  Jan.  191 1,  pp.  187-98,  vain  attempt  at  solution. 

(/)  Problems  and  Connections.  —  Burrows,  R.  M.,  Discoveries  in  Crete  and 
their  Bearing  on  the  History  of  Ancient  Civilization  (London:  Murray,  1907) ; 
Lichtenberg,  R.  F.  v.,  in  Mitt.  Vorderas.  Ges.  XVI  (1912),  for  influence  on  Egypt 
and  Palestine;  Miiller,  W.  Max,  Asien  und  Europa  nach  altagyptischen  Denk- 
m'dlern  (Leipzig,  1893) ;  Baur,  P.,  "Pre-Roman  Antiquities  in  Spain,"  in  Am. 
Journ.  Arch.  XI  (1907).  182-93. 

(g)  The  Ethnic  Question.  —  Sergi,  G.,  Mediterranean  Race  (Scribner,  1901) ; 
Conway,  R.  S.,  " Pre-Hellenic  Inscriptions  of  Praesos,"  in  B.  S.  A.  VIII  (1901- 
1902).  125-56;  "A  Third  Eteo-Cretan  Fragment,"  ib.  X.  115-26;  Kiessling, 
M.,  "Das  ethnische  Problem  des  alten  Griechenland,"  in  Zeitschr.  f.  Ethnol. 
XXXVII  (1905).  1009-24;  Luschan,  F.  v.,  "Beitrage  zur  Anthropologic  von 
Kreta,"  ib.  XLV.  307-93,  includes  ancient  period ;  Hirt,  H.,  Die  Indogermanen, 
2  vols.  (Strassburg,  1905,  1907);  Schmidt,  L.,  "Die  Ursachen  der  Volk- 
erwanderung,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  VI  (1903).  340-50;  Meltzer,  H.,  "Griechen  und 
Germanen,"  ib.  XXIX  (191 2).  385-405;  Forrer,  R.,  Reallexikon  der  pr'dhis- 
torischen,  klassischen  und  friihchristlichen  Altertiimer  (Berlin,  1907) ;  Schrader, 
O.,  Reallexikon  der  indogermanischen  Altertumskunde  (Strassburg,  1901) ; 
Sprachvergleichung  und  Urgeschichte,  2  vols.  (3d  ed.,  Jena,  1906,  1907). 

Kretschmer,  P.,  Einleitung  in  die  Geschichte  der  griech.  Sprache  (Gottingen, 
1896),  epoch-making;  Fick,  A.,  Vor  griechische  Ortsnamen  als  Quelle  fur  die 
Vor  geschichte  Griechenlands  verwertet  (Gottingen,  1905) ;  Hoffmann,  O.,  Ge- 
schichte der  griech.  Sprache,  I  (Leipzig,  191 1) ;  Buck,  C.  D.,  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  the  Greek  Dialects  (Ginn,  1910) ;  "Interrelations  of  the  Greek  Dia- 
lects," in  Class.  Philol.  II  (1907).  241  ff. 

Meyer,  E.,  "Die  Pelasger,"  in  Forsch.  zur  alt.  Gesch.  I  (1892).  1-124; 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


117 


Myres,  J.  L.,  "History  of  the  Pelasgian  Theory,"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXVII  (1907). 
170  sqq. ;  Aly,  W.,  Rarer  und  Leleger,  in  Philol.  LXVIII  (1909).  428-44. 

(A)  Miscellaneous.  —  Miiller,  S.,  L 'Europe  prehistorique  (Paris,  1907)  ; 
Kropp,  P.,  Die  minoisch-mykenische  Kultur  im  Lichte  der  Ueberlieferung  bei 
Herodot  (Leipzig,  1905) ;  Assmann,  E.,  "Zur  Vorgeschichte  von  Kreta,"  in 
Philol.  LXVII  (1908).  161-201 ;  Fimmen,  D.,  "Die  Besiedlung  Bootiens  bis 
in  friihgriech.  Zeit,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  XV  (1912).  521-41;  Frost,  K.  T.,  "The 
Critias  and  Minoan  Crete,"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXXIII  (1913).  189-206. 


CHAPTER  III 


COLONIZATION 
During  the  Period  750-479  B.C. 

The  period  extending  from  about  750  to  the  close  of  the  great  war  with 
Persia,  479,  is  one  of  colonial  expansion,  of  economic  development  from  pas- 
toral and  agricultural  conditions  to  commerce  and  industry,  and  of  such  prog- 
ress in  literature,  art,  and  intelligence,  including  the  beginnings  of  science  and 
philosophy,  that  it  may  well  be  named  the  era  of  "intellectual  awakening." 
The  colonial  movement  did  not  continue  to  the  end  of  the  period,  but  came 
substantially  to  an  end  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century. 

20.  The  Physical  Condition  of  Europe  and  its  Effect  on 

the  Inhabitants 

(Strabo  ii.  5.  26) 

Now  the  whole  of  Europe  is  habitable  with  the  exception  of  a 
small  part  which  cannot  be  dwelt  in,  on  account  of  the  severity  of 
the  cold,  and  which  borders  on  the  Hamaxceci,1  who  dwell  by  the 
Don,  Maeotis,  and  Dnieper.  The  wintry  and  mountainous  parts 
of  the  habitable  earth  would  seem  to  afford  by  nature  but  a 
miserable  means  of  existence ;  nevertheless,  by  good  management, 
places  scarcely  inhabited  by  any  but  robbers  may  be  got  into  con- 
dition. Thus  the  Greeks,  though  dwelling  amidst  rocks  and  moun- 
tains, live  in  comfort,  owing  to  their  economy  in  government  and 
the  arts  and  all  the  other  appliances  of  life.  Thus,  too,  the  Romans, 
after  subduing  numerous  nations  who  were  leading  a  savage  life, 
either  induced  by  the  rockiness  of  their  countries  or  want  of  ports 
or  severity  of  the  cold,  or  for  other  reasons  scarcely  habitable,  have 
taught  the  arts  of  commerce  to  many  who  were  formerly  in  total 
ignorance,  and  spread  civilization  among  the  most  savage.  Where 
the  climate  is  equable  and  mild,  nature  herself  does  much  toward 

1  "  Dwellers  in  wagons,"  a  nomadic  people. 
118 


ENVIRONMENT 


119 


the  production  of  these  advantages.  As  in  such  favored  regions 
everything  inclines  to  peace,  so  those  which  are  sterile  generate 
bravery  and  a  disposition  to  war.  These  two  races  receive  mutual 
advantages  from  each  other,  the  one  aiding  by  their  arms,  the  other 
by  their  husbandry,  arts,  and  institutions.  Harm  must  result  to 
both  when  failing  to  act  in  concert,  but  the  advantage  will  lie  on  the 
side  of  those  accustomed  to  arms,  except  in  instances  where  they 
are  overpowered  by  multitudes.  This  continent  is  very  much 
favored  in  this  respect,  being  interspersed  with  plains  and  moun- 
tains, so  that  everywhere  the  foundations  of  husbandry,  civiliza- 
tion, and  hardihood  lie  side  by  side.  The  number  of  those  who 
cultivate  the  arts  of  peace,  is,  however,  the  most  numerous,  which 
preponderance  over  the  whole  is  mainly  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
government,  first  of  the  Greeks,  and  afterward  of  the  Macedonians 
and  Romans.1 

Europe  has  thus  within  itself  resources  both  for  war  [and  peace]. 
It  is  amply  supplied  with  warriors,  and  also  with  men  fitted  for 
the  labors  of  agriculture,  and  the  life  of  the  towns.  It  is  likewise 
distinguished  for  producing  in  perfection  those  fruits  of  the  earth 
necessary  to  life,  and  all  the  useful  metals.  Perfumes  and  precious 
stones  must  be  imported  from  abroad,  but  as  far  as  the  comfort  of 
life  is  concerned,  the  want  or  the  possession  of  these  can  make  no 
difference.  The  country  likewise  abounds  in  cattle,  while  of  wild 
beasts  the  number  is  but  small.  Such  is  the  general  nature  of  this 
continent.  , 

21.  The  Fertility  of  Sicily;  the  Worship  of  Demeter 

(Diodorus  v.  2  sq.) 

Diodorus,  who  was  a  Sicilian,  writes  with  great  enthusiasm,  as  well  as  with 
truth,  of  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  his  native  island. 

Having  designed  this  book  as  a  description  of  the  islands,  we 
will  first  speak  of  Sicily,  as  it  is  the  most  important  of  the  islands 
and  stands  first  in  the  antiquity  of  its  stories. 

In  ancient  times  it  was  called  Trinacria  from  its  form.  After- 

1  The  alliances  and  federations  of  the  Greeks  contributed  to  peace,  but  far  greater 
progress  was  made  in  this  direction  by  the  Macedonian  and  Roman  empires,  particu- 
larly the  latter. 


120 


COLONIZATION 


ward  it  was  named  Sicania  by  the  Sicanians,  its  first  inhabitants, 
and  at  last  called  Sicily,  from  the  Sicilians,1  who,  with  all  their 
people,  transported  themselves  thither  from  Italy. 

In  circuit  it  is  four  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty  stadia ; 2 
for  one  of  the  three  sides,  from  the  promontory  Pelorus  to  Lilybaeum, 
is  a  thousand  and  seven  hundred  stadia ;  the  other  from  Lilybaaum 
to  Pachinum,  a  promontory  of  Syracuse,  runs  out  in  length  a  thou- 
sand and  five  hundred  stadia.  The  rest  contains  a  thousand  one 
hundred  and  forty  stadia. 

The  Sicilian  inhabitants  (from  old  tradition  continued  down  to 
them  from  their  forefathers)  say  that  this  island  is  dedicated  to 
Demeter  and  Persephone.  Some  of  the  poets  feign  that  at  the 
marriage  of  Pluto  and  Persephone  this  island  was  given  to  the  new 
bride  by  Zeus  for  a  present.  The  most  approved  authors  say  that 
the  Sicanians,  who  were  the  ancient  possessors,  were  the  indigenous 
inhabitants  of  this  isle,  and  that  the  goddesses  whom  we  have  before 
mentioned  appeared  first  in  their  country ;  and  that  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  was  such,  that  grain  first  grew  here  of  itself,  which  the  most 
eminent  of  all  the  poets  confirms  in  these  words :  — 

Within  this  island  all  things  grow, 
Without  the  help  of  seed  or  plow, 
As  wheat  and  barley,  with  the  vine 
From  whence  proceed  both  grapes  and  wine, 
Which  with  sweet  showers  from  above 
Are  brought  to  ripeness  by  great  Jove. 

• 

For  in  the  territory  of  Leontini  and  in  many  other  parts  of 
Sicily  there  grows  up  wild  wheat  at  this  very  day.  If  it  be  asked 
in  what  part  of  the  world  these  grains  were  first  known,  before  the 
use  of  corn  was  found  out,  it  is  most  probable  that  they  were  first 
brought  to  the  best  and  richest  country,  and  therefore  upon  that 
account  we  see  that  the  Sicilians  most  especially  worship  those 
goddesses  who  were  the  first  discoverers  of  these  fruits.  That  the 
rape  of  Persephone*  was  in  this  country  (they  say)  is  most  clear  and 
evident  from  hence,  that  neither  of  these  goddesses  ever  resided  in 

1By  the  "Sicilians"  is  here  meant  the  Siculi,  whose  origin  ancient  writers  assign 
to  Italy. 

9  A  stadium  is  600  Greek  feet. 


SICILY 


121 


any  other  place  but  in  this  island,  wherein  they  delighted  above 
all  others.1  The  rape,  they  say,  was  in  the  meadows  of  Enna,  not 
far  from  the  city,  a  place  decked  with  violets  and  all  sorts  of  other 
flowers,  affording  a  most  beautiful  and  pleasant  prospect.  It  is 
said  that  the  fragrance  of  the  flowers  is  such,  that  the  dogs  sent  out 
to  hunt  the  game  thereby  lose  the  benefit  of  their  sense,  and  are  made 
incapable  by  their  scent  to  find  out  the  prey.  This  meadow-ground, 
in  the  middle  and  highest  part  of  it,  is  level  and  well  watered,  but 
all  the  borders  round  are  craggy,  guarded  with  high  and  steep  preci- 
pices, and  it  is  supposed  to  lie  in  the  very  heart  of  Sicily,  whence 
it  is  called  by  some  the  navel  of  Sicily.  Near  at  hand  are  groves, 
meadows,  and  gardens,  surrounded  with  morasses,  and  a  deep  cave 
with  a  passage  underground  opening  toward  the  north,  through 
which,  they  say,  Pluto  passed  in  his  chariot  when  he  forced  away 
Persephone.  In  this  place  the  violets  and  other  sweet  flowers 
flourish  continually  all  the  year  long,  and  present  a  pleasant  and 
delightsome  prospect  to  the  beholders  over  all  the  flourishing  plain. 

22.  The  Colonization  of  Sicily 

(Thucydides  vi.  2-5.    Jowett,  verified  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Thucydides  probably  drew  this  information  from  Antiochus  of  Syracuse,  a 
slightly  older  contemporary,  who  wrote  a  treatise  on  Sicilian  and  Italian  Affairs, 
now  lost.  We  may  contrast  the  serious  tone  of  this  selection  with  the  uncritical, 
semi-poetic  passage  from  Diodorus  given  under  the  preceding  number. 

2.  I  will  now  describe  the  original  settlement  of  Sicily,  and 
enumerate  the  nations  which  it  contained.    Oldest  of  all  were 

(1)  the  Cyclopes  and  Laestrygones,2  who  are  said  to  have  dwelt  in  a 
district  of  the  island ;  but  who  they  were,  whence  they  came,  or 
whither  they  went,  I  cannot  tell.  We  must  be  content  with  the  leg- 
ends of  the  poets,  and  every  one  must  be  left  to  form  his  own  opinion. 

(2)  The  Sicanians  appear  to  have  succeeded  these  early  races, 

1  These  claims  to  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  Goddesses  Twain  and  to  the 
earliest  use  of  grain  are  merely  evidence  of  an  exaggerated  insular  pride.  In  like 
manner  the  Athenians  claimed  that  Demeter  gave  them  grain  originally  and  that 
through  them  the  knowledge  of  its  cultivation  extended  to  the  rest  of  Hellas.  There 
is  no  more  truth  in  the  one  claim  than  in  the  other. 

2  It  hardly  need  be  said  that  these  two  races  are  mythical. 


122 


COLONIZATION 


although  according  to  their  own  account  they  were  still  older ;  for 
they  profess  to  have  been  children  of  the  soil.  But  the  fact  is 
that  they  were  Iberians,  and  were  driven  from  the  river  Sicanus  in 
Iberia  by  the  Ligurians.1  Sicily,  which  was  originally  called  Tri- 
nacria,  received  from  them  the  name  Sicania.  To  this  day  the 
Sicanians  inhabit  the  western  parts  of  the  island.  (3)  After  the 
capture  of  Troy,  some  Trojans  who  had  escaped  from  the  Achaeans 
came  in  ships  to  Sicily ;  they  settled  near  the  Sicanians,  and  both 
took  the  name  of  Elymi.  The  Elymi  had  two  cities,  Eryx  and  Egesta. 

(4)  These  were  joined  by  certain  Phocians,  who  had  also  fought  at 
Troy,  and  were  driven  by  a  storm  first  to  Libya  and  thence  to  Sicily. 

(5)  The  Sicels  were  originally  inhabitants  of  Italy,  whence  they  were 
driven  by  the  Opici,  and  passed  over  in  Sicily ;  according  to  a  prob- 
able tradition  they  crossed  upon  rafts,  taking  advantage  of  the  wind 
blowing  from  the  land,  but  they  may  have  found  other  ways  of 
effecting  a  passage ;  there  are  Sicels  still  in  Italy,  and  that  country 
itself  was  so  called  from  Italus,  a  Sicel  king.2  They  entered  Sicily 
with  a  large  army,  and  defeating  the  Sicanians  in  battle,  drove 
them  back  to  the  southern  and  western  parts  of  the  country ;  from 
them  the  island,  formerly  Sicania,  took  the  name  of  Sicily.  For 
nearly  three  hundred  years  after  their  arrival  until  the  time  when 
the  Hellenes  came  to  Sicily  they  occupied  the  most  fertile  districts, 
and  they  still  inhabit  the  central  and  southern  regions.  (6)  The 
Phoenicians  at  one  time  had  settlements  all  round  the  island.3  They 
fortified  headlands  on  the  sea-coast,  and  settled  in  the  small  islands 
adjacent,  for  the  sake  of  trading  with  the  Sicels;  but  when  the 
Hellenes  began  to  find  their  way  by  sea  to  Sicily  in  greater  numbers, 
they  withdrew  from  the  larger  part  of  the  island,  and  forming  a 
union  established  themselves  in  Motya,  Soloeis,  and  Panormus,  in 

1  Most  modern  scholars,  accordingly,  connect  the  Sicanians  in  stock  with  the 
Iberians  of  Spain  and  the  Ligurians  of  northern  Italy.  Others  (cf.  De  Sanctis,  Storia 
del  Romani,  I.  98  sq.)  consider  the  Sicani  and  Siculi  branches  of  the  same  stock,  which 
they  pronounce  Italic. 

2  The  hypothesis  that  the  Sicels,  Siculi,  were  immigrants  from  Italy,  and  of  Italic 
stock,  receives  support  from  the  fact  that  certain  names,  common  and  proper,  in  their 
language  seem  related  to  Latin. 

3  The  absence  of  archaeological  remains  throws  doubt  upon  this  statement.  Yet 
it  is  certain  that  the  Phoenicians  receded  to  some  extent  in  the  face  of  the  Hellenic 
colonization. 


COLONIZATION  OF  SICILY  123 

the  neighborhood  of  the  Elymi,  partly  trusting  to  their  alliance  with 
them,  and  partly  because  this  is  the  point  at  which  the  passage 
from  Carthage  to  Sicily  is  shortest.  Such  were  the  barbarian 
nations  who  inhabited  Sicily,  and  these  were  their  settlements. 

3.  (7)  The  first  Hellenic  colonists  sailed  from  Chalcis  in  Eubcea 
under  the  leadership  of  Thucles,  and  founded  Naxos ; 1  there  they 
erected  an  altar  in  honor  of  Apollo  the  Founder,  which  is  still 
standing  without  the  city,  and  on  this  altar  religious  embassies 
sacrifice  before  they  sail  from  Sicily.  (8)  In  the  following  year 
Archias,  one  of  the  Heraclidae,  came  from  Corinth  and  founded 
Syracuse,  first  driving  the  Sicels  out  of  the  island  of  Ortygia ;  and 
there  the  inner  city,  no  longer  surrounded  by  the  sea,  now  stands ; 
in  process  of  time  the  outer  city  was  included  within  the  walls  and 
became  populous.  (9)  In  the  fifth  year  after  the  foundation  of 
Syracuse  Thucles  and  the  Chalcidians  went  forth  from  Naxos,  and 
driving  out  the  Sicels  by  force  of  arms,  founded  first  Leontini,  then 
Catana.  The  Catanaeans  however  chose  a  founder  of  their  own, 
named  Evarchus. 

4.  (10)  About  the  same  time  Lamis  came  from  Megara  bringing 
a  colony  to  Sicily,  where  he  occupied  a  place  called  Trotilus,  upon 
the  river  Pantacyas ;  but  he  soon  afterwards  joined  the  settlement 
of  the  Chalcidians  at  Leontini ;  with  them  he  dwelt  a  short  time, 
until  he  was  driven  out ;  he  then  founded  Thapsus,  where  he  died. 
His  followers  quitted  Thapsus  and  founded  the  city  which  is  called 
the  Hyblaean  Megara ;  Hyblon,  a  Sicel  king,  had  betrayed  the  place 
to  them  and  guided  them  thither.  There  they  remained  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  years,  and  were  then  driven  out  of  their  town  and 
land  by  Gelon 2  the  tyrant  of  Syracuse ;  but  before  they  were  driven 
out,  and  a  hundred  years  after  their  own  foundation,  they  sent  out 
Pamillus  and  founded  Selinus ;  he  had  come  from  Megara,  their 
own  mother  state,  to  take  part  in  the  new  colony.  (11)  In  the 
forty-fifth  year  after  the  foundation  of  Syracuse,  Antiphemus  of 
Rhodes  and  Entimus  of  Crete  came  with  their  followers  and  to- 
gether built  Gela.  The  city  was  named  from  the  river  Gela,  but 
the  spot  which  is  now  the  Acropolis  and  was  first  fortified  is  called 

1  The  Greek  colonization  began  about  750  B.C.  The  dates  of  the  various  foundings 
are  unreliable. 

2  Gelon  became  tyrant  of  Syracuse  in  485 ;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  II.  785. 


124 


COLONIZATION 


Lindii.  The  institutions  of  the  new  settlement  were  Dorian. 
Exactly  a  hundred  and  eight  years  after  their  own  foundation  the 
inhabitants  of  Gela  founded  Acragas  (Agrigentum),  which  they 
named  from  the  river  Acragas ; 1  they  appointed  Aristonoiis  and 
Pystilus  founders  of  the  place,  and  gave  to  it  their  own  institutions. 

(12)  Zancle  was  originally  colonized  by  pirates  who  came  from  Cyme 
the  Chalcidian  city  in  Opicia ;  these  were  followed  by  a  large  body 
of  colonists  from  Chalcis  and.  the  rest  of  Eubcea,  who  shared  in  the 
allotment  of  the  soil.  The  first  settlement  was  led  by  Perieres  of 
Cyme,  the  second  by  Crataemenes  of  Chalcis.  Zancle  was  the 
original  name  of  the  place,  a  name  given  by  the  Sicels  because  the 
site  was  in  shape  like  a  sickle,  for  which  the  Sicel  word  is  Zanclon. 
These  earlier  settlers  were  afterward  driven  out  by  the  Samians 
and  other  Ionians,  who  when  they  fled  from  the  Persians  found  their 
way  to  Sicily.  Not  long  afterward  Anaxilas,  tyrant  of  Rhegium, 
drove  out  these  Samians.  He  then  repeopled  their  city  with  a 
mixed  multitude,  and  called  the  place  Messene  after  his  native 
country. 

5.  Himera  was  colonized  from  Zancle  by  Eucleides,  Simus,  and 
Sacon.  Most  of  the  settlers  were  Chalcidian,  but  the  Myletidae, 
Syracusan  exiles  who  had  been  defeated  in  a  civil  war,  took  part  in 
the  colony.  Their  language  was  a  mixture  of  the  Chalcidian  and 
Doric  dialects,  but  their  institutions  were  mainly  Chalcidian. 

(13)  Acrae  and  Casmenae  were  founded  by  the  Syracusans,  Acrae 
seventy  years  after  Syracuse,  and  Casmenae  nearly  twenty  years 
after  Acrae.  Camarina  was  originally  founded  by  the  Syracusans 
exactly  a  hundred^  and  thirty-five  years  after  the  foundation  of 
Syracuse;  the  founders  were  Dascon  and  Menecolus.  But  the 
Camarinaeans  revolted,  and  as  a  punishment  for  their  revolt  were 
violently  expelled  by  the  Syracusans.  After  a  time  Hippocrates, 
tyrant  of  Gela,  receiving  the  territory  of  Camarina  as  the  ransom  of 
certain  Syracusan  prisoners,  became  the  second  founder  of  the 
place,  which  he  colonized  anew.  The  inhabitants  were  once  more 
driven  out  by  Gelon,  who  himself  colonized  the  city  for  the  third 
time. 

1  See  no.  23. 


NOTABLE  GREEK  COLONIES 


125 


23.  ACRAGAS 
(Polybius  ix.  27) 

The  city  of  Acragas  is  not  only  superior  to  most  cities  in  the 
particulars  I  have  mentioned,  but  above  all  in  beauty  and  elabo- 
rate ornamentation.  It  stands  within  eighteen  stadia  of  the  sea, 
so  that  it  participates  in  every  advantage  from  that  quarter ;  while 
its  circuit  of  fortifications  is  particularly  strong  both  by  nature  and 
by  art.  For  its  wall  is  placed  on  a  rock,  steep  and  precipitous,  on 
one  side  naturally,  on  the  other  side  artificially.  And  it  is  inclosed 
by  rivers  :  for  along  the  south  side  flows  the  river  of  the  same  name 
as  the  town,  and  along  the  west  and  southwest,  the  river  called 
Hypsas.  The  citadel  overlooks  the  city  exactly  at  the  southeast, 
girt  on  the  outside  by  an  impassable  ravine,  and  on  the  inside  with 
only  one  approach  from  the  town.  On  the  top  of  it  is  a  temple  of 
Athena  and  of  Zeus  Atabyrius  as  at  Rhodes :  for  as  Acragas  was 
founded  by  the  Rhodians,  it  is  natural  that  this  deity  should  have 
the  same  appellation  as  at  Rhodes.  The  city  is  sumptuously  adorned 
in  other  respects  also  with  temples  and  colonnades.  The  temple  of 
Zeus  Olympius  is  still  unfinished,  but  in  its  plan  and  dimensions  it 
seems  to  be  inferior  to  no  temple  in  Greece. 


24.    CUMiE,  DlOEARCHIA,  AND  NAPLES 

(Strabo  v.  4.  4-7.    Hamilton  and  Falconer,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  the  time  of  Strabo  the  country  described  in  this 
selection  was  far  less  populous  and  wealthy  than  it  had  been  before  the  Roman 
conquest. 

After  these  [cities]  comes  Cumae,  the  most  ancient  settlement  of 
the  Chalcidenses  and  Cumaeans,  for  it  is  the  oldest  of  all  [the  Greek 
cities]  in  Sicily  or  Italy.  The  leaders  of  the  expedition,  Hippocles 
the  Cumaean  and  Megasthenes  of  Chalcis,  mutually  agreed  that 
one  of  the  nations  should  have  the  management  of  the  colony,  and 
the  other  the  honor  of  conferring  upon  it  its  own  name.  Hence  at 
the  present  day  it  is  named  Cumae,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is 
said  to  have  been  founded  by  the  Chalcidenses.  Formerly  this 
city  was  prosperous,  as  well  as  the  Phlegraean  plain,  which  mythology 


126 


COLONIZATION 


has  made  the  scene  of  the  adventures  of  the  giants,  for  no  other 
reason,  as  it  appears,  than  because  the  fertility  of  the  country  had 
given  rise  to  battles  for  its  possession.1  Afterwards,  however,  the 
Campanians  becoming  masters  of  the  city,  inflicted  many  outrages 
on  the  inhabitants,  and  even  took  their  wives.  Still,  however, 
there  remain  numerous  traces  of  the  Grecian  taste,  both  in  their 
temples  and  in  their  laws.  Some  are  of  opinion  that  Cumae  was 
so  called  from  ra  /cvfxara,  the  waves,  the  sea-coast  near  having 
a  heavy  and  incessant  surf.  These  people  have  excellent  fisheries. 
On  the  shores  of  this  gulf  there  is  a  scrubby  forest,  extending  over 
numerous  stadia  of  parched  and  sandy  land.  This  they  call  the 
Gallinarian  wood.  It  was  there  that  the  admirals  of  Sextus  Pom- 
peius  assembled  their  gangs  of  pirates,  at  the  time  when  he  drew 
Sicily  into  revolt.2 

Beyond  is  the  strand  and  city  of  Dicaearchia.  Formerly  it  was 
nothing  but  a  naval  station  of  the  Cumaeans.  It  was  built  on  an 
eminence.  But  at  the  time  of  the  war  with  Hannibal,  the  Romans 
established  a  colony  there,  and  changed  its  name  into  Puteoli,  [an 
appellation  derived]  from  its  wells ;  or,  according  to  others,  from 
the  stench  of  its  waters,  the  whole  district  from  hence  to  Bai'ae  and 
Cumae  being  full  of  sulphur,  fire,  and  hot-springs.  Some  too  are  of 
opinion  that  it  was  on  this  account  [that  the  country  about]  Cumae 
was  named  Phlegra,  and  that  the  fables  of  the  giants  struck  down 
by  thunderbolts  owe  their  origin  to  these  eruptions  of  fire  and  water. 
This  city  has  become  a  place  of  extensive  commerce,3  having  arti- 
ficially constructed  harbors,  which  were  much  facilitated  by  the 
nature  of  the  sand,  which  contains  much  gypsum,  and  will  cement 
and  consolidate  thoroughly.  Therefore,  mixing  this  sand  with 
chalk-stones,  they  construct  moles  in  the  sea,  thus  forming  bays 
along  the  open  coast,  in  which  the  largest  transport  ships  may  safely 
ride.  Immediately  above  the  city  lies  the  Forum-Vulcani,4  a  plain 
surrounded  with  hills  which  seem  to  be  on  fire,  having  in  many  parts 

1  This  explanation  shows  the  bookish  side  of  Strabo.  Actually  these  legends  arose 
from  the  abundant  traces  of  former  volcanic  activity. 

2  43-42  B.C. ;  cf.  Livy,  epitome,  123. 

3  The  largest  on  the  west  coast  of  Italy  in  the  time  of  Seneca  and  St.  Paul,  a  gen- 
eration after  Strabo. 

4  The  modern  Solfatara. 


DIC^ARCHIA  AND  NAPLES 


127 


mouths  emitting  smoke,  frequently  accompanied  by  a  terrible 
rumbling  noise ;  the  plain  itself  is  full  of  drifted  sulphur. 

7.  After  Dicaearchia  is  Neapolis,  [founded  originally]  by  the 
Cumaeans  ;  but  afterwards  being  peopled  in  addition  by  Chalcidians, 
and  certain  Pithecussaeans  and  Athenians,  it  was  on  this  account 
denominated  Naples.1  Here  is  pointed  out  the  tomb  of  Parthenope, 
one  of  the  sirens,  and  a  gymnastic  sport  is  celebrated  by  command 
of  an  oracle.  In  course  of  time  the  inhabitants,  having  disagreed 
amongst  themselves,  admitted  certain  Campanians,  thus  being 
forced  to  regard  in  the  light  of  friends  those  most  inimical  to  them, 
since  their  friends  were  estranged.  This  is  proved  by  the  names  of 
their  demarchi,  the  earlier  of  which  are  Grecian,  but  the  latter  a 
mixture  of  Campanian  with  Grecian  names.  Many  traces  of 
Grecian  civilization  are  still  preserved,  the  gymnasia,  the  ephebeia,2 
the  phratries,3  and  the  Grecian  names  of  people  who  are  Roman 
citizens.  At  the  present  time  they  celebrate,  every  fifth  year,4 
public  games  for  music  and  gymnastic  exercises  during  many 
days,  which  rival  the  most  famous  games  of  Greece.  There 
is  here  a  subterranean  passage,  similar  to  that  at  Cumae,  extend- 
ing for  many  stadia  along  the  mountain,  between  Dicaearchia 
and  Neapolis :  it  is  sufficiently  broad  to  let  carriages  pass  each 
other,  and  light  is  admitted  from  the  surface  of  the  mountain, 
by  means  of  numerous  apertures  cut  through  a  great  depth. 
Naples  also  has  hot  springs  and  baths  not  at  all  inferior  in  quality 
to  those  at  Ba'iae,  but  much  less  frequented,  for  another  city  has 
arisen  there,  not  less  than  Dicaearchia,  one  palace  after  another 
having  been  built.  Naples  still  preserves  the  Grecian  mode  of  life, 
owing  to  those  who  retire  hither  from  Rome  for  the  sake  of  repose, 
after  a  life  of  labor  from  childhood,  and  to  those  whose  age  or  weak- 
ness demands  relaxation.  Besides  these,  Romans  who  find  a  charm 
in  this  style  of  life,  and  observe  the  numbers  of  persons  of  the  same 
tastes  dwelling  there,  are  attracted  by  the  place,  and  make  it  their 
abode. 

1  Nea-polis,  "  Newtown." 

2  Places  of  exercise  for  youths. 

3  "  Brotherhoods,"  associations  of  families  assumed  to  be  related  in  blood;  no.  144. 

4  Actually  once  in  four  years. 


128 


COLONIZATION 


25.  The  Voyages,  of  the  Phocaeans  and  their  Colonization 

of  Corsica 

(Herodotus  i.  163-6.    Macaulay,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century  B.C.  a  Samian  explorer,  Colaeus, 
reached  Tarshish,  Tartessus,  in  Spain,  the  first  of  the  Hellenes  to  visit  that  city. 
Shortly  afterward  the  Phocaeans  began  making  voyages  to  that  place  in  the  way 
described  in  the  subjoined  excerpt.  The  "  round  boats  "  had  been  in  use  for 
mercantile  shipping  along  the  coasts,  but  the  fifty-oared  galleys  of  the  Pho- 
caeans  were  relatively  narrow  and  straight,  and  were  provided  with  bronze 
beaks  for  battering;  cf.  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  I.  432  sqq.  About  560  they 
founded  Alalia  in  the  island  of  Corsica  (Greek  Cyrnos).  The  new  settlement 
was  exposed  to  danger  from  the  Etruscans  (Tyrsenians,  Tyrrenians)  and 
Carthaginians,  who  were  actively  trading  with  each  other  on  the  basis  of 
commerical  treaties.  The  decisive  naval  battle  off  Alalia  was  fought  about  535. 
Harpagus,  mentioned  in  the  selection,  was  a  lieutenant  of  Cyrus  the  Persian 
king,  who  after  the  conquest  of  Lydia,  was  aiming  to  subdue  the  Greek  cities 
along  the  coast. 

163.  Now  these  Phocaeans  were  the  first  of  the  Hellenes  who 
made  long  voyages,  and  these  are  they  who  discovered  the  Adriatic 
and  Tyrsenia  1  and  Iberia  and  Tartessus :  and  they  made  voyages 
not  in  round  ships,  but  in  vessels  of  fifty  oars.  These  came  to 
Tartessus  and  became  friends  with  the  king  of  the  Tartessians  whose 
name  was  Arganthonius  :  he  was  ruler  of  the  Tartessians  for  eighty 
years  and  lived  in  all  one  hundred  and  twenty.  With  this  man, 
I  say,  the  Phocaeans  became  so  exceedingly  friendly,  that  first  he 
bade  them  leave  Ionia  and  dwell  wherever  they  desired  in  his  own 
land ;  and  as  he  did  not  prevail  upon  the  Phocaeans  to  do  this, 
afterward,  hearing  from  them  of  the  Mede  how  his  power  was  in- 
creasing, he  gave  them  money  to  build  a  wall  around  their  city : 
and  he  did  this  without  sparing,  for  the  circuit  of  the  wall  is  many 
stadia  in  extent,  and  it  is  built  all  of  large  stones  closely  fitted 
together. 

164.  The  wall  of  the  Phocaeans  was  made  in  this  manner:  and 
Harpagus  having  marched  his  army  against  them  began  to  besiege 
them,  at  the  same  time  holding  forth  to  them  proposals  and  saying 
that  it  was  enough  to  satisfy  him  if  the  Phocaeans  were  willing  to 
throw  down  one  battlement  of  their  wall  and  dedicate  one  single 

1  Tyrsenia  (Tyrrenia),  the  Greek  for  Etruria. 


ALALIA 


129 


house.  But  the  Phocaeans,  being  very  greatly  grieved  at  the 
thought  of  subjection,  said  that  they  wished  to  deliberate  about  the 
matter  for  one  day,  and  after  that  they  would  give  their  answer ; 
and  they  asked  him  to  withdraw  his  army  from  the  wall  while  they 
were  deliberating.  Harpagus  said  that  he  knew  very  well  what 
they  were  meaning  to  do,  nevertheless  he  was  willing  to  allow  them 
to  deliberate.  In  the  time  that  followed,  accordingly,  when  Har- 
pagus had  withdrawn  his  army  from  the  wall,  the  Phocaeans  drew 
down  their  fifty-oared  galleys  to  the  sea,  put  into  them  their  chil- 
dren and  women  and  all  their  movable  goods,  and  besides  them  the 
images  from  the  temples  and  the  other  votive  offerings  except  such 
as  were  made  of  bronze  or  stone  or  consisted  of  paintings ;  all  the 
rest,  I  say,  they  put  into  the  ships,  and  having  embarked  themselves, 
they  sailed  toward  Chios ;  and  the  Persians  obtained  possession  of 
Phocaea,  the  city  being  deserted  by  the  inhabitants. 

165.  But  as  for  the  Phocaeans,  since  the  men  of  Chios  would  not 
sell  them  at  their  request  the  islands  called  (Enussae,  from  the  fear 
lest  these  islands  might  be  made  a  seat  of  trade  and  their  island 
might  be  shut  out,1  therefore  they  departed  for  Cyrnos : 2  for  in 
Cyrnos  twenty  years  before  this  they  had  established  a  city  named 
Alalia,  in  accordance  with  an  oracle  (now  Arganthonius  by  that 
time  was  dead) .  And  when  they  were  setting  out  for  Cyrnos  they 
first  sailed  in  to  Phocaea  and  slaughtered  the  Persian  garrison,  to 
whose  charge  Harpagus  had  delivered  the  city  ;  then  after  they  had 
achieved  this  they  made  solemn  imprecations  on  any  one  of  them 
who  should  be  left  behind  from  their  voyage,  and  moreover  they 
sunk  a  mass  of  iron  in  the  sea  and  swore  that  not  until  that  mass 
should  appear  again  on  the  surface  would  they  return  to  Phocaea. 
However  as  they  were  setting  forth  to  Cyrnos,  more  than  half  of 
the  citizens  were  seized  with  yearning  and  regret  for  their  city  and 
for  their  native  land,  and  they  proved  false  to  their  oath  and  sailed 
back  to  Phocaea.  But  those  of  them  who  still  kept  the  oath  weighed 
anchor  from  the  islands  of  (Enussae  and  sailed. 

166.  When  these  came  to  Cyrnos,  for  five  years  they  dwelt 
together  with  those  who  had  come  thither  before,  and  they 
founded  temples  there.    Then,  since  they  plundered  the  prop- 

1  Here  is  one  of  many  evidences  of  keen  commercial  rivalry  among  the  Hellenes. 

2  Corsica. 


i3° 


COLONIZATION 


erty  of  all  their  neighbors,  the  Tyrsenians  and  Carthaginians 
made  expedition  against  them  by  agreement  with  one  another, 
each  with  sixty  ships.  And  the  Phocaeans  also  manned  their  vessels, 
sixty  in  number,  and  came  to  meet  the  enemy  in  that  which  is 
called  the  Sardinian  sea :  and  when  they  encountered  one  another 
in  the  sea-fight  the  Phocaeans  won  a  kind  of  Cadmean  victory,1 
for  forty  of  their  ships  were  destroyed  and  the  remaining  twenty 
were  disabled,  having  had  their  prows  bent  aside.  So  they  sailed 
in  to  Alalia  and  took  up  their  children  and  their  women  and  their 
other  possessions  as  much  as  their  ships  proved  capable  of  carrying, 
and  then  they  left  Cyrnos  behind  them  and  sailed  to  Rhegium. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Sources  for  Colonization.  —  We  have  no  knowledge  of  any  con- 
temporary source  which  treated  of  this  period  of  colonization.  Among  the 
earliest  sources  known  to  us  who  touched  upon  the  founding  of  cities  were 
Hellanicus  of  Lesbos  (Miiller,  Frag.  Hist.  Grcec.  I.  p.  45  sqq.)  and  Antiochus 
of  Syracuse  (ib.  I.  p.  12  sqq.),  both  belonging  to  the  fifth  century  b.c  For  the 
colonization  of  Sicily,  see  Thuc.  vi.  1-5.  Ephorus,  Timaeus,  and  other  later 
writers  treated  of  the  subject.  The  authors  thus  far  mentioned  collected  the 
material  from  which  were  drawn  the  late  accounts  that  have  survived  to  our 
time;  e.g.,  Diodorus  v-viii,  Strabo,  and  Pausanias.  See  also  Scymnos  of 
Chios  (Miiller,  Geogr.  gr.  min.  I.  p.  196  sqq.).  The  chronology,  as  we  have 
it  at  present,  was  gradually  elaborated,  and  reached  its  final  form  in  Eusebius, 
who  lived  in  the  fourth  century  a.d. 

II.  Modern- Works.  —  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  iv ;  Bury,  ch.  ii ; 
Holm,  I.  ch.  xxi;  Abbott,  I.  ch.  xi;  Curtius,  bk.  II.  ch.  iii;  Grote,  III.  chs. 
xxii,  xxiii;  IV.  chs.  xxvi,  xxvii ;  Freeman,  E.  A.,  Story  of  Sicily,  chs.  ii.  iv; 
History  of  Sicily,  I  (entire);  Greenidge,  A.  H.  J.,  Gk.  Const.  Hist.  ch.  iii; 
Phillipson,  C,  International  Law  and  Custom  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  II. 
ch.  xix ;  Cunningham,  Western  Civilization  in  its  Economic  Aspects,  bk.  II. 
ch.  i;  Morris,  H.  C,  History  of  Colonization,  I.  85-125. 

Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  I.  1.  229-64  (colonization);  264-308  (economy); 
Holm,  A.,  Geschichte  Siziliens,  I.  108-44 ;  Giuliano,  L.,  Storia  di  Siracusa  antica, 
1-15  ;  Pais,  E.,  Storia  delta  Sicilia  e  della  Magna  Grecia  (Torino,  1894) ;  Ancient 
Italy  (Chicago:  University  Press,  1908),  especially  for  the  relations  between 
the  Greeks  and  Rome;  Raoul-Rochette,  D.,  Histoire  critique  de  V etablissement 
des  colonies  grecques,  4  vols.  (Paris,  181 5) ;  Hertzberg,  G.  F.,  Kurze  Geschichte 
der  altgriechischen  Kolonisation  (Gutersloh,  1892). 

1  The  idea  of  a  Cadmean  victory  is  perhaps  derived  from  the  story  of  the  Sparti 
at  Thebes  (their  mutual  annihilation)  or  from  that  of  Polyneices  and  Eteocles.  The 
nature  of  that  kind  of  victory  may  be  inferred  from  the  text ;  see  Stein's  note  ad  loc. 


CHAPTER  IV 


GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 
During  the  period  750-479  B.C. 

26.  Spartan  Discipline 

(Xenophon,  Constitution  of  the  Lacedcemonians.    Dakyns,  revised  on  the  basis 
of  the  Greek  text  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  chief  interest  in  the  Lacedaemonian  system  lies  not  so  much  in  the 
political  institutions  as  in  the  severe  discipline  exercised  by  the  government 
over  the  citizens  from  birth  to  the  grave.  For  that  reason  the  following  pas- 
sage has  been  selected ;  unfortunately  space  does  not  permit  the  inclusion  of  the 
entire  treatise.  The  picture  drawn  by  Xenophon  is  idealized ;  it  may  be  sup- 
plemented by  Plutarch,  Lycurgus,  and  offset  by  the  criticisms  of  Aristotle, 
Politics,  ii.  9.  For  other  selections,  see  Botsford,  Source-Book  of  Ancient  His- 
tory, ch.  xii.  No  legislator  could  have  been  the  author  of  all  the  institutions 
ascribed  to  Lycurgus;  in  fact  his  historical  personality  has  been  seriously 
questioned. 

1 .  I  recall  the  astonishment  with  which  I  first  noted  the  unique 
position  of  Sparta  amongst  the  states  of  Hellas,  the  relatively  sparse 
population,  and  at  the  same  time  the  extraordinary  power  and  pres- 
tige of  the  community.  I  was  puzzled  to  account  for  the  fact.  It 
was  only  when  I  came  to  consider  the  peculiar  institutions  of  the 
Spartans  that  my  wonderment  ceased.  Or  rather,  it  is  transferred 
to  the  legislator  who  gave  them  those  laws,  obedience  to  which  has 
been  the  secret  of  their  prosperity.  This  legislator,  Lycurgus,  I 
must  needs  admire,  and  hold  him  to  have  been  one  of  the  wisest  of 
mankind.  Certainly  he  was  no  imitator  of  other  states.  It  was 
by  a  stroke  of  invention  rather,  and  on  a  pattern  much  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  commonly  accepted  one,  that  he  brought  his  fatherland 
to  this  pinnacle  of  prosperity. 

Take  for  example  —  and  it  is  well  to  begin  at  the  beginning  — ■ 
the  whole  topic  of  the  birth  and  rearing  of  children.  Throughout 

131 


132    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


the  rest  of  the  world  the  young  girl,  who  will  one  day  become  a 
mother  (and  I  speak  of  those  who  may  be  held  to  be  well  brought 
up),  is  nurtured  on  the  plainest  food  attainable,  with  the  scantiest 
addition  of  meat  or  other  condiments  ;  whilst  as  to  wine  they  train 
them  either  to  total  abstinence  or  to  take  it  highly  diluted  with 
water.  And  in  imitation,  as  it  were,  of  the  handicraft  type,  since 
the  majority  of  artificers  are  sedentary,  we,  the  rest  of  the  Hellenes, 
are  content  that  our  girls  should  sit  quietly  and  work  wools.  That 
is  all  we  demand  of  them.  But  how  are  we  to  expect  that  women 
nurtured  in  this  fashion  should  produce  a  splendid  offspring? 

Lycurgus  pursued  a  different  path.  Clothes  were  things,  he 
held,  the  furnishing  of  which  might  well  enough  be  left  to  female 
slaves.  And  believing  that  the  highest  function  of  a  free  woman 
was  the  bearing  of  children,  in  the  first  place  he  insisted  on  the 
training  of  the  body  as  incumbent  no  less  on  the  female  than  the 
male ;  and  in  pursuit  of  the  same  idea  instituted  rival  contests  in 
running  and  tests  of  strength  for  women  as  for  men.  His  belief 
was  that  where  both  parents  were  strong  their  progeny  would  be 
found  to  be  more  vigorous.  .  .  . 

So  opposed  to  those  of  the  rest  of  the  world  are  the  principles 
which  Lycurgus  devised  in  reference  to  the  birth  of  children. 
Whether  they  enabled  him  to  provide  Sparta  with  a  race  of  men 
superior  to  all  in  size  and  strength  any  one  who  desires  may  examine. 

II.  After  this  exposition  of  the  customs  in  connection  with  the 
birth  of  children,  I  wish  now  to  explain  the  systems  of  education 
in  fashion  there  and  elsewhere.  Throughout  the  rest  of  Hellas 
the  custom  on  the  part  of  those  who  claim  to  educate  their  sons 
in  the  best  way  is  as  follows.  As  soon  as  the  children  are  of  an  age 
to  understand  what  is  said  to  them  they  are  immediately  placed 
under  the  charge  of  Paidagogoi  (boy-escorts),  who  are  also  attend- 
ants, and  sent  off  to  the  school  of  some  teacher  to  be  taught "  letters," 
" music,"  and  the  concerns  of  the  palaestra.  Besides  this  they  are 
given  shoes  to  wear  which  tend  to  make  their  feet  tender,  and  their 
bodies  are  made  soft  by  various  changes  of  clothing.  As  for  food, 
the  only  measure  recognized  is  that  which  is  fixed  by  appetite. 

But  when  we  turn  to  Lycurgus,  instead  of  leaving  it  to  each 
member  of  the  state  privately  to  appoint  a  slave  to  be  his  son's 
escort,  he  set  over  the  young  Spartans  a  public  guardian,  the  pai- 


SCANT  FOOD 


i33 


donomos  or  " manager  of  boys"  to  give  him  his  proper  title,  with 
complete  authority  over  them.  This  guardian  was  selected  from 
those  who  fill  the  highest  magistracies.  He  had  authority  to  hold 
musters  of  the  boys,  and  as  their  overseer,  in  case  of  any  misbehavior, 
to  chastise  severely.  The  legislator  further  provided  him  with  a 
body  of  youths  in  the  prime  of  young  manhood  and  bearing  whips, 
to  inflict  punishment  when  necessary,  with  this  happy  result  that 
in  Sparta  reverence  and  obedience  ever  go  hand  in  hand,  nor  is 
there  lack  of  either. 

Instead  of  softening  their  feet  with  shoes,  his  rule  was  to  make 
them  hardy  through  going  barefoot.  This  habit,  if  practised, 
would,  as  he  believed,  enable  them  to  go  up  steep  ascents  more 
easily  and  to  go  down  descending  slopes  with  less  danger.  In  fact, 
with  his  feet  so  trained  the  young  Spartan  would  leap  and  jump  high 
and  run  faster  unshod  than  another  shod  in  the  ordinary  way. 

Instead  of  pampering  them  with  a  variety  of  clothes,  his  rule 
was  to  habituate  them  to  a  single  garment  the  whole  year  through, 
thinking  that  so  they  would  be  better  prepared  to  withstand  the 
variations  of  heat  and  cold. 

Again,  as  regards  food,  according  to  his  regulation  the  Eiren, 
or  head  of  the  flock,  must  see  that  his  messmates  gathered  to  the 
club  meal,  with  such  moderate  food  as  to  avoid  that  heaviness 
which  is  engendered  by  repletion,  and  yet  not  to  remain  altogether 
unacquainted  with  inadequate  sustenance.  His  belief  was  that 
by  such  training  they  would  be  better  able  when  it  proved  neces- 
sary to  undergo  hardships  without  food.  They  would  be  all  the 
fitter,  if  the  word  of  command  were  given,  to  remain  on  the  stretch 
for  a  long  time  without  extra  dieting.  The  craving  for  a  finer  dish 
would  be  less,  the  readiness  to  take  any  victual  set  before  them 
greater,  and,  in  general,  the  regime  would  be  found  more  healthy. 
Under  it  he  thought  the  lads  would  increase  in  stature  and  shape 
into  finer  men,  since,  as  he  maintained,  a  dietary  which  gave  supple- 
ness to  the  limbs  must  be  more  conducive  to  both  ends  than  one 
which  added  thickness  to  the  bodily  parts  by  feeding. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  order  to  guard  against  a  too  great  pinch 
of  starvation,  though  he  did  not  actually  allow  the  boys  to  help 
themselves  without  trouble  to  what  they  needed  more,  he  did  give 
them  permission  to  steal  this  thing  or  that  in  the  effort  to  alleviate 


134    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


their  hunger.  It  was  not  of  course  from  any  real  difficulty  how  else 
to  supply  them  with  nutriment  that  he  left  it  to  them  to  provide 
themselves  by  this  crafty  method.  Nor  can  I  conceive  that  any 
one  will  so  misinterpret  the  custom.  Clearly  its  explanation  lies 
in  the  fact  that  he  who  would  live  the  life  of  a  robber  must  forego 
sleep  by  night,  and  in  the  daytime  he  must  enjoy  shifts  and  lie  in 
ambuscade ;  he  must  prepare  and  make  ready  his  scouts,  and  so 
forth,  if  he  is  to  succeed  in  capturing  the  quarry. 

It  is  obvious,  I  say,  that  the  whole  of  this  education  tended,  and 
was  intended,  to  make  the  boys  craftier  and  more  inventive  in 
getting  in  supplies,  whilst  at  the  same  time  it  cultivated  their  war- 
like instincts.  An  objector  may  retort:  "But  if  he  thought  it  so 
fine  a  feat  to  steal,  why  did  he  inflict  many  blows  on  the  unfortunate 
who  was  caught?"  My  answer  is  :  for  the  self-same  reason  which 
induces  people,  in  other  matters  which  are  taught,  to  punish  the 
mal-performance  of  a  service.  So  they,  the  Lacedaemonians,  visit 
penalties  on  the  boy  who  is  caught  thieving  as  being  but  poor 
thieves.  So  to  steal  as  many  cheeses  as  possible  off  the  shrine  of 
Orthia  was  a  feat  to  be  encouraged;  but,  at  the  same  moment, 
others  were  enjoined  to  scourge  the  thief,  which  would  point  a 
moral  not  obscurely,  that  by  pain  endured  for  a  brief  season  a  man 
may  earn  the  joyous  reward  of  lasting  glory.  Herein,  too,  it  is 
plainly  shown  that  where  speed  is  requisite  the  sluggard  will  win 
for  himself  much  trouble  and  scant  good. 

Furthermore,  and  in  order  that  the  boys  should  not  want  a 
ruler,  even  in  case  the  overseer  himself  was  absent,  he  gave  to  any 
citizen  who  chanced  to  be  present  authority  to  lay  upon  them  in- 
junctions for  their  good,  and  to  chastise  them  if  they  failed  in  any- 
thing. By  so  doing  he  brought  it  about  that  boys  of  Sparta  were 
more  respectful.  Indeed  there  is  nothing  which,  whether  as  boys 
or  men,  they  respect  more  highly  than  the  ruler.  Lastly,  and  with 
the  same  intention,  that  the  boys  must  never  be  bereft  of  a  ruler, 
even  if  by  chance  there  were  no  grown  man  present,  he  laid  down 
the  rule  that  in  such  a  case  the  most  seasoned  of  the  Leaders  or 
Prefects  was  to  become  ruler  for  the  nonce,  each  of  his  own  division. 
The  conclusion  is  that  under  no  circumstances  whatever  are  the 
boys  of  Sparta  destitute  of  one  to  rule  them.  .  .  . 

III.  Coming  to  the  critical  period  at  which  a  boy  ceases  to  be  a 


CAREFUL  SUPERVISION 


i35 


boy  and  becomes  a  youth,  we  find  that  it  is  just  then  that  the  rest 
of  the  world  proceed  to  emancipate  their  children  from  the  boy- 
escorts  and  from  the  teachers,  and  without  substituting  any  further 
ruler,  are  content  to  launch  them  into  absolute  independence. 

Here,  again,  Lycurgus  took  an  entirely  opposite  view  of  the 
matter.  This,  if  observation  might  be  trusted,  was  the  season 
when  the  greatest  conceit  is  developed  in  them,  and  insolence  most 
luxuriates,  when,  too,  the  strongest  desires  for  pleasures  arise.  At 
this  point  he  imposed  very  many  hardships  upon  them  and  devised 
the  largest  occupation.  By  a  crowning  enactment,  which  said  that 
he  who  shrank  from  the  duties  imposed  on  him  would  forfeit  hence- 
forth all  claim  to  the  glorious  honors  of  the  state,  he  caused,  not 
only  the  public  authorities,  but  those  personally  interested  in  each 
of  them  to  take  serious  pains  so  that  no  single  individual  of  them 
should  by  an  act  of  craven  cowardice  find  himself  dishonored 
within  the  body  politic. 

Furthermore,  in  his  desire  firmly  to  implant  in  their  youthful 
souls  a  root  of  modesty  he  imposed  upon  these  bigger  boys  a  special 
rule.  In  the  very  streets  they  were  to  keep  their  two  hands  within 
the  folds  of  the  cloak;  they  were  to  walk  in  silence  and  without 
turning  their  heads  to  gaze,  now  here,  now  there,  but  rather  to  keep 
their  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ground  before  them.  There  also  it  has 
become  manifest  that,  even  in  the  matter  of  self-control,  the  males 
are  stronger  than  the  nature  of  females.  At  any  rate,  you  might 
sooner  expect  a  stone  image  to  utter  a  sound  than  one  of  those 
Spartan  youths ;  to  divert  the  eyes  of  some  bronze  statue  were  less 
difficult.  As  to  quiet  bearing,  no  bride  ever  stepped  in  bridal  bower 
with  more  natural  modesty.  Note  them  when  they  have  reached 
the  public  table.  The  plainest  answer  to.  the  question  asked, — 
that  is  all  you  need  expect  to  hear  from  their  lips. 

IV.  But  if  he  was  "thus  careful  in  the  education  of  the  stripling,  the 
Spartan  lawgiver  showed  a  still  greater  anxiety  in  dealing  with  those 
who  had  reached  the  prime  of  opening  manhood  ;  considering  their 
immense  importance  to  the  city  in  the  scale  of  good,  if  only  they 
proved  themselves  the  men  they  should  be.  He  had  only  to  look 
around  to  see  that  wherever  the  spirit  of  emulation  was  most  deeply 
seated,  there,  too,  their  choruses  and  gymnastic  contests  would 
present  alike  the  highest  charm  to  eye  and  ear.    On  the  same 


136    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


principle  he  persuaded  himself  that  he  needed  only  to  match  his 
youthful  warriors  in  the  rivalry  of  excellence,  and  with  like  result. 
They  also,  in  their  degree,  might  be  expected  to  attain  to  the  fullest 
measure  of  manly  virtue. 

What  method  he  adopted  to  engage  these  combatants  I  will  now 
explain.  Their  ephors  select  three  men  out  of  the  whole  body  of 
the  citizens  in  the  prime  of  life.  These  three  are  named  hippagretse, 
or  masters  of  the  horse.  Each  selects  one  hundred  others,  being 
bound  to  explain  for  what  reason  he  prefers  some  and  rejects  others. 
The  result  is  that  those  who  fail  to  obtain  the  distinction  are  now 
at  open  war,  not  only  with  those  who  rejected  them,  but  with  those 
who  were  chosen  in  their  stead ;  and  they  keep  ever  a  jealous  eye 
on  one  another  to  detect  some  slip  of  conduct  contrary  to  the  high 
code  of  honor  there  held  customary.  Thus  is  set  on  foot  that  strife, 
in  truest  sense  acceptable  to  heaven,  and  for  the  purposes  of  state 
most  politic.  It  is  a  strife  in  which  not  only  is  the  pattern  of  a 
brave  man's  conduct  fully  set  forth,  but  where  each  of  them  sep- 
arately train  themselves  for  the  highest  efficiency,  and  if  there  be 
any  need,  they  will  individually  come  to  the  aid  of  the  common- 
wealth with  all  their  strength. 

Necessity,  moreover,  is  laid  upon  them  to  study  a  good  habit 
of  the  body,  coming  as  they  do  to  blows  with  their  fists  on  account 
of  their  feud  wherever  they  meet.  Albeit  any  one  present  has  a 
right  to  separate  the  combatants,  and,  if  obedience  is  not  shown  to 
the  peacemaker,  the  manager  of  boys  hales  the  delinquent  before 
the  ephors,  and  the  ephors  inflict  heavy  damages,  since  they  will 
have  it  plainly  understood  that  rage  must  never  override  obedience 
to  law. 

With  regard  to  those  who  have  already  passed  the  vigor  of  early 
manhood,  and  on  whom  the  highest  magistracies  henceforth  devolve, 
there  is  a  like  contrast.  In  Hellas  generally  «we  find  that  at  this 
age  the  need  of  further  attention  to  physical  strength  is  removed, 
although  the  imposition  of  military  service  continues.  But  Lycur- 
gus  made  it  customary  for  men  of  that  age  to  regard  hunting  as  the 
highest  honor  suited  to  their  time  of  life  ;  albeit  not  to  the  exclusion 
of  any  public  duty.  His  aim  was  that  they  might  be  equally  able  to 
undergo  the  fatigues  of  campaigning  with  those  in  the  prime  of 
early  manhood. 


THE  ATHENIAN  CONSTITUTION 


i37 


27.  The  Constitution  of  Athens  before  Solon 

(Aristotle,  Constitution  of  the  Athenians,  i-iv.    All  the  following  selections  from 
this  treatise  have  been  translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

The  greater  part  of  Aristotle's  treatise  on  the  Athenian  Constitution, 
written  on  a  papyrus,  was  discovered  in  Egypt  near  the  end  of  1890,  and  the 
editio  princeps,  by  F.  G.  Kenyon,  appeared  in  the  following  January.  The 
author's  name  is  not  given  in  the  papyrus,  but  from  quotations  by  ancient 
writers  the  authorship  is  established  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt.  On  internal 
evidence  it  is  clear  that  the  work  was  composed  between  328  and  325,  some 
years  after  the  publication  of  the  Politics  and  shortly  after  the  appearance  of 
Androtion's  Atthis,  which  Aristotle  seems  to  have  used  as  his  main  source. 
The  discovery  is  especially  helpful  in  clarifying  our  conceptions  as  to  the  nature 
of  such  treatises,  and  has  helped  solve  many  problems.  For  details,  see  intro- 
ductions to  the  editions  of  Kenyon  and  Sandys,  and  bibliography,  p.  43. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  treatise,  now  lost,  Aristotle  evidently  arranged  his 
material  according  to  reigns,  as  was  the  custom  of  ancient  chroniclers  (cf.  no. 
16  sq.),  narrating  in  each  the  institutions  and  events  traditionally  assigned  to  it. 
The  first  period,  that  of  the  monarchy,  extended  to  the  accession  of  Theseus. 
Then  began  the  first  period  of  constitutional  government,  being  originally  a 
slight  deviation  from  kingship..  During  this  period  the  government  was  aris- 
tocratic. At  a  time,  not  precisely  dated,  before  Draco,  began  a  new  period  of 
government  (timocracy  of  the  heavy  infantry)  in  which  the  right  to  vote  was 
enjoyed  by  all  who  could  at  their  own  expense  furnish  a  panoply.  This  form  of 
government  continued  to  the  archonship  of  Solon,  594. 

The  extant  fragment  opens  with  the  trial  of  the  Alcmeonidae  for  sacrilege 
committed  some  years  earlier  in  the  slaughter  of  the  followers  of  Cylon  who  had 
placed  themselves  under  the  protection  of  Athena.  In  giving  an  account  of 
this  event  Plutarch  (Solon  12)  states  that  Solon  persuaded  the  Alcmeonidae 
"  to  be  tried  before  a  court  of  three  hundred  chosen  on  the  ground  of  nobility. 
With  Myron  as  accuser  the  men  were  convicted,  and  the  living  were  banished," 
etc.  By  a  comparison  with  this  statement  it  is  easy  to  reconstruct  in  substance 
the  opening  sentence  of  Aristotle's  treatise. 

1.  With  Myron  as  accuser  (they  were  tried)  by  a  court  taken 
from  the  noble  families  and  sworn  on  the  sacrifices.  Convicted  of 
impiety,  they  themselves  1  were  cast  forth  from  the  tombs  and  their 
gens  (genos)  was  condemned  to  eternal  exile.  Thereupon  Epi- 
menides  of  Crete  purified  the  city.2 

1  As  years  had  elapsed  between  the  sacrilege  and  the  trial,  all  or  nearly  all  the  actual 
perpetrators  were  dead.  The  procedure  admirably  illustrates  the  belief  in  hereditary 
guilt. 

2  The  date  of  the  visit  of  Epimenides  is  exceedingly  uncertain,  as  is  everything 
connected  with  him;  see  Sandys'  note. 


138    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


2.  Afterward  it  came  about  that  for  a  long  time  the  nobles  and 
commons  disturbed  the  state  by  their  sedition.  For  the  govern- 
ment was  oligarchic  in  all  respects ;  and  particularly  the  poor,  with 
their  children  and  wives,  were  in  slavery  to  the  rich.  They  were 
called  pelatae  (clients)  and  hectemori  (sixth-part  men),  for  they 
tilled  the  fields  of  the  wealthy  for  that  amount  of  rent.  All  the 
land  was  in  the  hands  of  the  few ;  and  if  they  (the  tenants)  failed 
to  render  the  rents  due,  they  and  their  children  were  liable  to  en- 
slavement. There  were  loans  on  the  security  of  every  one's  person 
down  to  the  time  of  Solon ;  and  he  was  in  fact  the  first  to  stand  forth 
as  a  patron  of  the  commons.  Now  it  was  a  most  hard  and  grievous 
feature  of  the  constitution  that  the  masses  should  be  in  slavery; 
not  but  that  they  had  other  grounds  of  complaint,  for  they  were, 
so  to  speak,  excluded  from  everything. 

3.  The  organization  of  the  original  government  (of  the  republic) 
as  it  existed  before  Draco,  was  as  follows.  Their  appointments  to 
office  were  based  on  the  qualifications  of  birth  and  wealth.  Orig- 
inally the  offices  were  life-long  and  afterward  decennial.  The 
first  and  most  important  magistrates  were  the  king,  polemarch, 
and  archon.  The  earliest  of  these  three  was  the  kingship,  for  it 
existed  from  the  beginning.  Secondly  was  instituted  in  addition 
the  polemarchy  because  of  the  fact  that  some  of  the  kings  had 
proved  incapable  in  war;  hence  they  had  sent  for  Ion  on  an  oc- 
casion of  especial  need.1  The  last  was  the  archonship  : 2  the  ma- 
jority say  it  was  instituted  in  the  time  of  Medon,  others  in  the  time 
of  Acastus.  The  latter  urge  as  proof  the  circumstance  that  the 
nine  archons  swear  that  they  will  fulfil  their  oaths  as  in  the  time  of 
Acastus,  with  the  idea  that  in  his  magistracy  the  Codridae  sur- 

1  The  institution  of  the  polemarchy  is  connected  in  tradition  with  the  war  waged 
by  Athens  against  Eleusis  (cf.  Hdt.  viii.  44 ;  Paus.  i.  131 .  3) ,  and  it  seems  probable  that  on 
the  annexation  of  Eleusis  all  Attica  was  organized,  or  reorganized,  in  the  four  Ionic 
tribes.  This  connection  helps  explain  why  Ion  was  regarded  as  a  polemarch.  It  seems 
probable  further  that  the  office  was  instituted  before  the  kingship  was  thrown  open 
to  all  the  eupatrids  (conventional  date  713-712).  The  chroniclers  before  Aristotle 
pushed  the  institution  of  this  office  and  of  the  archonship  some  three  centuries  back  into 
the  past. 

2  The  archonship  was  instituted  about  700,  a  decade  or  two  after  the  polemarchy. 
The  reason  for  the  pushing  back  of  these  institutions  (see  preceding  note)  was  the  de- 
sire to  make  the  republic  begin  as  early  as  possible  —  with  Acastus  or  Medon  or  even 
with  Theseus'. 


PERIOD  OF  THE  ARISTOCRACY 


rendered  some  of  their  royal  power,  corresponding  prerogatives 
being  transferred  to  the  archons.  Whichever  way  it  was  it  matters 
little,  for  the  change  took  place  in  that  period.  That  is  was  the 
last  of  these  offices,  however,  is  proved  by  the  circumstance  that 
the  archon  administers  none  of  the  ancestral  functions,  as  do  the 
king  and  polemarch,  but  only  those  which  were  afterward  added.1 
It  is  therefore  only  recently  that  the  office  has  become  great,  in- 
creased by  gradual  accretions. 

The  thesmothetae  were  for  the  first  time  chosen  many  years 
later  —  when  the  magistrates  had  already  come  to  be  elected  an- 
nually—  in  order  that  they  might  record  the  customary  laws  and 
keep  them  for  the  trial  of  offenders.  Therefore  this  alone  of  the 
offices  has  never  been  longer  than  a  year  in  duration.  Thus  much 
do  they  precede  one  another  in  the  time  (of  their  institution) .  All 
nine  archons  did  not  occupy  the  same  office  ;  but  the  king  used  the 
building  now  called  the  boucoleum,  near  the  prytaneum ;  and  a 
proof  of  it  is  that  even  now  the  marriage  and  union  of  the  king's 
wife  with  Dionysus  takes  place  there.  The  archon  had  the  pry- 
taneum, the  polemarch  the  epilyceum ;  formerly  it  was  called  the 
polemarcheum,  but  after  Epilycus  had  rebuilt  and  furnished  it  in 
his  polemarchy,  it  was  named  the  epilyceum.2  The  thesmothetae 
occupy  the  thesmotheteum.  In  the  time  of  Solon  all  (nine  archons 
first)  met  together  in  the  thesmotheteum.3 

They  had  absolute  power  to  settle  cases  without  appeal,  and 
not  as  now  merely  to  hold  a  preliminary  trial.  These,  then,  were 
the  regulations  regarding  the  offices.  The  council  of  the  Areopagus 
had  the  function  of  watching  over  the  laws  ;  but  in  fact  it  managed 
the  most  numerous  and  important  public  affairs  with  full  power  to 
chastise  and  fine  all  who  acted  disorderly.  Birth  and  wealth  were 
required  of  those  who  were  elected  archons ;  and  from  them  the 
Areopagites  were  constituted.  Hence  the  office  of  the  latter  has 
alone  remained  lifelong  to  the  present  day. 

1  Such  reasoning,  found  in  many  parts  of  the  treatise,  proves  that  Aristotle  or  his 
source  had  no  contemporary  record  of  the  matters  under  consideration,  but  followed 
the  method  of  inferring  the  past  from  present  conditions. 

2  Epilyceum  (iirl  Au/ce^)  doubtless  means  "  Near  the  Lyceum."  The  author's  ex- 
planation is  characterisitic  of  the  naive  reasoning  of  the  ancients  in  such  matters. 

3  In  other  words,  it  was  not  till  the  time  of  Solon  that  these  nine  magistrates  came 
to  constitute  a  board  —  that  of  the  nine  archons. 


i4o    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


4.  Such  is  an  outline  of  the  original  constitution.  No  long 
time  afterward,  in  the  archonship  of  Aristaechmus,  Draco  drew  up 
his  laws.  But  the  constitution  itself  (as  it  then  existed)  had  the 
following  character.1  The  franchise  had  (already)  been  granted 
to  those  who  could  furnish  a  panoply.  They  elected  the  nine 
archons  and  the  treasurers  from  such  as  possessed  an  estate  worth 
not  less  than  ten  minas  2  free  from  encumbrance,  and  the  other,  less 
important  offices  from  those  who  had  the  franchise.  The  generals 
and  hipparchs  must  show  an  estate  free  from  encumbrance,  worth 
no  less  than  a  hundred  minas,  and  must  be  the  fathers  of  children 
above  ten  years  of  age,  born  of  a  lawful  wife.  It  was  necessary  for 
these  persons,  namely  the  prytaneis,3  generals  and  hipparchs,  to 
give  security  for  the  year  to  the  time  of  their  audit,  furnishing  four 
securities  of  the  same  census  class  as  the  generals  and  the  hipparchs. 
There  was  to  be  a  Council  of  Four  Hundred  and  One,  appointed 
by  lot  from  those  who  had  a  right  to  vote.  This  and  other  offices 
were  filled  by  lot  from  the  citizens  above  thirty  years  of  age,  and  it 
was  not  permitted  to  hold  the  same  office  a  second  time  till  all  had 
their  turn,  then  the  lot  was  drawn  anew  from  the  beginning.  When 
there  was  a  session  of  the  council  or  assembly,  if  any  councillor  was 
absent,  he  was  fined  if  a  pentacosiomedimnus  three  drachmas,4  if 
a  knight  two,  if  a  zeugite  one.  The  council  of  the  Areopagus  was 
guardian  of  the  laws,  and  supervised  the  offices  to  see  that  they  were 
legally  administered.  It  was  permitted  to  anyone  who  was  injured, 
to  bring  an  impeachment  before  the  Areopagites,  citing  the  law  in 
violation  of  which  he  was  suffering  harm.    However,  there  were 

1  Most  modern  scholars  have  declared  this  chapter,  or  the  greater  part  of  it,  an 
interpolation.  There  is  no  space  here  for  the  discus'sion  of  the  extremely  complicated 
subject.  The  writer  of  these  notes  has  preferred  to  assume,  at  least  tentatively,  the 
genuineness  of  the  chapter  and  to  attempt  a  translation  in  accordance  with  that 
view.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Aristotle  does  not  say  here  or  elsewhere  that  Draco  was  the 
author  of  a  constitution ;  and  the  abruptness  of  the  change  in  this  passage  from  "  laws  " 
to  "constitution  "  may  be  due  to  the  omission  of  material  found  in  his  source  relating 
in  detail  to  the  laws  and  courts  of  homicide. 

2  This  and  the  following  property  qualifications  for  office  are  suspicious;  but 
mistakes  are  easily  made  in  copying  numbers. 

3  They  were  either  prytaneis  of  the  naucraries  or  of  the  council  of  four  hundred  and 
one  mentioned  below. 

4  There  was  little  currency  in  Attica  at  this  time,  and  that  was  of  the  ^Eginetan 
standard.  A  drachma  of  this  standard  was  about  twenty-five  cents;  a  mina  was  a 
hundred  drachmas. 


SOLON 


141 


loans  on  the  security  of  the  person,  as  has  been  said,  and  the  land 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  few.1 

28.  The  Athenian  Constitution  from  Solon  to  Peisistratus 

594-560  B.C. 

(Aristotle,  Constitution  of  the  Athenians,  5-13.    Of  the  poem  in  §  5  the  first 
sentence  only  is  from  Aristotle,  the  rest  is  from  another  source  (Antho- 
logia  Lyrica,  ed.  Bergk,  4,  also  translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 
With  this  selection  compare  Plutarch,  Solon. 

5.  Such  being  the  organization  of  the  government,  while  the 
many  were  in  slavery  to  the  few,  the  commons  rose  in  revolt  against 
the  nobles.  After  the  sedition  had  grown  strong  and  the  two  parties 
had  long  been  arrayed  against  each  other,  they  in  common  elected 
Solon  as  arbitrator  and  archon,2  and  intrusted  to  him  the  constitu- 
tion. The  occasion  was  his  composition  of  the  elegy  beginning 
thus :  — 

"I  perceive,  and  within  my  heart  lie  griefs,  as  I  see  the  oldest  country  of 
Iaonia  in  distress.  Never  is  it  the  will  of  Zeus  and  the  thought  of  the  blessed 
immortal  gods  that  our  city  perish ;  for  in  such  wise  the  high-souled  guardian 
of  the  city,  Pallas  Athena,  daughter  of  a  mighty  sire  spreads  over  it  her  hands. 
The  nobles,  persuaded  by  their  love  of  money,  desire  recklessly  to  destroy  the 
great  city.  And  as  to  the  people,  the  mind  of  their  magistrates  is  dishonest  — 
magistrates  who  are  destined  to  suffer  many  ills  because  of  their  monstrous 
violence.  For  they  know  not  how  to  be  satisfied  or  to  enjoy  the  present  feast  in 
quiet.  .  .  .  They  grow  wealthy  in  obedience  to  unjust  deeds.3  .  .  .  They 
spare  neither  sacred  nor  public  property  and  they  rob  and  steal,  one  here  and 
one  there.  They  guard  not  the  revered  foundations  of  Justice,  who  though 
silent,  knows  what  is  going  on,  what  went  on  before,  and  has  come  to  demand 
full  settlement  in  time.  This  wound  inevitable  hath  come  upon  all  the  city, 
namely  evil  slavery  into  which  the  state  hath  quickly  fallen,  and  which  stirs 
up  civil  strife  and  war,  —  war  that  destroys  our  lovely  youth  in  numbers.4 
For  our  well-beloved  city  is  consumed  by  the  evil-minded  in  their  meetings,  in 
which  unjust  plans  are  held  dear.    These  are  the  ills  prevailing  in  the  commons  ; 

1  Draco's  legislation  in  no  way  relieved  the  economic  distress  of  the  poor. 

2  Solon  was  elected  archon,  594,  and  at  the  same  time  thesmothete  ("  legislator") 
with  absolute  power.  Although  one  object  of  this  extraordinary  authority  was  for 
the  arbitration  of  the  civil  strife,  there  was  in  Athens  no  political  officer  called  "  arbi- 
trator." 

3  These  two  lacunae  are  in  the  text. 

4  Evidently  civil  war  had  broken  out,  and  blood  was  shed. 


i42    GOVERNMENT  AND   POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


but  many  of  the  poor  are  going  into  a  foreign  land,  sold  and  bound  in  unseemly 
chains  and  suffer  hateful  woes  by  force  of  slavery.  Hall  doors  no  longer  will 
to  hold  the  evil,  it  leapeth  over  the  lofty  hedge,  and  you  find  it  everywhere,  even 
if  you  hide  in  a  chamber  corner.  This  my  soul  bids  me  teach  the  Athenians, 
that  misrule  brings  most  ills  to  a  city ;  but  good  rule  makes  all  things  harmoni- 
ous and  at  one.  Good  order  puts  bonds  upon  the  wicked,  smooths  the  rough, 
stays  satiety,  weakens  violence,  withers  flowers  that  grow  of  Ate  (reckless 
guilt),  straightens  crooked  judgments,  softens  acts  of  cruelty,  ends  disputation, 
ends  the  wrath  of  hateful  strife." 

Thus  he  marched  to  the  attack  and  contended  with  each  side 
against  the  other,  reasoning  with  them,  and  finally  exhorted  them 
in  common  to  put  a  stop  to  the  existing  strife.  By  birth  and  rep- 
utation Solon  was  among  the  first  men  in  the  state,  whereas  in 
property  and  circumstances  he  belonged  to  the  middle  class,1  as  all 
admit,  and  as  he  himself  testifies  in  his  poems  in  which  he  urges  the 
wealthy  to  refrain  from  avarice  :  — 

"  Still  your  lordly  heart  within  your  breasts,  you  who  have  come  into  surfeit 
of  abundant  blessings;  nourish  your  proud  soul  in  moderation;  for  we  shall 
not  yield,  nor  shall  you  in  everything  have  your  way." 

From  first  to  last  he  lays  the  blame  of  the  sedition  upon  the 
wealthy ;  hence  in  the  beginning  of  the  elegy  he  says  he  fears  "  their 
greed  of  gain  and  their  overweening  mind,"  with  the  idea  that  this 
spirit  was  the  cause  of  the  existing  strife. 

6.  When  he  had  become  master  of  the  state,  Solon  freed  the 
commons  both  for  the  present  and  for  the  future  by  forbidding 
loans  on  the  security  of  the  person ;  and  he  enacted  laws  and  made 
an  abolition  of  debts  both  private  and  public,  which  they  term 
seisachtheia  ('disburdening'),  with  the  idea  that  thus  they  shook  off 
their  burden.2    In  these  matters  some  attempt  to  slander  him; 

1  In  Greek  literature  the  " middle  class"  is  the  social  class  of  moderate  wealth,  not 
necessarily  the  industrial  or  commercial  class. 

2  Aristotle  does  not  say  here  that  he  abolished  all  debts.  The  only  reliable  informa- 
tion on  the  subject  which  he  had  was  derived  from  Solon's  poems  quoted  by  him. 
From  these  poems  we  have  a  right  to  infer  that  Solon  canceled  those  debts  only  which 
were  based  on  the  security  (i)  of  land,  (2)  of  the  person.  It  is  a  pertinent  fact,  too, 
that  Androtion  {Atthis,  quoted  below,  §  10)  understood  that  Solon  left  some  debts  un- 
canceled. Grote  {History  of  Greece,  III.  102  sqq.),  a  man  of  robust  common-sense, 
maintains  substantially  the  view  presented  in  this  note.  Associated  with  the  festival 
of  the  seisachtheia,  however,  was  a  popular  but  ill-founded  tradition  that  Solon  abol- 
ished all  debts. 


THE  SEISACHTHEIA 


for  it  happened  that  when  Solon  was  about  to  make  the  seisachtheia, 
he  told  his  plan  in  advance  to  some  of  the  nobles ;  and  then,  as  the 
popular  party  say,  he  was  outgeneraled  by  his  friends ;  but  as  they 
say  who  wish  to  calumniate  him,  he  shared  in  the  gain.  Now  these 
nobles,  borrowing  money,  bought  up  a  large  tract  of  land,  and  no 
long  time  afterward,  when  the  abolition  of  debts  took  place,  they 
became  wealthy ;  thus  they  say  arose  the  families  reputed  to  be  of 
ancient  wealth.1  In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  account  given  by 
the  popular  party  is  more  credible ;  for  it  is  not  reasonable  that  a 
man  who  in  other  matters  proved  himself  so  moderate  and  so 
patriotic  that,  when  it  was  permitted  him  by  conspiring  with  either 
party  to  make  himself  tyrant  of  the  state,  he  incurred  the  enmity 
of  both  factions  and  placed  a  higher  value  on  honor  and  on  the 
safety  of  the  state  than  on  his  own  advantage  —  it  is  not  reasonable, 
I  say,  that  such  a  man  should  debase  himself  in  transactions  so 
mean  and  unworthy.  That  he  had  this  opportunity  the  disordered 
condition  of  affairs  testifies,  and  he  himself  often  mentions  it  in  his 
poems,  while  all  acknowledge  it  to  be  so.  It  is  necessary,  there- 
fore, to  consider  the  charge  false. 

7.  He  established  a  constitution  and  made  laws  besides,  and  the 
ordinances  of  Draco  they  ceased  using  with  the  exception  of  those 
concerning  homicide.  Engraving  the  laws  on  tablets,  he  set  them 
up  in  the  King's  Porch,  and  all  swore  to  obey  them.  The  nine 
archons,  taking  oath  on  a  stone,  swore  that  they  would  dedicate  a 
golden  statue  in  case  they  transgressed  any  of  the  laws,  hence  to 
the  present  day  they  continue  to  take  this  oath.  He  made  the  laws 
binding  for  a  hundred  years,  and  organized  the  constitution  in  the 
following  manner. 

He  divided  (the  population)  into  four  census  classes,  just  as  it 
had  been  divided  before,  into  pentacosiomedimni,  knights  (hippeis), 
zeugitse,  and  thetes.  He  assigned  the  offices  to  be  filled  from  the 
pentacosiomedimni,  knights  and  zeugitae,  namely  the  nine  archons, 
the  treasurers,  the  commissioners  of  contracts,  the  eleven,  and  the 

1  This  passage  illustrates  the  extent  to  which  the  politics  of  the  Athenians  molded 
their  conceptions  of  the  past.  Democrats  and  oligarchs  had  their  opposing  views 
of  Solon,  which  found  their  way  into  literature.  The  statement  regarding  the  dishon- 
orable origin  of  families  of  ancient  wealth  (eupatrids)  must  have  come  from  one  who  was 
an  oligarch  but  not  a  noble. 


i44    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


colacretae,  distributing  them  among  the  several  classes  according 
to  their  property  ratings.  To  the  thetic  class  he  granted  a  share 
in  the  assembly  and  the  popular  courts  only.  A  pentacosiomedim- 
nus  was  one  who  produced  from  his  own  estate  five  hundred  meas- 
ures 1  wet  and  dry  together,  a  knight  three  hundred  measures,  but 
as  some  say,  one  who  could  support  a  horse ;  and  they  adduce  as 
proof  the  name  of  the  class,  with  the  idea  that  it  was  derived  from 
this  circumstance,  and  they  cite  the  dedicatory  offerings  of  the 
ancients,  for  there  stands  on  the  Acropolis  a  statue  with  the  fol- 
lowing inscription :  — 

"  Anthemion,  son  of  Diphilus,  dedicated  this  statue  to  the  gods  when  he 
exchanged  the  thetic  for  the  knightly  census." 

The  horse  stands  there  in  evidence  that  the  word  knightly 
('hippie,'  imrwi,  iTnrucfc y  from  tWos,  'horse')  has  this  meaning. 
But  in  fact  it  seems  more  reasonable  that  the  class,  like  that  of  the 
pentacosiomedimni,  was  defined  in  terms  of  measures.2 

The  zeugitge  were  those  who  produced  two  hundred  measures  of 
both  kinds,  and  the  rest  were  thetes,  who  had  no  right  to  any  mag- 
istracy. Hence  even  now  when  the  question  is  asked  of  one  who  is 
to  be  taken  by  lot  for  any  office,  what  census  class  he  belongs  to,  no 
one  answers,  the  thetic. 

8.  The  archonship  he  caused  to  be  filled  by  lot  from  nominees 
whom  the  tribes  severally  selected.  Each  tribe  chose  ten  nom- 
inees for  the  archonships  and  lots  were  drawn  from  them;  hence 
even  now  remains  the  custom  for  the  tribes  to  draw  severally  by 
lot  ten  candidates,  from  whom  the  archons  are  then  appointed  by 
lot.3  A  proof  that  he  caused  them  to  be  taken  by  lot  from  the  cen- 
sus classes  is  the  law  which  they  continue  even  now  to  use  concern- 
ing the  treasurers ;  it  prescribes  that  they  be  appointed  by  lot  from 
the  pentacosiomedimni.    Thus  Solon  legislated  regarding  the  nine 

1  The  standard  dry  measure  of  Athens  from  the  time  of  Solon  was  the  medimnus, 
about      bu.    The  wet  measure  was  the  metretes,  8|  gal. 

2  There  is  no  contradiction  in  Aristotle's  sources  on  this  subject :  the  class  was 
doubtless  defined  in  terms  of  measures,  and  members  were  required  to  furnish  each  a 
horse  for  military  service. 

3  It  is  clear  that  Aristotle  had  no  Solonian  document  for  his  statement  regarding 
the  mode  of  appointment  of  archons,  but  merely  inferred  the  Solonian  method  from  that 
of  his  own  time.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  he  has  here  made  a  mistake, 
that  election  to  the  office  continued  to  the  year  487-486;  cf.  §  22  infra. 


CLASSES,  OFFICES,  AND  COUNCILS  145 


archons,  whereas  in  the  original  form  of  constitution  the  council  of 
the  Areopagus  had  called  up  men  and  of  its  own  judgment  had  as- 
signed them  according  to  their  qualifications  to  the  several  offices 
for  the  year.  There  were  four  tribes  as  before  and  four  tribe-kings. 
From  the  several  tribes  were  formed  three  trittyes,  with  twelve 
naucraries  to  each.  Over  the  naucraries  were  established,  as  a 
magistracy,  the  naucrars,  having  charge  of  the  current  receipts  and 
expenditures.  In  the  laws  of  Solon,  therefore,  which  they  no  longer 
use,  it  is  often  written  that  the  naucrars  shall  pay  into  and  expend 
from  the  naucraric  fund.1  He  constituted  further  a  council  of  four 
hundred,  a  hundred  from  each  tribe ;  and  he  assigned  the  council 
of  the  Areopagus  to  the  duty  of  protecting  the  laws,  just  as  formerly 
it  was  guardian  of  the  constitution.  In  fact  it  continued  to  super- 
vise in  addition  the  most  numerous  and  most  important  adminis- 
trative matters,  while  it  corrected  wrong-doers  with  full  power  to 
fine  and  punish,  and  it  brought  up  the  fines  to  the  Acropolis  with- 
out the  obligation  of  stating  the  ground  for  their  exaction.  Fur- 
thermore it  tried  conspirators  against  the  state  under  a  law  of  im- 
peachment which  Solon  enacted  concerning  such  offenders.  Seeing 
the  state  often  disturbed  by  sedition  and  many  of  the  citizens  through 
sheer  inertness  allowing  such  affairs  to  take  their  own  course,  he 
enacted  with  reference  to  them  a  peculiar  law,  that  whoever,  when 
the  country  is  disturbed  by  sedition,  shall  not  take  up  arms  with 
either  faction,  shall  be  disfranchised  and  deprived  of  all  part  in  the 
state. 

9.  Such  were  Solon's  regulations  regarding  the  offices.  Three 
features  of  his  constitution  seem  to  have  been  especially  favorable 
to  the  people :  the  first  and  most  important  was  his  prohibition  of 
lending  money  on  the  security  of  the  person ;  the  second  his  per- 
mission to  anyone  who  wished  to  go  to  law  in  behalf  of  injured  per- 
sons ; 2  the  third  (by  which  they  say  the  populace  has  chiefly  gained 

1  Noteworthy  is  the  circumstance  that  Aristotle,  or  his  source,  had  access  to  ob- 
solete laws  preserved  in  the  archives.  Most  of  the  institutional  history  of  early  Attica 
had  been  drawn  by  the  chroniclers  (atthid-writers)  from  such  documents. 

2  This  regulation  is  here  mentioned  by  Aristotle  for  the  first  time.  The  injuries 
here  referred  to  were  not  homicide,  assault  with  intent  to  kill,  or  the  like,  for  in  such 
cases  prosecution  could  be  begun  by  kinsmen  only.  The  author  has  in  mind  injury 
to  parents  by  children ;  to  orphans,  heiresses,  etc.,  by  their  guardians.  In  such  cases 
any  citizen  could  bring  an  accusation. 


146    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


power)  the  right  of  appeal  to  a  popular  court ;  for  being  master  of 
the  vote,  the  commons  have  become  master  of  the  constitution. 
Still  further  because  of  the  fact  that  the  laws  have  not  been  com- 
posed simply  and  clearly,  but  like  the  statute  concerning  heiresses 
and  wards  of  state,1  necessarily  many  disputes  arise  and  the  popular 
court  comes  to  be  arbiter  of  all  things  public  and  private.  Some 
accordingly  suppose  that  he  made  the  laws  obscure  on  purpose, 
that  the  commons  might  have  power  to  determine  their  meaning. 
It  is  not  reasonable :  (their  obscurity  is  owing  rather)  to  his  in- 
ability to  reach  perfection  in  the  general  terms  of  a  statute ;  for  it 
is  right  to  judge  him,  not  by  the  present  consequences,  but  by  the 
intention  he  has  shown  in  the  rest  of  his  constitutional  legislation. 

10.  These  features  of  his  laws,  accordingly,  seem  to  be  favorable 
to  the  people ;  but  before  his  legislation  he  abolished  debts,  and 
afterward  he  made  the  increase  in  the  measures  and  weights  and 
in  the  money  standard,  for  in  his  time  the  measures  became  greater 
than  the  Pheidonian ; 2  and  the  mina,  which  formerly  contained 
nearly  seventy  drachmas,  was  filled  up  to  a  hundred.3  The  ancient 
type  of  coin  was  the  double  drachma.4  He  established  also  stand- 
ard weights  corresponding  to  the  coinage,  sixty-three  minas  making 
a  talent,  and  divided  the  mina  into  staters  and  other  denominations. 

For  the  sake  of  comparison  a  passage  from  Androtion,  Atthis,  quoted  by 
Plutarch,  Solon,  15,  is  here  inserted. 

Some  authorities,  among  whom  is  Androtion,  have  written  that 
he  relieved  the  poor,  not  by  an  abolition  of  debts,  but  by  lowering 

1  Statutes  relating  to  inheritance,  adoption,  and  kindred  subjects  of  family  law  were 
indeed  complicated.  This  condition,  however,  is  not  due  to  any  legislator  but  to  the 
very  complexity  of  family  relations.  The  legislator  did  little  more  than  embody  in 
enactments  traditional  customs  in  such  matters. 

2  Pheidon  and  his  weights  and  measures  are  exceedingly  obscure ;  for  references  to 
the  essential  sources,  see  Sandys'  note  ad  loc.  It  should  be  noticed  that  Aristotle  speaks 
of  him  here  only  in  connection  with  metra,  measures  of  capacity. 

3  This  statement  has  reference  to  the  coinage.  The  usual  explanation  has  been 
that  Solon  introduced  the  Euboic  standard  of  coinage  in  place  of  the  ^Eginetan,  and 
that  the  proportion  between  the  two  was  about  as  Aristotle  has  here  stated  it  —  that 
70  drachmas  of  the  iEginetan  standard  equaled  100  drachmas  of  the  Euboic.  In  that 
case  Aristotle  is  wrong  in  assuming  an  increase  instead  of  a  diminution.  Head,  His- 
toria  Numorum  (2d  ed.,  191 1),  367  sq.,  presents  in  vindication  of  Aristotle  a  new  inter- 
pretation, which  however  is  not  wholly  convincing. 

4  I.e.,  the  ^Eginetan  double  drachma. 


RESULTS  OF  SOLON'S  LEGISLATION  147 


the  rate  of  interest,1  and  that  this  benevolent  act  was  called  seisach- 
theia,  and  together  with  it  the  increase  of  the  measures  and  the 
value  of  the  coinage ;  for  the  mina,  which  formerly  contained 
seventy-three  drachmas,  he  made  to  contain  a  hundred,  so  that 
they  (the  drachmas)  yielded  an  equal  amount  in  number  but  less 
in  value,2  and  those  who  had  great  debts  to  pay  were  benefited, 
while  the  creditors  remained  uninjured. 

Aristotle's  account  is  now  resumed. 

11.  When  he  had  arranged  the  government  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed, many  people  kept  coming  to  him  and  annoying  him  in  regard 
to  the  laws,  finding  fault  with  some  points  and  asking  questions 
concerning  others;  and  as  he  wished  neither  to  disturb  these  ar- 
rangements nor  to  remain  and  incur  enmities,  he  went  on  a  journey 
for  trade  and  sight-seeing  to  Egypt,  saying  he  would  not  return  for 
ten  years ;  for  he  thought  it  was  not  right  that  he  should  remain 
and  interpret  the  laws  but  that  everyone  should  obey  them  to  the 
letter.  It  was  at  the  same  time  his  misfortune  that  many  of  the 
nobles  were  at  variance  with  him  because  of  the  abolition  of  debts 
and  that  both  factions  had  shifted  their  attitude  because  his  reform 
had  turned  out  contrary  to  their  expectation.  For  the  commons 
supposed  he  would  redistribute  everything,  whereas  the  nobles 
hoped  he  would  restore  to  them  the  same  constitution  or  make  but 
little  change  in  it.  He,  however,  opposed  both  parties,  and  though 
it  was  permitted  him  by  conspiring  with  either  to  make  himself 
tyrant,  he  preferred  to  incur  the  enmity  of  both  parties  by  saving 
his  country  and  legislating  for  the  best. 

12.  All  others  agree  that  such  was  the  case,  and  he  in  a  poem 
mentions  it  in  the  following  terms :  — 

"I  gave  the  commons  as  much  power  as  sufficed,  neither  detracting  from  their 
honor  nor  adding  thereto.  Those  who  possessed  might  and  were  illustrious  in 
wealth,  for  them  I  planned  that  they  should  suffer  naught  unseemly.  I  stood, 
too,  with  my  strong  shield  about  both  parties,  suffering  neither  to  gain  an  unjust 
victory." 

1  There  was  a  law  of  Solon  which  permitted  any  interest  agreed  upon  by  the  con- 
tracting parties;  Lysias  x.  18.  As  Androtion,  an  Athenian  statesman,  must  have 
known  this  fact,  we  may  only  suppose  that  Plutarch  has  misquoted  him. 

2  Here  we  have  the  authority  of  Androtion,  against  that  of  Aristotle,  that  the 
value  of  the  coins  was  diminished ;  and  on  the  whole  this  seems  to  be  the  reasonable 
view.    We  have  also  his  authority  that  some  debts  remained  uncanceled. 


148    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


Again,  revealing  his  mind  regarding  the  populace,  as  to  the  way 
it  ought  to  be  treated  :  — 

"Thus  the  commons  would  best  follow  their  leaders,1  neither  given  too  much 
rein  nor  yet  oppressed.  For  satiety  breeds  insolence  when  abundant  wealth 
comes  upon  men  whose  minds  are  not  right." 

Again  somewhere  else  he  says  concerning  those  who  sought  a 
redistribution  of  land  :  — 

"They  came  for  plunder,  cherishing  a  hope  of  riches,  each  one  imagining 
he  would  get  abundant  bliss,  and  that  I,  now  smoothly  flattering,  would  reveal 
a  harsh  intent.  Then  they  idly  prated ;  now  in  wrath  they  all  look  at  me 
askance  as  at  an  enemy.  It  is  not  fitting ;  for  what  I  promised,  with  the  gods' 
help  I  performed.  I  wrought  not  in  vain,  nor  did  it  please  me  to  accomplish 
aught  with  a  tyrant's  force,  nor  that  the  good  should  share  equally  with  the 
base  in  the  rich  soil  of  the  fatherland." 

Again  in  speaking  of  the  abolition  of  debts  and  of  those  who  had 
formerly  been  in  slavery  and  had  been  set  free  by  the  seisachtheia, 
he  says :  — 

"As  to  the  purpose  for  which  I  organized  the  populace,  why  should  I  have 
desisted  before  reaching  this  end.  In  the  just  fulness  of  time  the  most  mighty 
mother  of  the  Olympian  gods  will  bear  me  -witness,  even  black  Earth,  most 
excellent,  that  I  removed  the  mortgage  pillars  which  stood  in  many  places,  — 
she  was  formerly  in  slavery  but  now  set  free.  To  Athens  our  country  divinely 
founded,  I  restored  many  men  who  had  been  sold,  some  illegally,  others  under 
the  law,  others  whom  hard  necessity  forced  into  exile,  who  in  their  many  wan- 
derings had  forgot  the  Attic  tongue.  Others  held  here  in  unseemly  slavery  and 
trembling  under  their  masters'  caprices  I  set  free.  These  things  I  did  by  the 
power  of  law,  uniting  force  with  justice,  and  I  fulfilled  my  promise.  Ordinances, 
too,  alike  for  the  bad  and  the  good  I  enacted,  adapting  straightforward  justice 
to  every  case.  Had  another  than  I,  some  evil-minded,  avaricious  man,  seized 
the  goad,  he  would  not  have  restrained  the  commons ;  for  had  I  willed  what 
would  then  have  pleased  this  opposing  party,  or  again  what  their  foes  devised 
for  them,  this  state  would  now  be  bereft  of  many  men.  Therefore  gathering 
courage  from  every  source,  I  stood  at  bay  like  a  wolf  amid  a  pack  of  dogs." 

Further,  while  rebuking  both  parties  for  their  later  grumblings  : 

"If  I  ought  openly  to  reprove  the  commons  —  what  they  now  have  they 
would  never  have  set  eyes  on  even  in  dreams,  while  those  who  are  greater,  and 
superior  in  might,  should  commend  me  and  hold  me  as  their  friend." 

1  Magistrates.  This  quotation  proves  that  Solon  had  no  intention  of  creating  a 
democracy. 


SEDITION  149 

For  if  anyone  else,  he  says,  had  obtained  this  office  — 

"He  would  not  have  restrained  the  commons  or  held  them  back  till  by 
their  disturbance  they  had  robbed  the  milk  of  its  richness.  Therefore  I  took 
my  stand  as  a  landmark  between  two  armies." 


13.  For  these  reasons,  accordingly,  he  went  on  a  journey  abroad. 
During  Solon's  absence,  while  the  state  was  still  in  confusion,  they 
kept  the  peace  for  four  years ;  but  in  the  fifth  year  after  Solon's 
archonship  they  failed  to  elect  an  archon  because  of  the  sedition, 
and  again  in  the  fifth  year  they  left  the  office  vacant  for  the  same 
reason.  Then  after  an  equal  interval1  Damasias,  elected  archon, 
ruled  two  years  and  two  months,  till  he  was  forcibly  expelled  from 
his  office.  Thereupon  they  resolved  because  of  the  sedition  to 
elect  ten  archons,2  five  from  the  eupatridae,  three  from  the  farmers 
(aypoLtcot)  ?  and  two  from  the  artisans  (Brj/uLLovpyol)  73  and  these  persons 
held  office  in  the  year  after  Damasias.  From  this  circumstance  it 
is  evident  that  the  archon  possessed  the  chief  power,  for  they  seem 
always  to  have  been  striving  with  one  another  for  his  office.  Al- 
together they  continued  in  a  state  of  disorder  among  themselves, 
some  taking  as  a  cause  and  pretext  the  abolition  of  debts ;  for  it 
had  resulted  in  their  impoverishment.    Others  were  discontented 

1  In  the  interpretation  of  these  chronological  data  editors  are  widely  at  variance ; 
see  Sandys'  note  ad  loc.    The  subject  is  too  complicated  for  treatment  here. 

2  In  the  opinion  of  Meyer,  Forsch.  II.  537  sqq.,  this  measure  transferred  the  func- 
tions of  the  office  of  Archon  (eponymus),  chief  archon,  to  a  commission  of  ten.  Logi- 
cally this  was  Aristotle's  idea,  for  he  considered  that  the  dissensions  concerned  the  chief 
archonship  only.  In  truth,  however,  he  or  his  source  found  the  fact  of  the  "  ten  archons" 
in  a  document,  and  interpreted  it  as  in  the  text.  While  the  view  of  Meyer  is  in  any 
event  perfectly  possible,  it  is  equally  possible  that  the  lower  classes  were  content  to 
leave  the  chief  archonship  in  the  hands  of  the  eupatrids,  provided  they  were  fairly  rep- 
resented on  the  board.  Furthermore  Aristotle  does  not  state  whether  the  ten  archons 
and  the  peculiar  representation  of  the  three  classes  were  a  temporary  expedient  or  a 
lasting  arrangement;  but  as  there  were  no  more  dissensions  over  the  office  we  may 
infer  that  the  arrangement  continued  to  the  usurpation  of  Peisistratus.  In  the  Cleis- 
thenean  system  the  secretary  of  the  board  counted,  in  the  representation  of  the  tribes, 
as  a  tenth  archon. 

3  This  measure  is  generally  set  down  as  reactionary,  a  return  to  conditions  existing 
before  the  introduction  of  property  qualifications  for  office.  We  may  believe,  however, 
that  in  spite  of  the  broadening  of  eligibility  the  eupatrids  still  monopolized  the  offices, 
and  that  the  measure  here  mentioned,  like  the  Lex  Licinia-Sextia  at  Rome,  required 
actual  usage  to  conform  with  law.  This  explanation  was  proposed  by  Botsford, 
Development  of  the  Athenian  Constitution  (1893),  182  sq.  See  also  De  Sanctis,  Atthis 
(2d  ed.,  191 2),  264-8. 


^ 


150    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 

with  the  constitution  because  of  the  great  change  that  had  taken 
place,  while  others  were  actuated  by  mutual  hatred.  There  were 
(accordingly)  three  factions  :  one  of  the  Paralians  (Shore  Men),  led 
by  Megacles  the  Alcmeonid,  who  seemed  particularly  to  favor  a 
moderate  form  of  government;  another  of  the  Pedraeans  (Plain 
Men),  who  favored  an  oligarchy,  and  who  were  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Lycurgus;  the  third  of  the  Diacrians  (Hill  Men)  led  by 
Peisistratus,  who  seemed  most  devoted  to  the  people's  interest. 
To  the  last-named  faction  were  joined,  because  of  their  poverty, 
those  whose  securities  had  been  cancelled,  and,  through  fear,  those 
who  were  not  of  pure  descent.  A  proof  is  that  after  the  overthrow 
of  the  tyranny  they  made  a  revision  of  the  lists  of  citizens,  with  the 
idea  that  many  were  enjoying  the  franchise  who  had  no  right  to 
it.1  The  several  names  of  these  factions  were  derived  from  the 
districts  where  they  held  their  lands. 

29.  The  Tyranny 
(Aristotle,  Constitution  of  the  Athenians,  14-19) 

14.  Peisistratus  appeared  to  be  most  devoted  to  the  popular 
cause,  and  had  won  a  brilliant  reputation  in  the  war  with  Megara. 
Having  wounded  himself,  he  persuaded  the  people,  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  his  injuries  were  inflicted  by  political  enemies,  to  grant 
him  a  guard  for  his  person.  Taking  the  club-bearers,  as  they  were 
called,  he  conspired  with  them  against  the  state,  and  seized  the 
Acropolis  in  the  archonship  of  Corneas,2  in  the  thirty-second  year 
after  (Solon's  legislation).  The  story  is  told  that  when  Peisis- 
tratus was  asking  for  a  guard,  Solon  opposed  him,  saying  that  he 
was  wiser  than  some  and  braver  than  others  —  wiser  than  those 
who  failed  to  see  that  Peisistratus  was  aiming  at  the  tyranny,  and 
braver  than  those  who  knew  it  but  kept  silent.  As  he  accomplished 
nothing  with  words,  he  brought  out  his  armor  and  placed  it  before 
his  door,  saying  he  had  aided  his  country  to  the  best  of  his  ability 

1  This  revision  was  probably  made  by  the  party  of  Cleisthenes  after  its  return  from 
exile  but  before  Cleisthenes  took  up  the  cause  of  the  people;  §  20;  Hdt.  v.  69;  cf. 
Botsford,  in  Harvard  Studies  in  Classical  Philology,  VIII  (1897).  9-1 1. 

2  560  B.C.  "Thirty-second"  is  probably  a  copyist's  error  for  "  thirty-fourth " 
(devrtpq)  for  TerdpTcp). 


1 


EXILES  AND  RESTORATIONS 


(for  he  was  at  this  time  a  very  old  man)  and  asking  the  rest  now  to 
perform  this  service.  But  Solon  accomplished  nothing  by  his 
exhortations  at  that  crisis.  Peisistratus,  however,  assuming  the 
government,  managed  affairs  constitutionally  rather  than  des- 
potically. Before  his  supremacy  was  firmly  rooted,  the  party  of 
Megacles,  joining  in  friendship  with  that  of  Lycurgus,  expelled  him 
in  the  sixth  year  after  his  first  establishment,  in  the  archonship  of 
Hegesias.  But  in  the  twelfth  year  afterward  Megacles,  harassed 
by  sedition,  again  made  overtures  of  peace  to  Peisistratus  on  con- 
dition that  the  latter  should  take  the  daughter  of  the  former  in 
marriage.1  Megacles  brought  him  back  in  an  exceedingly  old- 
fashioned  and  simple  way.  Spreading  a  report  that  Athena  was 
restoring  Peisistratus,  he  found  a  tall,  handsome  woman  —  of  the 
Paeanian  deme  as  Herodotus  says,  whereas  others  describe  her  as  a 
Thracian  flower-girl,  named  Phye,  of  Collytus  2  —  and  dressing  her 
up  in  imitation  of  the  goddess,  he  brought  her  in  along  with  Peisis- 
tratus, the  latter  seated  in  the  chariot  with  the  woman  at  his  side, 
while  the  people  of  the  city  on  their  knees  received  them  with 
adoration. 

15.  Thus  was  brought  about  the  first  restoration.  He  went 
again  into  exile  about  the  seventh  year  after  his  return ;  for  he  did 
not  maintain  himself  long,  but  because  he  was  unwilling  to  treat 
the  daughter  of  Megacles  as  his  wife,  and  consequently  feared  a 
combination  of  the  two  factions,  he  secretly  withdrew  from  the 
country.  First  he  colonized  a  place  called  Rhaecelus  about  the 
Thermaic  Gulf ;  then  he  crossed  over  to  the  neighborhood  of  Mount 
Pangaeus.  Making  money  in  that  locality  and  hiring  soldiers,  he 
came  to  Eretria  in  the  eleventh  year.  Then  for  the  first  time  he 
attempted  to  recover  his  supremacy  by  force,  with  the  cooperation 
of  the  Thebans,  of  Lygdamis  of  Naxos,  and  of  the  knights  who  had 
the  government  at  Eretria.  Gaining  a  victory  at  Pallene  and  thus 
recovering  his  authority,  he  deprived  the  people  of  their  arms  and 

1  These  chronological  data  are  unreliable;  cf.  also  §  17  and  Aristotle,  Politics,  v. 
9.  23,  13 1 5  b.  There  is  an  utter  lack  of  harmony  among  the  various  statements.  On 
the  whole  it  would  seem  reasonable  that  his  first  tyranny  and  first  exile  were  relatively 
brief,  amounting  together  to  perhaps  ten  years,  that  his  second  exile  was  ten  years  in 
duration  and  his  final  tyranny  ten  or  eleven  years. 

2  Many  demes  (townships)  must  have  existed  under  the  tyranny,  though  they  had 
no  legal  being  before  Cleisthenes;  no.  30. 


152    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


firmly  established  his  despotism.  Then  taking  possession  of  Naxos, 
he  appointed  Lygdamis  governor.  The  people  he  deprived  of  their 
arms  in  the  following  manner.  Holding  a  review  of  the  citizens 
under  arms  at  the  Theseum,  he  attempted  to  address  them,  but 
spoke  in  a  low  voice ;  and  when  they  declared  they  could  not  hear 
him,  he  bade  them  come  up  near  the  gateway  of  the  Acropolis  in 
order  that  his  voice  might  sound  louder.  While  he  was  passing  the 
time  making  his  speech,  persons  appointed  to  the  task  took  the 
arms  and  locking  them  in  a  building  near  the  Theseum,  came  and 
made  a  sign  to  Peisistratus.  He  finished  his  speech  and  then  told 
them  about  the  arms,  bidding  them  not  wonder  or  be  dejected  but 
go  and  attend  to  their  private  affairs,  as  he  would  himself  manage 
all  public  matters. 

1 6.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  tyranny  of  Peisistratus  and  such 
were  its  vicissitudes.  He,  as  has  been  said,  conducted  the  govern- 
ment moderately  and  more  in  the  character  of  a  statesman  than  of 
a  tyrant.  In  general  he  was  humane  and  unusually  mild  and  for- 
giving to  wrong-doers,  and  especially  he  lent  money  to  the  needy 
for  use  in  their  labors,  in  order  that  they  might  gain  a  livelihood  by 
agriculture.  This  he  did  for  two  reasons,  that  they  might  not  pass 
their  time  in  the  city  but  be  scattered  throughout  the  country,  and 
that,  being  moderately  well  off  and  occupied  with  their  private 
concerns,  they  might  have  neither  the  desire  nor  the  leisure  to 
attend  to  public  affairs.  At  the  same  time  the  cultivation  of  the 
land  resulted  in  the  increase  of  his  revenues,  for  he  collected  a  tenth 
of  the  produce.  For  this  reason,  too,  he  established  judges  to  go 
throughout  the  demes,  and  he  himself  often  journeyed  into  the 
country  to  inspect  it  and  to  settle  disputes.  While  Peisistratus 
was  on  one  of  these  expeditions,  it  is  said  that  he  had  the  adventure 
with  the  man  on  Hymettus  who  was  cultivating  the  so-called  tax- 
free  farm.  Seeing  a  certain  man  digging  and  working  among  the 
rocks  with  a  stake,  he  bade  his  servant  ask  what  was  produced  in 
the  place.  The  other  replied,  "Only  aches  and  pains,  and  of  these 
aches  and  pains  Peisistratus  must  have  his  tenth."  The  man  an- 
swered without  knowing  him;  but  Peisistratus,  pleased  with  his 
candor  and  his  love  of  work,  made  him  exempt  from  all  taxes. 

In  all  other  respects  he  absolutely  refrained  from  disturbing  the 
masses  by  his  government,  and  he  always  preserved  peace  and 


CHARACTER  OF  THE  TYRANNY 


maintained  quiet ;  so  that  the  tyranny  of  Peisistratus  was  often 
spoken  of  proverbially  as  the  age  of  Cronos  (golden  age) ;  for  after- 
ward when  his  sons  had  succeeded  to  the  throne,  the  result  was  that 
the  government  became  much  harsher.  Most  praiseworthy  of  all 
his  qualities  was  his  popular  and  kindly  character ;  for  in  general 
he  chose  to  manage  all  affairs  in  accordance  with  the  laws,  giving 
himself  no  advantage,  and  once  when  cited  for  murder  before  the 
council  of  the  Areopagus,  he  presented  himself  with  a  view  to  mak- 
ing his  defence,  but  the  accuser  failed  through  fear  to  come  forward. 
Hence  he  remained  in  power  for  a  long  time,  and  whenever  he  was 
banished,  he  easily  recovered  his  position ;  for  many  of  the  nobles 
and  commons  were  pleased  with  his  rule.  The  former  he  attached 
to  himself  by  his  associations  with  them,  the  latter  by  aid  in  their 
private  affairs.  Throughout  these  times  the  laws  of  the  Athenians 
concerning  tyrants  were  mild,  and  particularly  the  one  referring  to 
the  establishment  of  tyranny.  The  law  runs  thus:  " These  are 
the  ancestral  usages  of  the  Athenians.  If  anyone  attempts  to  make 
himself  tyrant,  or  if  anyone  has  a  hand  in  establishing  a  tyranny,  let 
him  and  his  gens  be  disfranchised." 

17.  Peisistratus  accordingly  grew  old  in  office  and  died  of  illness 
in  the  archonship  of  Philoneos,1  having  lived  thirty-three  years  after 
the  time  when  he  first  became  tyrant,  but  having  actually  remained 
in  power  nineteen  years ;  for  during  the  rest  of  the  time  he  was  in 
exile.  Evidently  therefore  they  speak  foolishly  who  assert  that 
Peisistratus  was  a  youthful  favorite  of  Solon  and  a  general  in  the 
war  with  Megara  for  the  possession  of  Salamis.  Their  ages  do  not 
agree,  if  one  reckons  the  length  of  their  respective  lives  and  the 
dates  of  their  deaths.  After  the  decease  of  Peisistratus  his  sons 
secured  the  power  and  conducted  the  administration  in  the  same 
way.  Of  his  lawful  wife  he  had  two  sons,  Hippias  and  Hipparchus, 
and  two  of  his  Argive  wife,2  Iophon  and  Hegesistratus,  surnamed 
Thettalus.  Peisistratus  had  married  from  Argos  the  daughter  of 
an  Argive  named  Gorgilus.    This  lady,  Timonassa,  had  formerly 

1  527  B.C. 

2  In  451  a  statute  of  Pericles  ordered  that  those  only  should  be  citizens  whose 
parents  were  both  Athenians.  Aristotle  and  other  ancient  writers  wrongly  assumed 
that  this  regulation  was  in  force  from  the  earliest  times.  Naturally  they  regarded  the 
foreign  marriage  of  Peisistratus  as  illegal. 


154    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


been  the  wife  of  the  Cypselid  Archinus  of  Ambracia.  Thence 
arose  his  alliance  with  the  Argives,  a  thousand  of  whom  fought  on 
his  side  in  the  battle  of  Pallene,  having  been  brought  by  Hegesis- 
tratus.  Some  say  he  married  the  Argive  woman  after  his  first 
banishment,  others  while  he  was  in  possession  of  his  authority. 

1 8.  Because  of  their  greater  reputation  and  age  Hipparchus 
and  Hippias  were  rulers  of  the  state,  while  Hippias  the  elder,  who 
was  naturally  statesmanlike  and  intelligent,  was  at  the  head  of  the 
government.  Hipparchus,  however,  was  youthful  and  amorous, 
and  fond  of  literature.  He  it  was  who  invited  to  Athens  Anacreon 
and  Simonides  and  the  rest  of  the  poets.  [But  Thettalus  was  much 
younger,  and  was  bold  and  insolent  in  manner.]  1  He  was  the 
source  of  all  their  misfortunes.  In  love  with  Harmodius  but  failing 
to  win  his  affection,  he  could  not  restrain  his  anger.  On  all  oc- 
casions he  showed  himself  bitter ;  and  finally  when  the  sister  of 
Harmodius  was  about  to  act  as  basket-carrier  at  the  Panathenaea, 
he  forbade  it,  at  the  same  time  accusing  Harmodius  of  being  effem- 
inate. 

Hence  it  resulted  that  in  their  rage  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton 
did  the  deed  with  the  help  of  many  others.  At  the  Panathenaea 
they  were  watching  Hippias  on  the  Acropolis  (as  he  chanced  to  be 
sacrificing  while  Hipparchus  was  arranging  the  procession),  and 
seeing  one  of  the  participants  in  the  plot  talking  in  a  friendly  manner 
with  Hippias,  they  believed  he  was  informing  against  them.  Wish- 
ing accordingly  to  accomplish  something  before  their  arrest,  they 
descended,  and  beginning  action  before  the  others,  they  killed  Hip- 
parchus while  he  was  arranging  the  procession  near  the  Leocorium. 
Thus  they  ruined  the  whole  plot.2  Harmodius  was  immediately 
killed  by  the  guards,  and  Aristogeiton,  arrested  afterward,  died  by 
prolonged  torture.  Under  constraint  he  accused  many  who  be- 
longed by  birth  to  the  nobility  and  were  friends  of  the  tyrants. 
For  they  were  unable  forthwith  to  find  a  clue  to  the  plot.  The 
current  opinion,  however,  that  Hippias  disarmed  those  who  were 
in  the  procession  and  searched  them  for  concealed  daggers  is  untrue, 
for  they  did  not  march  armed  in  the  procession ;  this  custom  was 
afterward  introduced  by  the  democracy. 

1  This  sentence  seems  to  be  an  interpolation. 

2  With  this  account  of  the  conspiracy  compare  Thucydides  i.  20 ;  vi.  53-59. 


THE  TYRANNY  DEGENERATES 


He  accused  the  tyrants'  friends,  purposely  as  the  democratic 
writers  say,  in  order  that  the  tyrants  might  commit  impiety  and  at 
the  same  time  be  weakened  by  the  destruction  of  innocent  persons 
and  their  own  friends,  though  as  some  say,  he  did  not  deceive  but 
actually  informed  against  his  accomplices.  Lastly  as  he  was  un- 
able, whatever  he  did,  to  find  death,  he  proposed  to  denounce  many 
others,  and  after  persuading  Hippias  to  give  him  his  right  hand  as 
a  pledge,  he  grasped  it,  at  the  same  time  reproaching  Hippias  with 
having  offered  his  hand  to  the  murderer  of  his  brother.  In  this 
way  he  so  exasperated  Hippias  that  the  latter  could  not  restrain 
his  wrath  but  drew  his  dagger  and  killed  him. 

19.  From  these  events  it  resulted  that  the  tyranny  became  far 
harsher ;  for  in  taking  vengeance  for  his  brother  and  in  slaying  and 
banishing  many  citizens,  Hippias  became  distrustful  and  embittered 
toward  all.  About  the  fourth  year  after  the  death  of  Hipparchus, 
as  his  affairs  in  the  city  were  in  a  bad  condition,  he  undertook  the 
fortification  of  Munichia  with  the  idea  of  changing  his  residence  to 
that  place. 

While  engaged  in  this  work  he  was  expelled  by  Cleomenes,  king 
of  the  Lacedaemonians,  inasmuch  as  oracles  were  continually  given 
to  the  Laconians  to  the  effect  that  they  should  abolish  the  tyranny. 
The  reason  for  the  oracles  is  as  follows.  The  exiles,  led  by  the  Alc- 
meonidae,  were  unable  by  their  own  means  to  effect  their  return. 
In  all  their  other  undertakings  they  failed  and  particularly  when 
they  fortified  Leipsydrium  on  Mount  Parnes  within  the  country  of 
Attica.  Here,  joined  by  certain  men  from  the  city,  they  were 
besieged  by  the  tyrants,  wherefore  after  their  disaster  people  used 
to  sing  in  skolia  1  :  — 

"Alas,  Leipsydrium,  traitor  to  your  friends,  how  good  the  men  you  slew, 
how  brave  in  right,  how  nobly  born!  They  showed  in  that  fray  their  illustrious 
parentage." 

Having  failed  in  everything  else,  they  contracted  to  build  the 
temple  at  Delphi.  This  transaction  provided  them  well  with  the 
means  of  gaining  the  aid  of  the  Laconians.  Whenever,  accordingly, 
the  Lacedaemonians  consulted  the  oracle,  the  Pythia  always  replied 
that  they  must  set  Athens  free,  till  she  succeeded  in  persuading  the 

1  On  the  meaning  of  the  term,  see  no.  52. 


156    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


Spartans,  notwithstanding  that  they  were  guest-friends  of  the  Pei- 
sistratidae.  There  was  added  a  no  small  cause  of  the  undertaking 
on  the  part  of  the  Laconians  in  the  alliance  existing  between  the 
Argives  and  the  Peisistratidae.  In  the  first  place  they  despatched 
Anchimolus  with  an  army  by  sea.  He  was  beaten  and  slain  with 
the  aid  of  Cineas  the  Thessalian,  who  came  with  a  thousand  cavalry. 
Enraged  at  the  event,  they  sent  by  land  with  a  larger  force  Cleo- 
menes  the  king,  who  after  defeating  the  Thessalian  horsemen  in 
their  endeavor  to  prevent  his  invasion  of  Attica,  drove  Hippias 
into  the  so-called  Pelargic  wall,  and  besieged  him  there  with  the 
aid  of  the  Athenians.  This  event  took  place  in  the  archonship  of 
Harpactides,1  after  they  had  held  the  tyranny  about  seventeen 
years  since  the  death  of  their  father,  and  including  his  reign,  forty- 
nine  years  in  all. 


30.  Cleisthenes  and  the  Democracy 

508-480  B.C. 

(Aristotle,  Constitution  of  the  Athenians,  20-22) 

20.  When  the  tyranny  had  fallen,  a  sedition  arose  between 
Isagoras,  son  of  Teisander,  a  friend  of  the  tyrants,  and  Cleisthenes 
of  the  gens  of  the  Alcmeonidae.  Beaten  by  means  of  the  clubs, 
Cleisthenes  attached  the  commons  to  himself  by  promising  the 
franchise  to  the  masses.  Isagoras,  now  proving  inferior  in  strength, 
called  to  his  aid  Cleomenes,  his  guest-friend,  and  persuaded  him  to 
expel  the  pollution ;  for  it  was  the  common  opinion  that  the  Alc- 
meonidas  were  under  a  curse.2  Thereupon  Cleisthenes  with  a  few 
persons  secretly  withdrew  from  the  country,  while  Cleomenes  pro- 
ceeded to  expel  as  polluted  seven  hundred  Athenian  families. 
Having  accomplished  this  object,  he  attempted  to  dissolve  the  coun- 
cil 3  and  to  make  Isagoras  and  three  hundred  of  his  partisans  mas- 
ters of  the  state.    But  as  the  council  opposed  and  the  multitude 


1  510  B.C.    On  the  tyranny  and  its  downfall,  cf.  Hdt.  i.  59-64;  v.  57-65. 

2  The  curse  was  brought  upon  them  by  the  guilt  incurred  in  slaughtering  the 
followers  of  Cylon;  no.  27. 

3  This  was  the  council  of  Four  Hundred ;  that  of  the  Five  Hundred  had  not  yet 
been  instituted. 


CLEISTHENES 


i57 


gathered,  Cleomenes  and  Isagoras  with  their  party  took  refuge  in 
the  Acropolis.  The  commons  thereupon  encamped  and  besieged 
them  two  days ;  on  the  third  day  they  permitted  Cleomenes  and 
all  with  him  to  depart  under  a  truce,  but  recalled  Cleisthenes  and 
the  rest  of  the  exiles.  Now  that  the  commons  had  become  masters 
of  the  state,  Cleisthenes  was  their  leader  and  champion :  for  the 
Alcmeonidae  were  perhaps  the  chief  cause  of  the  tyrants'  expulsion 
and  were  almost  always  at  sedition  with  them.  Still  earlier  Cedon 
the  Alcmeonid  had  made  an  attempt  on  them,  hence  the  people 
used  to  sing  to  him  in  skolia  1 :  — 

"Pour  out  to  Cedon,  boy,  and  forget  it  not,  if  ever  our  duty  is  to  pour  an 
offering  of  wine  to  the  memory  of  brave  men." 

21.  For  these  reasons  the  people  trusted  Cleisthenes.  On  that 
occasion,  as  he  was  leader  of  the  people  in  the  fourth  year  after  the 
overthrow  of  the  tyrants,  in  the  archonship  of  Isagoras,2  in  the 
first  place  he  distributed  all  the  people  among  ten  tribes  in  place  of 
four,  with  the  object  of  intermixing  them  in  order  that  more  might 
have  a  share  in  the  franchise.  Hence  arose  the  saying,  "Do  not 
discriminate  between  the  tribes"  with  reference  to  those  who  wished 
to  scrutinize  the  gentes.3  Then  he  constituted  the  council  of  five 
hundred  in  place  of  four  hundred,  fifty  from  each  tribe  instead  of  a 
hundred  as  formerly.  The  reason  for  his  not  distributing  the  people 
among  twelve  tribes  was  his  desire  to  avoid  the  division  into  the 
existing  trittyes  as  the  four  tribes  contained  twelve  trittyes ;  so 
that,  had  he  made  twelve  tribes,  he  would  not  have  succeeded  in 
redistributing  the  population.4 

The  country  he  divided  by  demes  into  thirty  parts,  ten  about 
the  city,  ten  in  the  paralia,  ten  in  the  midland ;  and  calling  these 
parts  trittyes,  he  assigned  three  by  lot  to  each  tribe  in  such  a  way 
that  every  tribe  might  have  a  trittys  in  each  of  the  three  local 

1  For  an  explanation  of  the  term,  see  no.  52. 

2  508  B.C. 

3  The  meaning  seems  to  be  that  whereas  in  the  old  tribe  lists  of  citizens  account 
was  taken  of  the  gentes,  under  the  new  system  that  was  not  the  case.  The  proverb, 
however,  may  or  may  not  have  arisen  from  such  a  circumstance. 

4  Aristotle  feels  called  upon  to  make  this  explanation  in  view  of  the  fact  that  twelve 
tribes,  one  for  each  month,  would  have  been  a  far  more  convenient  arrangement.  The 
number  was  increased  to  twelve  in  307;  Ferguson,  Hellenistic  Athens,  64. 


158    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


sections.  The  inhabitants  of  the  respective  demes  he  made  demes- 
men  of  one  another  in  order  that  they  might  not  expose  the  new 
citizens  by  calling  them  after  the  names  of  their  fathers,  but  that 
they  might  be  named  after  their  demes.  Hence  the  Athenians  con- 
tinue to  call  themselves  by  the  names  of  their  demes.  He  insti- 
tuted demarchs  with  the  same  function  as  the  earlier  naucrars, 
for  he  made  the  demes  to  take  the  place  of  the  naucraries.  Some 
of  the  demes  he  named  after  localities,  others  after  their  founders ; 
for  all  the  localities  did  not  preserve  the  names  of  their  founders. 
Their  gentes  and  phratries  and  priesthoods  he  permitted  them 
severally  to  keep  according  to  ancestral  usage.1  As  eponyms  of 
the  tribes  he  appointed  the  ten  whom  the  Pythia  had  selected  from 
the  hundred  founders  nominated  to  her.2 

22.  Through  these  changes  the  constitution  became  far  more 
democratic  than  that  of  Solon.  The  fact  is  that  the  tyranny  had 
abolished  some  of  the  laws  of  Solon  through  failure  to  observe  them, 
and  Cleisthenes  in  his  effort  to  win  the  populace  enacted  new  regu- 
lations, among  which  was  the  law  of  ostracism.  It  was  not  however 
till  the  fifth  year  after  his  legislation  that,  in  the  archonship  of 
Hermocreon,3  they  drew  up  for  the  council  of  Five  Hundred  the 
oath  which  the  members  continue  even  now  to  swear.  Then  they 
began  to  elect  the  generals  by  tribes,  one  from  each  tribe,4  whereas 
the  commander  of  the  entire  army  was  the  polemarch.  In  the 
twelfth  year  afterward,  in  the  archonship  of  Phaenippus,5  they  won 
the  battle  of  Marathon.  Two  years  after  the  victory,  while  the 
people  were  elated,  they  for  the  first  time  made  use  of  the  law  of 
ostracism  through  suspicion  of  persons  in  power,  because  it  was  as 

1  It  is  sufficiently  known  that  Cleisthenes  did  not  disturb  the  composition  of  the 
gentes.  From  Aristotle,  Politics,  vi.  4.  18,  1319  b,  we  infer  that  he  increased  the  num- 
ber of  phratries.  It  would  be  easy  to  reconcile  the  two  passages  by  assuming  that  the 
old  citizens  remained  in  their  several  phratries,  while  new  phratries  were  created  for 
the  multitude  of  new  citizens.  Many  sacerdotal  offices,  too,  remained  hereditary  in 
the  noble  families  which  had  originally  held  them. 

2  I.e.,  he  sent  to  the  prophetess  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  the  names  of  a  hundred  local 
heroes  (founders),  from  which  she  selected  the  ten  tribal  eponyms. 

3  The  Attic  year  501-500. 

4  From  the  fact  that  the  council  of  Five  Hundred  and  the  army  of  ten  tribal  regi- 
ments were  not  definitely  organized  before  the  date  here  given,  we  may  assume  that 
some  years  had  been  required  for  organizing  the  demes  and  fixing  their  boundaries. 

5  490-489. 


CASES  OF  OSTRACISM 


i59 


popular  leader  and  general  that  Peisistratus  had  made  himself 
tyrant.  The  first  to  be  ostracized  was  one  of  his  kinsmen,  Hip- 
parchus,  son  of  Charmus  of  Collytus,  on  account  of  whom  in  par- 
ticular Cleisthenes  had  enacted  the  law,  as  he  wished  to  expel  him.1 
But  the  Athenians  with  the  accustomed  leniency  of  the  democracy 
permitted  to  remain  in  the  city  such  friends  of  the  tyrants  as  re- 
frained from  joining  in  their  evil  deeds  in  times  of  civil  disturbance. 
The  leader  and  patron  of  these  friends  was  Hipparchus.  In  the 
next  year  following,  in  the  archonship  of  Telesinus,2  they  appointed 
by  lot  the  nine  archons,  according  to  tribes,  from  five  hundred 
nominees  presented  by  the  demesmen.3  This  was  the  first  time 
after  the  tyranny,  for  hitherto  all  had  been  elected.  Megacles, 
son  of  Hippocrates  4  of  Alopece,  was  ostracized.  For  three  years 
in  fact  they  continued  to  ostracize  the  friends  of  the  tyrants,  on 
account  of  whom  the  law  had  been  enacted ;  and  in  the  fourth 
year  they  began  to  ostracize  any  others  who  had  the  reputation  of 
possessing  excessive  power.  The  first  to  be  ostracized  who  had  no 
connection  with  the  tyranny  was  Xanthippus,5  son  of  Ariphron. 
Three  years  later,  in  the  archonship  of  Nicodemus,6  as  mines  had 
been  opened  in  Maroneia  and  a  hundred  talents  had  accrued  to 
the  state  from  the  works,  while  others  were  advising  the  division 
of  the  silver  among  the  people,  Themistocles  prevented  it.  He  did 
not  say  what  use  he  would  make  of  the  money  but  bade  them  lend 
it  to  the  hundred  wealthiest  Athenians,  a  talent  to  each ;  then  if 
the  use  of  it  should  prove  satisfactory,  the  expense  should  be  the 
state's ;  otherwise  the  state  should  recover  the  money  from  the 
borrowers.7  Receiving  the  money  on  these  terms,  he  built  a  hun- 
dred triremes,  each  of  the  hundred  men  constructing  one  ;  and  with 
these  ships  they  fought  at  Salamis  against  the  barbarians.  In 

1  This  statement  seems  most  unlikely. 

2  487-486. 

3  Through  this  change  in  the  method  of  appointment  the  archons  lost  their  impor- 
tance ;  they  ceased  to  be  the  chief  magistrates,  that  position  passing  to  the  ten  generals. 

4  Hippocrates  was  a  brother  of  Cleisthenes.  From  the  fact  that  Megacles  was 
considered  a  friend  of  the  tyrants,  we  may  perhaps  infer  that  he  had  made  a  political 
"deal"  with  them. 

5  485-484.  As  the  vote  of  ostracism  took  place  in  the  winter,  Xanthippus  was 
exiled  early  in  484. 

6  483-482. 

7  The  anecdote  certainly  does  not  belong  here. 


160    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


these  times  Aristeides,  son  of  Lysimachus,  was  ostracized.  Four 
years  afterward,  in  the  archonship  of  Hypsichides,1  they  recalled 
all  the  ostracized  because  of  the  invasion  of  Xerxes ;  and  for  the 
future  they  laid  down  for  the  ostracized  the  rule  that  they  must 
not  dwell  within  Geraestus  and  Scyllaeum  on  penalty  of  being  for- 
ever disfranchised.2 

31.  The  Procedure  in  Votes  of  Ostracism 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  question  as  to  the  number  of  votes  required  for 
the  ostracism  of  an  individual  has  been  reopened  by  Carcopino,  J.,  Histoire 
de  V ostracisme  athenien,  in  Melanges  d'histoire  ancienne  (Paris,  1909),  the 
two  principal  passages  bearing  upon  the  question  are  given  below. 

(Plutarch,  Aristides,  7.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

The  general  character  of  the  procedure  was  as  follows.  Each 
man  took  an  ostrakon,3  and  having  written  on  it  the  name  of  the 
citizen  whom  he  wished  to  exile,  brought  it  to  a  part  of  the  market- 
place which  had  been  fenced  in  with  palings.  Then  in  the  first 
place  the  archons  counted  the  whole  number  of  ostraka ;  for  if  the 
number  of  voters  was  less  than  6000,  the  vote  of  ostracism  was  in- 
effectual.4 Next  they  counted  by  itself  the  number  of  times  each 
name  occurred,  and  proclaimed  the  banishment  for  ten  years  of  the 
one  whose  name  had  been  written  by  the  greatest  number,  per- 
mitting the  banished  the  enjoyment  of  his  own  property.5 

1 481-480. 

2  The  object  was  to  prevent  the  ostracized  from  living  so  near  at  home  as  to  inter- 
fere in  politics. 

3  The  ostrakon  was  a  potsherd,  specimens  of  which,  with  the  names  of  famous 
Greeks,  may  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum. 

4  The  object  was  to  determine  whether  a  quorum  of  6000,  required  for  the  vote  of 
a  privilegium,  had  actually  voted.  If  the  number  fell  below  6000,  the  individual  names 
remained  uncounted  in  order  that  no  one  might  be  prejudiced.  After  the  introduction 
of  pay  for  attendance  at  the  assembly,  early  in  the  fourth  century,  there  were  officials 
who  kept  a  record  of  every  citizen's  attendance ;  but  it  is  unlikely  that  Cleisthenes 
made  any  such  arrangement.  It  was  only  through  the  preliminary  counting  described 
in  the  text,  therefore,  that  the  number  present  could  be  ascertained. 

5  Plutarch's  statement  of  the  procedure  is  remarkably  clear,  and  seems  to  have 
come  from  a  reliable  source.  According  to  this  statement  6000  constituted  a  quorum, 
and  a  plurality  (not  majority)  of  votes  decided.  His  interpretation  is  confirmed  by 
the  well-known  fact  that  privilegia  (^rjcpia/xaTa  iir  dvdpi)  required  a  quorum  of 
6000;  cf.  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  307  sqq. 


THE  VOTING  OF  OSTRACISM 


161 


(Philochorus,  Atthis,  iii,  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  grczc.  I.  p.  396,  frag.  79  b. 
Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Philochorus,  writing  in  the  third  book,  explains  ostracism  thus.1 
Before  the  eighth  prytany  the  people  in  assembly,  by  a  preliminary 
vote,  determine  whether  they  will  have  recourse  to  ostracism. 
Whenever  the  decision  was  affirmative,  the  market-place  was  fenced 
in  with  palings,  and  there  were  left  open  ten  approaches  through 
which  (the  citizens),  entering  by  tribes,  carried  their  ostraka,  keep- 
ing the  inscriptions  concealed.  The  nine  archons  and  the  council 
presided.  The  votes  were  counted ;  the  one  against  whom  the 
greatest  number  was  cast,  and  not  less  that  6000,2  having  settled 
his  cases  at  law  regarding  his  private  business  transactions,  had  to 
leave  the  country  within  ten  days,  for  a  period  of  ten  years.  The 
term  was  afterward  changed  to  five.  He  could  enjoy  the  use  of 
his  own  property  but  was  not  permitted  to  enter  within  a  line  drawn 
through  the  promontory  of  Eubcea.  Hyperbolus  alone  of  men  of 
no  repute  was  ostracized  through  3  .  .  .  because  of  the  baseness 
of  his  character,  not  through  suspicion  of  his  attempting  the  ty- 
ranny. After  his  exile  they  abolished  the  custom  which  originated 
through  the  legislation  of  Cleisthenes,  after  he  had  overthrown  the 
tyranny,  in  order  that  he  might  also  banish  the  friends  (of  the 
tyrant).4 

1  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Philochorus  himself  is  not  speaking ;  this  passage  is  a  quo- 
tation, made  directly  or  indirectly  from  him  by  Photius.  The  passage  is  exceedingly 
condensed  and  obscure,  and  contains  at  least  one  primary  error  —  the  statement  that 
the  period  of  ten  years  was  afterward  cut  down  to  five.  The  statement,  too,  regarding 
the  limitation  of  the  exile's  movements  is  imperfect;  cf.  Aristotle,  Const.  Ath.  22,  in 
no.  30  supra.    These  imperfections  detract  from  the  reliability  of  the  passage. 

2  It  is  possible  that  this  phrase,  too  (see  preceding  note),  has  suffered  through  ex- 
cessive condensation.  The  statement  of  Philochorus  may  have  read  substantially, 
"  and  the  total  number  of  votes  being  not  less  that  6000,"  which  would  put  it  into  agree- 
ment with  the  source  of  Plutarch's  account. 

3  The  person  or  persons  (Alcibiades,  Nicias)  instrumental  in  his  ostracism  were 
probably  named  by  Philochorus,  but  in  Photius  only  the  word  "  through  "  (Sid)  remains. 

4  On  the  whole  this  imperfect  quotation  from  Philochorus  cannot  be  taken  in  dis- 
proof of  the  clear,  consistent  account  given  by  Plutarch. 


162    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


32.  Persian  Tolerance  of  Greek  Religion 

(Letter  of  Darius  to  the  Persian  official  Gadatas,  about  500  B.C. ;  Hicks  and 
Hill,  no.  20 ;  Ditt.  I.  no.  2 ;  Cousin  and  Deschamps,  in  Bulletin  de  Cor- 
respondance  hellenique,  XIII  (1889).  529-42,  text  with  French  translation 
and  commentary.    Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

From  this  number  to  the  end  of  the  chapter  the  selections  illustrate  the 
relations  between  the  Hellenes  and  their  enemies,  the  Persians. 

Though  dating  from  Roman  time,  the  inscription  is  proved  to  be  a  copy  of 
the  original  rescript  of  the  Persian  king  Darius  I  (reigned  522-486  B.C.)  by  the 
resemblance  between  its  style  and  that  of  the  Old  Persian  inscriptions.  W e  have 
no  further  information  about  the  Gadatas  to  whom  the  letter  is  addressed ;  but 
he  must  have  been  an  official  of  the  Ionian  province,  perhaps  the  governor 
(satrap),  more  probably  the  overseer  of  a  royal  park.  The  document  shows 
both  the  careful  administration  and  the  religious  tolerance  of  Darius,  who, 
though  himself  a  worshiper  of  Auramazda,  maintains  here  the  immunities  of  a 
sanctuary  of  Apollo. 

The  king  of  kings,  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspes,  to  his  slave 
Gadatas  says  thus :  —  I  learn  that  thou  dost  not  obey  my  com- 
mands in  all  respects.  In  that  thou  cultivatest  my  land  by  trans- 
planting the  fruits  (of  the  country)  beyond  the  Euphrates  1  to  the 
lower  parts  of  Asia,  I  commend  thy  purpose,  and  by  reason  of 
this  there  shall  be  laid  up  for  thee  great  favor  in  the  king's  house.2 
But,  in  that  thou  settest  at  naught  my  policy  towards  the  gods, 
I  will  give  thee,  if  thou  dost  not  change,  a  proof  of  my  wronged 
feelings ;  for  thou  didst  exact  a  payment  from  the  sacred  gardeners 
of  Apollo  and  didst  command  them  to  dig  unhallowed  ground,  not 
knowing  the  mind  of  my  forefathers  towards  the  god,  who  hath 
told  the  Persians  the  whole  truth.3  .  .  . 

1  Syria,  which  was  "beyond  the  Euphrates"  to  the  Persians. 

2  I.e.,  Gadatas  is  enrolled  in  the  official  list  of  the  king's  benefactors,  concerning 
which  see  Herodotus,  viii.  85 ;  Esther,  chap.  6.  A  similar  expression  occurs  in  a 
letter  of  Xerxes  quoted  by  Thucydides,  i.  1 29. 

3  The  reference  seems  to  be  to  oracles  of  Apollo  received  by  Cyrus  or  Cambyses, 
the  predecessors  of  Darius. 

On  the  selection  in  general,  see  E.  Meyer,  Entstehung  des  Judenkims  (Halle,  1896), 
19-21. 


PERSIAN  AGGRESSIONS 


33.  The  Attempt  of  the  Persians  to  Conquer  Naxos, 

500  B.C. 

(Herodotus  v.  30-34) 

In  his  policy  of  aggression  Darius  was  gradually  pushing  the  western  bound- 
ary of  his  empire  into  Europe.  He  had  conquered  Thrace,  had  received  the 
nominal  subjection  of  Macedon,  and  had  thus  extended  the  empire  to  the  north- 
ern border  of  Thessaly.  The  ^Egean  Islands  lying  near  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor  had  submitted.  The  subjoined  excerpt  describes  an  attempt  to  extend 
the  empire  across  the  ^Egean  to  the  island  of  Naxos.  The  selection  especially 
illustrates  the  fact  that  the  greatest  enemies  of  Hellas  were  her  own  people. 

30.  ...  At  the  time  of  which  I  speak  evils  began  to  come  to 
Ionia  from  these  states  (Paros  and  Miletus,  mentioned  in  the  pre- 
ceding paragraph)  in  the  following  manner  :  —  From  Naxos  certain 
men  of  the  wealthier  class  were  driven  into  exile  by  the  people, 
and  having  gone  into  exile  they  arrived  at  Miletus.  Now  of 
Miletus  it  happened  that  Aristagoras  son  of  Molpagoras  was  ruler 
in  charge,  being  both  a  son-in-law  and  also  a  cousin  of  Histiaeus 
son  of  Lysagoras,  whom  Darius  was  keeping  at  Susa  : 1  for  Histiaeus 
was  despot  of  Miletus,  and  it  happened  that  he  was  at  Susa  at  this 
time  when  the  Naxians  came,  who  had  been  in  former  times  guest- 
friends  of  Histiaeus.  When  accordingly  the  Naxians  arrived,  they 
made  request  of  Aristagoras,  to  see  if  perchance  he  would  supply 
them  with  a  force,  that  so  they  might  return  from  exile  to  their 
own  land  :  and  he,  thinking  that  if  by  his  means  they  should  return 
to  their  own  state,  he  would  be  ruler  of  Naxos,  but  at  the  same  time 
making  a  pretext  of  the  guest-friendship  of  Histiaeus,  made  proposal 
to  them  thus  :  "I  am  not  able  to  engage  that  I  can  supply  you  with 
sufficient  force  to  bring  you  back  from  exile  against  the  will  of  those 
Naxians  who  have  control  of  the  state ;  for  I  hear  that  the  Naxians 
have  an  army  which  is  eight  thousand  shields  strong  and  many  ships 
of  war ;  but  I  will  use  every  endeavor  to  devise  a  means ;  and  my 
plan  is  this  :  it  chances  that  Artaphrenes  2  is  my  friend.  Now  Ar- 
taphrenes,  ye  must  know,  is  a  son  of  Hystaspes  and  brother  of 

1  Why  Darius  summoned  Histiaeus  to  Susa  and  kept  him  there  in  honorable  cap- 
tivity is  told  by  Herodotus  v.  23  sq. 

2  Artaphrenes,  the  correct  spelling;  Cauer,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  II. 
1306.    On  this  person,  ib.  1037.  2. 


164    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


Darius  the  king ;  and  he  is  ruler  of  all  the  people  of  the  sea-coasts 
in  Asia,  with  a  great  army  and  many  ships.  This  man,  then,  I 
think  will  do  whatsoever  we  shall  request  of  him."  Hearing  this, 
the  Naxians  gave  over  the  matter  to  Aristagoras  to  manage  as  best 
he  could,  and  they  bade  him  promise  gifts  and  the  expenses  of  the  ex- 
pedition, saying  that  they  would  pay  them  ;  for  they  had  full  expecta- 
tion that  when  they  should  appear  at  Naxos,  the  Naxians  would  do 
all  their  bidding,  and  likewise  all  the  other  islanders.  For  of  these 
islands: — the  Cyclades  —  not  one  was  as  yet  subject  to  Darius. 

31.  Aristagoras,  accordingly,  having  arrived  at  Sardis,  said  to 
Artaphrenes  that  Naxos  was  an  island  not  indeed  large  in  size,  but 
fair  nevertheless  and  of  fertile  soil,  as  well  as  near  to  Ionia,  and  that 
there  were  in  it  much  wealth  and  many  slaves  :  "Do  thou  therefore 
send  an  expedition  against  this  land,  and  restore  to  it  those  who  are 
now  exiles  from  it ;  and  if  thou  shalt  do  this,  first  I  have  ready  for 
thee  large  sums  of  money  apart  from  the  expenses  incurred  for  the 
expedition  (which  it  is  fair  that  we  who  conduct  it  should  supply) , 
and  next  thou  wilt  gain  for  the  king  not  only  Naxos  itself  but  also 
the  islands  which  are  dependent  upon  it,  Paros  and  Andros  and  the 
others  which  are  called  Cyclades  ;  and  setting  out  from  these  thou 
wilt  easily  attack  Eubcea,  an  island  which  is  large  and  wealthy,  as 
large  indeed  as  Cyprus,  and  very  easy  to  conquer.  To  subdue  all 
these  a  hundred  ships  are  sufficient."  He  made  answer  in  these 
words:  "Thou  makest  thyself  a  reporter  of  good  things  to  the 
house  of  the  king ;  and  in  all  these  things  thou  advisest  well,  except 
as  to  the  number  of  the  ships  ;  for  instead  of  one  hundred  there  shall 
be  prepared  for  thee  two  hundred  by  the  beginning  of  spring.  And 
it  is  right  that  the  king  himself  also  should  join  in  approving  this 
matter." 

32.  So  Aristagoras  hearing  this  went  back  to  Miletus  greatly 
rejoiced ;  and  Artaphrenes  meanwhile,  when  he  had  sent  to  Susa 
and  communicated  that  which  was  said  by  Aristagoras,  and  Darius 
himself  also  had  joined  in  approving  it,  made  ready  two  hundred 
triremes  and  a  very  great  multitude  both  of  Persians  and  of  their 
allies,  and  appointed  to  be  commander  of  these  Megabates  a  Per- 
sian, one  of  the  Achaemenidae  1  and  a  cousin  to  himself  and  to  Darius, 

1  The  royal  family  of  Persia,  to  whom  Darius  belonged.  For  the  principal  members 
of  this  dynasty,  see  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  200  sqq. 


ATTEMPT  TO  CONQUER  NAXOS  165 


to  whose  daughter  afterward  Pausanias  the  son  of  Cleombrotus  the 
Lacedaemonian  (at  least  if  the  story  be  true)  betrothed  himself, 
having  formed  a  desire  to  become  despot  of  Hellas.  Having  ap- 
pointed Megabates,  I  say,  to  be  commander,  Artaphrenes  sent 
away  the  armament  to  Aristagoras. 

33.  So  when  Megabates  had  taken  up  from  Miletus  Aristagoras 
and  the  Ionian  force  together  with  the  Naxians,  he  sailed  with  the 
pretence  of  going  to  the  Hellespont ;  but  when  he  came  to  Chios, 
he  directed  his  ships  to  Caucasa,  in  order  that  he  might  from  thence 
pass  them  over  to  Naxos  with  a  North  Wind.  Then,  since  it  was 
not  fated  that  the  Naxians  should  be  destroyed  by  this  expedition, 
there  happened  an  event  which  I  shall  narrate.  As  Megabates  was 
going  round  to  visit  the  guards  set  in  the  several  ships,  it  chanced 
that  in  a  ship  of  Myndos  there  was  no  one  on  guard ;  and  he  being 
very  angry  bade  his  spearsmen  find  out  the  commander  of  the  ship, 
whose  name  was  Scylax,  and  bind  him  in  an  oar-hole  of  his  ship 
in  such  a  manner  that  his  head  should  be  outside  and  his  body 
within.  When  Scylax  was  thus  bound,  some  one  reported  to 
Aristagoras  that  Megabates  had  bound  his  guest-friend  of  Myndos 
and  was  doing  to  him  shameful  outrage.  He  accordingly  came 
and  asked  the  Persian  for  his  release,  and  as  he  did  not  obtain  any- 
thing of  that  which  he  requested,  he  went  himself  and  let  him  loose. 
Being  informed  of  this,  Megabates  was  exceedingly  angry  and  broke 
out  in  rage  against  Aristagoras  ;  and  he  replied  :  "  What  hast  thou 
to  do  with  these  matters  ?  Did  not  Artaphrenes  send  thee  to  obey 
me,  and  to  sail  whithersoever  I  should  order?  Why  dost  thou 
meddle  with  things  which  concern  thee  not?"  Thus  said  Aris- 
tagoras ;  and  the  other  being  enraged  at  this,  when  night  came  on 
sent  men  in  a  ship  to  Naxos  to  declare  to  the  Naxians  all  the  danger 
that  threatened  them. 

34.  For  the  Naxians  were  not  at  all  expecting  that  this  expedition 
would  be  against  them ;  but  when  they  were  informed  of  it,  forth- 
with they  brought  within  the  wall  the  property  which  was  in -the 
fields,  and  provided  for  themselves  food  and  drink  as  for  a  siege, 
and  strengthened  their  wall.  These  then  were  making  preparations 
as  for  war  to  come  upon  them ;  and  the  others  meanwhile  having 
passed  their  ships  over  from  Chios  to  Naxos,  found  them  well 
defended  when  they  made  their  attack,  and  besieged  them  for  four 


166    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


months.  Then  when  the  money  which  the  Persians  had  brought 
with  them  had  all  been  consumed  by  them,  and  not  only  that,  but 
Aristagoras  himself  had  spent  much  more  in  addition,  and  the  siege 
demanded  ever  more  and  more,  they  built  forts  for  the  Naxian  exiles 
and  departed  to  the  mainland  again  with  ill  success. 

34.  Proceedings  of  the  Hellenic  Congress  of  481  b.c. 
(Herodotus  vii.  145-162.    Macaulay,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

This  congress  was  called  at  the  suggestion  of  Athens,  but  on  the  formal 
invitation  of  Lacedaemon,  to  meet  at  the  shrine  of  Poseidon  on  the  Isthmus  of 
Corinth.  It  was  composed  of  deputies  from  the  loyal  states  of  Hellas,  and  its 
object  was  to  concert  measures  of  defense  against  Xerxes,  who  was  on  the 
point  of  invading  Greece. 

The  nucleus  of  the  Hellenic  union  thus  forming  was  the  Peloponnesian 
league,  which  had  grown  up  in  the  preceding  century.  For  sources  illustrative 
of  the  latter  institution,  see  Botsford,  Source-Book  of  Ancient  History,  1 19-21. 
The  preceding  selection  and  the  one  given  below  throw  light  upon  the  internal 
condition  of  the  Greek  states  and  their  relation  to  one  another  at  a  time  when 
they  were  facing  the  greatest  crisis  in  their  history. 

For  a  selection  from  ^Eschylus,  Persians,  describing  the  battle  of  Salamis, 
see  Botsford,  op.  cit.  169-74. 

145.  When  those  Hellenes  who  had  the  better  mind  about 
Hellas  came  together  to  one  place,  and  considered  their  affairs  and 
interchanged  assurances  with  one  another,  then  deliberating  to- 
gether they  thought  it  well  first  of  all  things  to  reconcile  the  en- 
mities and  bring  to  an  end  the  wars  which  they  had  with  one  another. 
Now  there  were  wars  engaged  between  others  also,  and  especially 
between  the  Athenians  and  the  ^Eginetans.  After  this,  being  in- 
formed that  Xerxes  was  with  his  army  at  Sardis,  they  determined  to 
send  spies  to  Asia  to  make  observation  of  the  power  of  the  king ;  and 
moreover  they  resolved  to  send  envoys  to  Argos  to  form  an  alliance 
against  the  Persian,  and  to  send  others  to  Sicily  to  Gelon1  the  son  of 
Deinomenes  and  also  to  Corcyra,  to  urge  them  to  come  to  the 
assistance  of  Hellas,  and  others  again  to  Crete ;  for  they  made  it 
their  aim  that  if  possible  the  Hellenic  race  might  unite  in  one, 
and  that  they  might  join  all  together  and  act  toward  the  same  end, 


1  Tyrant  of  Syracuse. 


GREEK  SPIES  AT  SARDIS 


167 


since  dangers  were  threatening  all  the  Hellenes  equally.  Now  the 
power  of  Gelon  was  said  to  be  great,  far  greater  than  any  other 
Hellenic  power. 

146.  When  they  had  thus  resolved,  they  reconciled  their  enmi- 
ties and  then  sent  first  three  men  as  spies  to  Asia.  These  men, 
having  come  to  Sardis  and  having  got  knowledge  about  the  king's 
army,  were  discovered,  and  after  having  been  examined  by  the 
generals  of  the  land  army  were  being  led  off  to  die.  For  these  men, 
I  say,  death  had  been  determined ;  but  Xerxes,  being  informed  of 
this,  found  fault  with  the  decision  of  the  generals  and  sent  some  of 
the  spearmen  of  his  guard,  enjoining  them,  if  they  should  find  the 
spies  yet  alive,  to  bring  them  to  his  presence.  Therefore  having 
found  them  yet  surviving,  they  brought  them  into  the  presence  of 
the  king ;  and  upon  that  Xerxes,  being  informed  for  what  purpose 
they  had  come,  commanded  the  spearmen  to  lead  them  round  and 
to  show  them  the  whole  army  both  foot  and  horse,  and  when  they 
should  have  had  their  fill  of  looking  at  these  things,  to  let  them  go 
unhurt  to  whatsoever  land  they  desired.  147.  Such  was  the  com- 
mand which  he  gave,  adding  at  the  same  time  this  saying,  namely 
that  if  the  spies  had  been  put  to  death,  the  Hellenes  would  not  have 
been  informed  beforehand  of  his  power,  how  far  beyond  description 
it  was ;  while  on  the  other  hand  by  putting  to  death  three  men  they 
would  not  very  greatly  have  damaged  the  enemy ;  but  when  these 
returned  back  to  Hellas,  he  thought  it  likely  that  the  Hellenes, 
hearing  of  his  power,  would  deliver  up  their  freedom  to  him  them- 
selves, before  the  expedition  took  place  which  was  being  set  in 
motion ;  and  thus  there  would  be  no  need  for  them  to  have  the 
labor  of  marching  an  army  against  them.  This  opinion  of  his  is 
like  his  manner  of  thinking  at  other  times;  for  when  Xerxes  was 
in  Abydos,  he  saw  vessels  which  carried  corn  from  the  Pontus 
sailing  out  through  the  Hellespont  on  their  way  to  ^Egina  and  the 
Peloponnese.  Those  then  who  sat  by  his  side,  being  informed  that 
the  ships  belonged  to  the  enemy,  were  prepared  to  capture  them,  and 
were  looking  to  the  king  to  see  when  he  would  give  the  word ;  but 
Xerxes  asked  about  them  whither  the  men  were  sailing,  and  they 
replied:  " Master,  to  thy  foes,  conveying  to  them  corn:"  he  then 
made  answer  and  said :  "  Are  we  not  also  sailing  to  the  same  place 
as  these  men,  furnished  with  corn  as  well  as  with  other  things  nec- 


1 68    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 

essary?  How  then  do  these  wrong  us,  since  they  are  conveying 
provisions  for  our  use?" 

148.  The  spies  then,  having  thus  looked  at  everything  and 
after  that  having  been  dismissed,  returned  back  to  Europe;  and 
meanwhile  those  of  the  Hellenes  who  had  sworn  alliance  against 
the  Persian,  after  the  sending  forth  of  the  spies  proceeded  to  send 
envoys  next  to  Argos.  Now  the  Argives  report  that  the  matters 
concerning  themselves  took  place  as  follows :  They  were  informed, 
they  say,  at  the  very  first  of  the  movement  which  was  being  set 
on  foot  by  the  Barbarian  against  Hellas  :  and  having  been  informed 
of  this  and  perceiving  that  the  Hellenes  would  endeavor  to  get  their 
alliance  against  the  Persian,  they  had  sent  messengers  to  inquire 
of  the  god  at  Delphi,  and  to  ask  how  they  should  act  in  order  that 
it  might  be  best  for  themselves ;  because  lately  there  had  been  slain 
of  them  six  thousand  men  by  the  Lacedaemonians  and  by  Cleomenes1 
the  son  of  Anaxandrides,  and  this  in  fact  was  the  reason  that  they 
were  sending  to  inquire :  and  when  they  inquired,  the  Pythian 
prophetess  made  answer  to  them  as  follows :  — 

"Thou  to  thy  neighbors  a  foe,  by  the  gods  immortal  beloved, 
Keep  thou  thy  spear  within  bounds,  and  sit  well-guarded  behind  it : 
Guard  well  the  head,  and  the  head  shall  preserve  the  limbs  and  the  body." 

Thus,  they  say,  the  Pythian  prophetess  had  replied  to  them 
before  this;  and  afterwards  when  the  messengers  of  the  Hellenes 
came,  as  I  said,  to  Argos,  they  entered  the  council-chamber  and 
spoke  that  which  had  been  enjoined  to  them ;  and  to  that  which 
was  said  the  council  replied  that  the  Argives  were  ready  to  do  as 
they  were  requested,  on  condition  that  they  got  peace  made  with 
the  Lacedaemonians  for  thirty  years  and  that  they  had  half  the 
leadership  of  the  whole  confederacy :  and  yet  by  strict  right  (they 
said)  the  whole  leadership  fell  to  their  share,  but  nevertheless  it  was 
sufficient  for  them  to  have  half.  149.  Thus  they  report  that  the 
council  made  answer,  although  the  oracle  forbade  them  to  make  the 
alliance  with  the  Hellenes ;  and  they  were  anxious,  they  say,  that 
a  truce  from  hostilities  for  thirty  years  should  be  made,  although 
they  feared  the  oracle,  in  order,  as  they  allege,  that  their  sons  might 
grow  to  manhood  in  these  years ;  whereas  if  a  truce  did  not  exist, 

1  King  of  the  Lacedaemonians. 


ARGOS  AND  SICILY 


169 


they  had  fear  that,  supposing  another  disaster  should  come  upon 
them  in  fighting  against  the  Persian  in  addition  to  that  which  had 
befallen  them  already,  they  might  be  for  all  future  time  subject  to 
the  Lacedaemonians.  To  that  which  was  spoken  by  the  council 
those  of  the  envoys  who  were  of  Sparta  replied,  that  as  to  the  truce 
they  would  refer  the  matter  to  their  public  assembly,  but  as  to  the 
leadership  they  had  themselves  been  commissioned  to  make  reply, 
and  did  in  fact  say  this,  namely  that  they  had  two  kings,  while  the 
Argives  had  one ;  and  it  was  not  possible  to  remove  either  of  the 
two  who  were  of  Sparta  from  the  leadership,  but  there  was  nothing 
to  prevent  the  Argive  king  from  having  an  equal  vote  with  each 
of  their  two.  Then,  say  the  Argives,  they  could  not  endure  the 
grasping  selfishness  of  the  Spartans,  but  chose  to  be  ruled  by  the 
Barbarians  rather  than  to  yield  at  all  to  the  Lacedaemonians ;  and 
they  gave  notice  to  the  envoys  to  depart  out  of  the  territory  of  the 
Argives  before  sunset,  or,  if  not,  they  would  be  dealt  with  as 
enemies.  .  .  . 

1 53 .  That  which  concerns  the  Argives  has  now  been  said.  Mean- 
while envoys  had  come  to  Sicily  from  the  allies,  to  confer  with  Gelon, 
among  whom  also  was  Syagrus  from  the  Lacedaemonians.  ...  157. 
.  .  .  They  came  to  speech  with  him  and  said  as  follows:  "The 
Lacedaemonians  and  their  allies  sent  us  to  get  thee  to  be  on  our  side 
against  the  Barbarian ;  for  we  suppose  that  thou  art  certainly  in- 
formed of  him  who  is  about  to  invade  Hellas,  namely  that  a  Persian 
is  designing  to  bridge  over  the  Hellespont,  and  to  make  an  expedi- 
tion against  Hellas,  leading  against  us  out  of  Asia  all  the  armies  of 
the  East,  under  color  of  marching  upon  Athens,  but  in  fact  meaning 
to  bring  all  Hellas  to  subjection  under  him.  Do  thou  therefore, 
seeing  that  thou  hast  attained  to  a  great  power  and  hast  no  small 
portion  of  Hellas  for  thy  share,  being  the  ruler  of  Sicily,  come  to  the 
assistance  of  those  who  are  endeavoring  to  free  Hellas,  and  join  in 
making  her  free ;  for  if  all  Hellas  be  gathered  together  in  one,  it 
forms  a  great  body,  and  we  are  made  a  match  in  fight  for  those  who 
are  coming  against  us  ;  but  if  some  of  us  go  over  to  the  enemy,  and 
others  are  not  willing  to  help,  and  the  sound  portion  of  Hellas  is 
consequently  small,  there  is  at  once  in  this  a  danger  that  all  Hellas 
may  fall  to  ruin.  For  do  not  thou  hope  that  if  the  Persian  shall 
overcome  us  in  battle  he  will  not  come  to  thee,  but  guard  thyself 


iyo    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


against  this  beforehand ;  for  in  coming  to  our  assistance  thou  art 
helping  thyself ;  and  the  matter  which  is  wisely  planned  has  for  the 
most  part  a  good  issue  afterwards."  158.  The  envoys  spoke  thus ; 
but  Gelon  was  very  vehement  with  them,  speaking  to  them  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Hellenes,  a  selfish  speech  is  this,  with  which  ye  have  ven- 
tured to  come  and  invite  me  to  be  your  ally  against  the  Barbarian ; 
whereas  ye  yourselves,  when  I  in  former  time  requested  of  you  to 
join  me  in  fighting  against  an  army  of  Barbarians,1  contention 
having  arisen  between  me  and  the  Carthaginians,  and  when  I 
charged  you  to  exact  vengeance  of  the  men  of  Egesta  for  the  death 
of  Dorieus  the  son  of  Anaxandrides,  while  at  the  same  time  I  of- 
fered to  help  in  setting  free  the  trading-places,  from  which  great 
advantages  and  gains  have  been  reaped  by  you,  —  ye,  I  say,  then 
neither  for  my  own  sake  came  to  my  assistance,  nor  in  order  to 
exact  vengeance  for  the  death  of  Dorieus ;  and  so  far  as  ye  are  con- 
cerned, all  these  parts  are  even  now  under  the  rule  of  the  Barbarians. 
But  since  it  turned  out  well  for  us  and  came  to  a  better  issue,  now 
that  the  war  has  come  round  and  reached  you,  there  has  at  last 
arisen  in  your  minds  a  recollection  of  Gelon.  However,  though  I 
have  met  with  contempt  at  your  hands,  I  will  not  act  like  you  ;  but 
I  am  prepared  to  come  to  your  assistance,  supplying  two  hundred 
triremes  and  twenty  thousand  hoplites,  with  two  thousand  horse- 
men, two  thousand  bowmen,  two  thousand  slingers  and  two  thousand 
light-armed  men  to  run  beside  the  horsemen ;  and  moreover  I  will 
undertake  to  supply  corn  for  the  whole  army  of  the  Hellenes,  until  we 
shall  have  finished  the  war.  These  things  I  engage  to  supply  on  this 
condition,  namely  that  I  shall  be  commander  and  leader  of  the  Hel- 
lenes against  the  Barbarians ;  but  on  any  other  condition  I  will  neither 
come  myself  nor  will  I  send  others."  159.  Hearing  this  Syagrus  could 
not  contain  himself  but  spoke  these  words  :  "Deeply,  I  trow,  would 
Agamemnon  son  of  Pelops  lament,  if  he  heard  that  the  Spartans  had 
had  the  leadership  taken  away  from  them  by  Gelon  and  by  the  Syra- 
cusans.  Nay,  but  make  thou  no  further  mention  of  this  condition, 
namely  that  we  should  deliver  the  leadership  to  thee ;  but  if  thou 
art  desirous  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  Hellas,  know  that  thou  wilt 
be  under  the  command  of  the  Lacedaemonians ;  and  if  thou  dost 

1  The  historian,  who  composed  this  speech,  has  confused  the  chronology :  the 
Carthaginian  invasion  occurred  in  the  following  year,  480. 


RIVALS  FOR  LEADERSHIP 


171 


indeed  claim  not  to  be  under  command,  come  not  thou  to  our  help 
at  all." 

160.  To  this  Gelon,  seeing  that  the  speech  of  Syagrus  was  ad- 
verse, set  forth  to  them  his  last  proposal  thus:  "Stranger  from 
Sparta,  reproaches  sinking  into  the  heart  of  a  man  are  wont  to  rouse 
his  spirit  in  anger  against  them ;  thou,  however,  though  thou  hast 
uttered  insults  against  me  in  thy  speech,  wilt  not  bring  me  to  show 
myself  unseemly  in  my  reply.  But  whereas  ye  so  strongly  lay 
claim  to  the  leadership,  it  were  fitting  that  I  should  lay  claim  to  it 
more  than  ye,  seeing  that  I  am  the  leader  of  an  army  many  times 
as  large  and  of  ships  many  more.  Since  however  this  condition  is 
so  distasteful  to  you,  we  will  recede  somewhat  from  our  former  pro- 
posal. Suppose  that  ye  should  be  leaders  of  the  land  army  and  I  of 
the  fleet ;  or  if  it  pleases  you  to  lead  the  sea  forces,  I  am  willing  to 
be  leader  of  those  on  land ;  and  either  ye  must  be  contented  with 
these  terms,  or  go  away  without  the  alliance  which  I  have  to  give." 
161.  Gelon,  I  say,  made  these  offers,  and  the  envoy  of  the  Athenians, 
answering  before  that  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  replied  to  him  as 
follows:  "0  king  of  the  Syracusans,  it  was  not  of  a  leader  that 
Hellas  was  in  want  when  it  sent  us  to  thee,  but  of  an  army.  Thou 
however  dost  not  set  before  us  the  hope  that  thou  wilt  send  an  army, 
except  thou  have  the  leadership  of  Hellas ;  and  thou  art  striving 
how  thou  mayest  become  commander  of  the  armies  of  Hellas.  So 
long  then  as  it  was  thy  demand  to  be  leader  of  the  whole  army  of 
the  Hellenes,  it  was  sufficient  for  us  Athenians  to  keep  silence, 
knowing  that  the  Lacedaemonian  would  be  able  to  make  defense 
even  for  us  both ;  but  now  since  being  repulsed  from  the  demand 
for  the  whole  thou  art  requesting  to  be  commander  of  the  naval 
force,  we  tell  thee  that  thus  it  is :  —  not  even  if  the  Lacedaemonian 
shall  permit  thee  to  be  commander  of  it,  will  we  permit  thee ;  for 
this  at  least  is  our  own,  if  the  Lacedaemonians  themselves  do  not 
desire  to  have  it.  With  these,  if  they  desire  to  be  the  leaders,  we 
do  not  contend ;  but  none  others  beside  ourselves  shall  we  permit 
to  be  in  command  of  the  ships  ;  for  then  to  no  purpose  should  we  be 
possessors  of  a  sea  force  larger  than  any  other  which  belongs  to  the 
Hellenes,  if,  being  Athenians,  we  should  yield  the  leadership  to 
Syracusans,  we  who  boast  of  a  race  which  is  the  most  ancient  of 
all  and  who  are  of  all  the  Hellenes  the  only  people  who  have  not 


172    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 

changed  from  one  land  to  another ;  to  whom  also  belonged  a  man 
who  Homer  the  Epic  poet  said  was  the  best  of  all  who  came  to 
Ilion  in  drawing  up  an  army  and  setting  it  in  array.  Thus  we  are 
not  justly  to  be  reproached  if  we  say  these  things."  162.  To  this 
Gelon  made  answer  thus  :  "  Stranger  of  Athens,  it  would  seem  that 
ye  have  the  commanders,  but  that  ye  will  not  have  the  men  to  be 
commanded.  Since  then  ye  will  not  at  all  give  way,  but  desire  to 
have  the  whole,  it  were  well  that  ye  should  depart  home  as  quickly 
as  possible  and  report  to  the  Hellenes  that  the  spring  has  been 
taken  out  of  their  year."  1  Now  this  is  the  meaning  of  the  saying  : 
—  evidently  the  spring  is  the  noblest  part  of  the  year ;  and  so  he 
meant  to  say  that  his  army  was  the  noblest  part  of  the  army  of  the 
Hellenes :  for  Hellas  therefore,  deprived  of  his  alliance,  it  was,  he 
said,  as  if  the  spring  had  been  taken  out  of  the  year. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Laced,emon.  (i)  Sources.  —  The  sources  for  early  Lacedaemon  are 
relatively  abundant.  .  New  light  has  been  thrown  on  her  civilization  by  the 
excavations  of  the  English,  see  B.  S.  A.,  beginning  with  XI  (1904-05).  The 
seventh  century  is  represented  by  Alcman  and  Tyrtaeus.  A  large  part  of 
Herodotus  (see  Index)  is  given  to  Lacedaemonian  affairs.  Xenophon,  Con- 
stitution of  the  Lacedemonians,  treats  mainly  of  early  conditions,  as  does  also 
Plutarch,  Lycurgus. 

(2)  Modern  Writers.  —  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vi ;  Bury,  ch.  iii ; 
Greenidge,  Gk.  Const.  Hist.  ch.  v;  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  1-81 ;  Abbott,  I.  chs. 
vi,  viii ;  Curtius,  bk.  II.  ch.  i ;  Grote,  II.  chs.  vi,  vii ;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  I. 
510-611,  700-11. 

The  following  studies  are  more  special:  Niese,  B.,  " Herodotstudien  be- 
sonders  zur  spartanischen  Geschichte,"  in  Hermes,  XLII  (1907).  419-68; 
Decker,  De,  "La  genese  de  l'organisation  civique  des  Spartiates,"  in  Archiv 
soc.  bull.  no.  25  (Brussels,  1913).  306-13  ;  Nilsson,  M.  P.,  "Die  Grundlagen  des 
spartanischen  Lebens,"  in  Klio,  XII  (1912).  308-40;  Bolte,  F.,  "Beitrage  zur 
Topographie  Lakoniens,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  XXXIV  (1909).  376-92  ;  Sihler,  E.  G., 
"Aristotle's  Criticisms  on  the  Spartan  Constitution,"  in  Class.  Rev.  VII  (1893), 
439-43  ;  Niese,  "  Neue  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  und  Landeskunde  Lakedamons," 
mGott.  Gesellsch.  (1906).  pp.  101-42,  very  valuable,;  Heidemann,  L.,  Die  territoriale 
Entwickelung  Lakedaimons  bis  auf  Alexander  (Berlin,  Diss.) ;  Toynbee,  A.  J., 
"The  Growth  of  Sparta,"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXXIII  (1913).  246-75  ;  Kuchtner,  K., 
Entstehung  und  Urspriingliche  Bedeutung  des  spartanischen  Ephorats  (Munich, 


1  The  foregoing  conversation,  though  a  fiction,  truly  represents  the  Greek  spirit. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


i73 


1897);  Jeanmaire,  H.,  in  Rev.  des  et.  gr.  XXVII.  no.  117,  on  the  crypteia; 
Girard,  P.,  "Crypteia,"  in  Daremberg-Saglio,  Diet.  III.  871-3  ;  Caillemer,  E. ; 
yepovaia,  ib.  II.  1549;  " Hypomeiones,"  ib.  III.  350-2;  "Homoioi,"  ib.  III. 
233-4;  Lecrivain,  C,  "Helotae,"  ib.  III.  67-71;  Miller,  J.,  "Gerontes, 
Gerusia,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VII.  1264-7  ;  Szanto,  "Ephoroi,"  ib. 
V.  2860-4;  Oehler,  J.,  "Heloten,"  ib.  203-6;  Schulthess,  "Homoioi,"  ib. 
VIII.  2252-9 ;  Solari,  A.,  Ricerche  spartane  (Livorno,  1907),  reprints  of  studies ; 
Wide,  S.,  Lakonische  Kulte  (Leipzig,  1893) ;  Droop,  J.  P.,  "Dates  of  the  Vases 
called  'Cyrenaic,'"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXX  (1910).  1-34;  Bethe,  E.,  "Die  dorische 
Knabenliebe,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LXII  (1907).  438-75;  Semenov,  A.,  same  sub- 
ject, in  Philol.  LXX  (191 1).  146-50. 

II.  Athens,  (i)  Sources.  —  For  Attica  before  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century,  no  contemporary  written  material,  excepting  perhaps  a  list  of  annual 
officials,  is  know  to  have  existed.  The  earliest  known  source  is  the  Draconian 
code,  a  part  of  which  has  survived.  On  the  conditions  immediately  following 
Draco  the  Poems  of  Solon  throw  a  clear  light.  His  Laws,  too,  including  some 
which  soon  became  obsolete,  are  known  to  us  through  later  writers.  From 
about  600,  inscriptions  begin  to  appear,  though  during  the  sixth  century  they 
remain  scant.    A  considerable  part  of  the  History  of  Herodotus  (cf.  i.  59-64 ; 

v.  62-96,  and  see  Index)  is  given  to  Athens;  then  Thucydides  i.  20;  hi.  104; 

vi.  53-9.  In  the  fourth  century  special  histories  of  Attica,  termed  Atthides, 
began  to  appear ;  the  most  important  were  those  of  Androtion  and  Philochorus. 
The  former  was  the  main  source  of  Aristotle,  Constitution  of  the  Athenians, 
which  traces  the  development  of  the  constitution  from  the  earliest  times  to 
404-03,  and  describes  in  detail  the  government  and  administration  during  the 
writer's  own  time.  From  the  History  of  Ephorus,  also  fourth  century,  Dio- 
dorus  drew  the  greater  part  of  his  material  on  Athenian  history.  Later  sources, 
though  of  great  value,  are  Plutarch,  Theseus ;  Solon;  Aristeides ;  Themistocles ; 
Pausanias,  bk.  i.  See  also  references  to  the  scattered  literature  in  the  modern 
authorities  on  the  subject. 

(2)  Modern  Writers.  —  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vii ;  Bury,  chs.  iv,  v ; 
Holm,  I.  chs.  xxvi,  xxviii;  Curtius,  bk.  II.  ch.  ii  (tyranny);  Greenidge,  Gk. 
Const.  Hist.  124-62. 

More  special  are  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  95-153;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  II. 
1-449,  most  thorough  treatment ;  Grote,  III.  chs.  x,  xi ;  IV.  xxx,  xxxi ;  Bots- 
ford, Ath.  Const,  chs.  vii-xi;  Glotz,  G.,  Etudes  sociales  et  juridiques  sur  V anti- 
quity grecque  (Paris,  1906) ;  De  Sanctis,  G.,  Storia  delta  repubblica  ateniese 
(2d  ed.  Torino,  1912);  Reinach,  A.,  "Atthis,  les  origines  de  l'etat  athenien," 
in  Revue  Synthese  historique,  XXIV  (1912).  297-318;  XXV.  1-25,  143-80; 
Ledl,  A.,  Studien  zur  alter  en  athenischen  Verfassungsgeschichte  (Heidelberg: 
Winters,  1914) ;  Wellmann,  M.,  "Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  der  attischen 
Konigsliste,"  in  Hermes,  XLV  (1910).  554-63  ;  Wilbrandt,  M.,  "Politische  und 
sociale  Bedeutung  der  attischen  Geschlechter  vor  Solon,"  in  Philol.  supplb. 
VII  (1899).  133-228;  Szanto,  E.,  "Die  griechischen  Phylen,"  in  Ausgewahlte 
Schriften  (Tubingen,  1906).  216-88;  Lezius,  " Gentilizische  und  lokale  Phylen 


174    GOVERNMENT  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


in  Attika,"  in  Philol.  LXI  (1907).  321-35  ;  Bolkstein,  H.,  "Zur  Entstehung  der 
'ionischen'  Phylen,"  in  Klio,  XIII  (1913).  424-50;  Solmsen,  F.,  Nawcpapos, 
NawAapos,  NamAT/pos,  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LIII  (1898).  151-8;  Helbig,  W.,  "Les 
vases  du  Dipylon  et  les  naucraries,"  Acad,  des  inscr.  XXXVI.  1  (1898).  387- 
421:  "Les  t7T7ret?  atheniens,"  ib.  XXXVII.  1  (1904).  157-264;  Hofmann,  J., 
Studien  zur  drakontischen  Verfassung  (Straubing,  1899);  Ziehen,  L.,  "Die 
drakontische  Gesetzgebung,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LIV  (1899).  321-44;  Hirzel,  R., 
Themis,  Dike  und  Verwandtes  (Leipzig,  1907) ;  Adcock,  F.  E.,  "Source  of  the 
Solonian  Chapters  of  the  Athenaion  Politeia,"  in  Klio,  XII  (1912).  1-16 ; 
"Source  of  Plutarch,  Solon,  20-24,"  in  Class.  Rev.  XXVIII  (1914).  38-40; 
Gilliard,  Quelques  reformes  de  Solon  (Lausanne,  1907) ;  Viedebantt,  O.,  "Met- 
rologische  Beitrage,  I,  II,"  in  Hermes,  XL VII  (1912).  422  sq.,  562  sq.,  includes 
Solon's  coinage;  Stern,  E.  v.,  "Solon  und  Peisistratos,"  in  Hermes,  LXVIII 
(1913).  426-41 ;  Ure,  "Origin  of  the  Tyrannies,"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXVI  (1906). 
131-42  ;  Milchhofer,  A.,  "  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  Demenordnung  des  Kleis- 
thenes,"  Abhdl.  Berl.  Acad.  (1892) ;  "Zur  attischen  Lokalverfassung,"  in  Ath. 
Mitt.  XVIII  (1893),  277  sqq. ;  Schoeffer,  v.,  "AiJ/xoi,"  in  Pauly-AVissowa, 
Real-Encycl.  V.  1-131 ;  Martin,  A.,  Notes  sur  VOstracisme  dans  Athenes  (Paris, 
1907);  Carcopino,  J.,  "Histoire  de  l'ostracisme  athenien,"  in  Melanges 
histoire  ancienne  (Paris,  1909).  85-266. 

Dorpfeld,  W.,  "Alt-Athen  zur  Konigszeit,"  in  Philol.  LXV  (1906).  129-41 ; 
Drerup,  E.,  "Beitrage  zur  Topographie  von  Alt-Athen,"  ib.  LXIV  (1905). 
66-94;  Milchhofer,  A.,  "Athen  und  Thukydides  II.  15,"  ib.  170-9;  Graber, 
F.,  "Die  Enneakrunos,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  XXX  (1905).  1-64,  the  water-system; 
Schrader,  H.,  Auswahl  archaischer  M armor skulptur en  im  Akropolis  Museum; 
Frickenhaus,  A.,  "Das  Athenabild  des  alten  Tempels  in  Athen,"  in  Ath.  Mitt. 
XXXIII  (1908).  17-32;  "Erechtheus,"  ib.  171-6. 

III.  The  Ionic  Revolt  and  the  Great  War  with  Persia  and  Car- 
thage. (1)  Sources.  —  Besides  memorial  inscriptions  the  only  contemporary  lit- 
erary source  is  ^Eschylus,  Persians.  With  book  iv  Herodotus,  in  narrating  the 
"  Scythian  expedition  "  of  Darius,  begins  his  account  of  the  great  conflict  between 
the  Orient  and  Hellas,  which  continues  through  the  remainder  of  his  history. 
Scattered  through  all  subsequent  literature  of  the  ancients  are  passages  of 
varying  length  and  reliability  relating  to  the  same  period. 

(2)  Modern  Writers.  —  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  chs.  x,  xi ;  Bury,  His- 
tory of  Greece,  vi,  vii ;  Holm,  I.  ch.  xxiii;  II.  chs.  i-vi;  Abbott,  II.  i-v,  xii; 
Grote,  IV.  chs.  xxxii-xxxv,  xxxviii-xliii ;  Freeman,  History  of  Sicily,  II.  chs. 
v,  vi ;  Grundy,  G.  B.,  Great  Persian  War  (Scribner,  1901) ;  Hall,  H.  R.,  Ancient 
History  of  the  Near  East  (Methuen,  1913),  ch.  xii. 

Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  II.  1-74 ;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  II.  450-806 ;  Meyer, 
Gesch.  d.  Alt.  III.  3-484- 


CHAPTER  V 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 
During  the  period  750-479  B.C. 

The  only  contemporary  sources  for  this  subject  are  the  poets  (see  p.  7  sqq.). 
The  character  of  the  extant  fragments  of  their  poems  is  such  as  to  make  a 
topical  arrangement  impracticable.  In  most  cases,  therefore,  the  poet's  name 
is  given  as  the  heading.  A  few  passages  from  prose  writers  of  a  later  date  are 
also  included. 

35.  A  Prototype  of  the  Malthusian  Theory 

(Cypria,  opening  lines;  from  Lawton,  Successors  of  Homer,  16  sq.) 

Once  on  a  time  was  Earth  by  the  races  of  men  made  weary, 
Who  were  wandering  numberless  over  the  breadth  of  her  bosom. 
Zeus  with  pity  beheld  it,  and  took  in  his  wise  heart  counsel 
How  to  relieve  of  her  burden  the  Earth,  life-giver  to  all  things, 
Fanning  to  flame  that  terrible  struggle,  the  war  upon  Troia. 
So  should  the  burden  by  death  be  removed :  and  they  in  the  Troad 
Perished  —  the  heroes ;  the  counsel  of  Zeus  was  brought  to  ful- 
filment. 

36.  The  Captive  Widow  and  her  Young  Son 

(Little  Iliad;  from  Lawton,  op.  cit.  32) 

Then  the  illustrious  son  1  of  the  noble-hearted  Achilles 
Down  to  the  hollowed  vessels  the  widow  of  Hector  conducted. 
As  for  the  child,  from  the  breast  of  the  fair-tressed  servant  he  tore 
him, 

Grasped  by  the  feet,  and  hurled  him  down  from  the  tower ;  and 
upon  him 

Crimson  death  as  he  fell  laid  hold  —  and  a  destiny  ruthless. 

1  Neoptolemus.  The  widow  of  Hector  is  Andromache,  and  her  son  is  Asty- 
anax. 

i7S 


176 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


37.  The  Festival  to  Apollo  at  Delos 

(Homeric  Hymn  to  the  Delian  Apollo,  140-64) 

But  thyself,  O  Prince  of  the  Silver  Bow,  far-darting  Apollo, 
didst  now  pass  over  rocky  Cynthus,  now  wandering  among  temples 
and  men.  Many  are  thy  fanes  and  groves,  and  dear  are  all  the  head- 
lands, and  high  peaks  of  lofty  hills,  and  rivers  flowing  onward  to 
the  sea  ;  but  with  Delos,  Phoebus,  art  thou  most  delighted  at  heart, 
where  the  long-robed  Ionians  gather  in  thine  honor,  with  children 
and  chaste  dames.  Mindful  of  thee,  they  delight  thee  with  boxing 
and  dances  and  minstrelsy  in  their  games.  Whoso  then  encoun- 
tered them  at  the  gathering  of  the  Ionians,  would  say  that  they  are 
exempt  from  eld  and  death,  beholding  them  so  gracious,  and  would 
be  glad  at  heart,  looking  on  the  men  and  fair-girdled  women  and 
their  much  wealth  and  their  swift  galleys.  Moreover,  there  is  this 
great  marvel  of  renown  imperishable,  the  Delian  damsels,  hand- 
maidens of  the  far-darter.  They,  when  first  they  have  hymned 
Apollo  and  next  Leto  and  Artemis  the  Archer,  then  sing  in  memory 
of  the  men  and  women  of  old  time,  enchanting  the  tribes  of  mortals. 
They  are  skilled,  too,  to  mimic  the  notes  and  dance  music  of 
all  men,  so  that  each  would  say  himself  were  singing,  so  well  woven 
is  their  fair  chant. 

38.  The  Five  Races 

(Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  109-201.     All  the  selections  from  Hesiod  are 
from  Mair's  translation,  revised  on  the  basis  of  the  Greek  text  by  E.  G.  S.) 

First  of  all,  a  golden  race  of  mortal  men  did  the  Immortal 
Dwellers  in  Olympus  fashion.  These  lived  in  the  time  of  Cronos 
when  he  was  king  in  Heaven.  Like  gods  they  lived,  having  a  soul 
unknowing  sorrow,  apart  from  toil  and  travail.  Neither  were  they 
subject  to  miserable  eld,  but  ever  the  same  in  hand  and  foot,  they 
took  their  pleasure  in  festival  apart  from  all  evil.  And  they  died  as 
overcome  of  sleep.  All  good  things  were  theirs.  The  bounteous 
earth  bare  fruit  for  them  of  their  own  will,  in  plenty  and  without 
stint.  And  they  in  peace  and  quiet  lived  on  their  lands  with  many 
good  things,  rich  in  flocks  and  dear  to  the  blessed  gods.  But  since 
this  race  was  hidden  in  the  earth,  Spirits  they  are  by  the  will  of 


DECLINE  OF  MAN 


177 


mighty  Zeus  :  good  Spirits,  on  earth,  keepers  of  mortal  men  :  who 
watch  over  dooms  and  the  sinful  works  of  men,  faring  everywhere 
over  the  earth,  cloaked  in  mist :  givers  of  wealth.  Even  this  kingly 
privilege  they  received. 

Then  next  the  Dwellers  in  Olympus  created  a  far  inferior  race, 
a  race  of  silver,  nowise  like  to  the  golden  race  in  body  or  in  mind. 
For  a  hundred  years  the  child  grew  up  by  his  good  mother's  side, 
playing,  in  utter  childishness  within  his  home.  But  when  he  grew 
to  manhood  and  came  to  the  full  measure  of  age,  for  but  a  little 
space  they  lived  and  in  sorrow  by  reason  of  their  foolishness.  For 
they  could  not  keep  heinous  insolence  from  the  other,  neither  would 
they  worship  the  deathless  gods,  nor  do  sacrifice  on  the  holy  altars 
of  the  Blessed  Ones,  as  is  the  manner  of  men  wheresoever  they  dwell. 
Wherefore  Zeus  in  anger  put  them  away,  because  they  gave  not 
honor  to  the  blessed  gods  who  dwell  in  Olympus.  Now  since  this 
race  too  was  hidden  in  earth,  they  are  called  the  blessed  mortals 
under  ground :  of  lower  rank,  yet  they  too  have  their  honor. 

Then  Zeus  the  Father  created  a  third  race  of  mortal  men,  a  race 
of  bronze,  not  resembling  the  silver  race,  terrible  and  strong  from 
their  ashen  spears  :  whose  delight  was  in  the  dolorous  works  of  Ares 
and  in  insolence.  Bread  they  ate  not ;  but  souls  they  had  stubborn 
of  adamant,  unapproachable  :  great  was  their  might  and  invincible 
the  arms  and  hands  that  grew  from  their  shoulders  on  stout  frames. 
Of  bronze  was  their  armor,  of  bronze  their  dwellings,  with  bronze 
they  wrought.  Black  iron  was  not  yet.  These  by  their  own  hands 
slain  went  down  to  the  dank  house  of  chill  Hades,  nameless.  And 
black  Death  slew  them,  for  all  that  they  were  mighty,  and  they  left 
the  bright  light  of  the  sun. 

Now  when  this  race  also  was  hidden  in  earth,  yet  a  fourth  race 
did  ZeUs  the  Son  of  Cronos  create  upon  the  bounteous  earth,  a  juster 
race  and  better,  a  godlike  race  of  hero  men  who  are  called  demigods, 
the  earlier  race  upon  the  boundless  earth.  And  them  did  evil  war 
and  dread  battle  slay,  some  at  seven-gated  Thebes,  the  land  of 
Cadmus,  fighting  for  the  flocks  of  Oidipodes :  some  when  war  had 
brought  them  in  ships  across  the  great  gulf  of  the  sea  to  Troy  for 
the  sake  of  fair-tressed  Helen.  There  did  the  issue  of  death  cover 
them  about.  But  Zeus  the  Father,  the  Son  of  Cronos,  gave  them  a 
life  and  an  abode  apart  from  men,  and  established  them  at  the  ends 


i78 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


of  the  earth  afar  from  the  deathless  gods  :  among  them  is  Cronos 
king.  And  they  with  soul  untouched  of  sorrow  dwell  in  the  Islands 
of  the  Blest  by  deep-eddying  Oceanos  :  happy  heroes,  for  whom  the 
bounteous  earth  beareth  honey-sweet  fruit  fresh  thrice  a  year. 

I  would  then  that  I  lived  not  among  the  fifth  race  of  men,  but 
either  had  died  before  or  had  been  born  afterward.  For  now  verily 
is  a  race  of  iron.  Neither  by  day  shall  they  ever  cease  from  toil 
and  woe,  neither  in  the  night  from  wasting,  and  sore  cares  shall 
the  gods  give  them.  Howbeit  even  for  them  shall  good  be  mingled 
with  evil.  But  this  race  also  of  mortal  men  shall  Zeus  destroy  when 
they  shall  have  hoary  temples  at  their  birth.  Father  shall  not  be 
like  to  his  children,  neither  the  children  like  unto  the  father  :  neither 
shall  guest  to  host,  nor  friend  to  friend,  nor  brother  to  brother  be 
dear  as  aforetime :  and  they  shall  give  no  honor  to  their  swiftly 
ageing  parents,  and  shall  chide  them  with  words  of  bitter  speech, 
sinful  men,  knowing  not  the  fear  of  the  gods.  These  will  not  re- 
turn to  their  aged  parents  the  price  of  their  nurture :  but  might 
shall  be  right,  and  one  shall  sack  the  other's  city.  Neither  shall 
there  be  any  respect  of  the  oath  abiding  or  of  the  just  or  of  the  good  : 
rather  shall  they  honor  the  doer  of  evil  and  the  man  of  insolence. 
Right  shall  lie  in  might  of  hand,  and  Reverence  shall  be  no  more : 
the  bad  shall  wrong  the  better  man,  accosting  him  with  crooked 
words  and  abetting  them  with  an  oath.  Envy,  brawling,  rejoicing 
in  evil,  of  hateful  countenance,  shall  follow  all  men  to  their  sorrow. 
Then  verily  shall  Reverence  and  Retribution  veil  their  fair  bodies 
in  white  robes  and  depart  from  the  wide-wayed  earth  unto  Olympus 
to  join  the  company  of  the  Immortals,  forsaking  men  :  but  for  men 
that  die  shall  remain  but  miserable  woes :  and  against  evil  there 
shall  be  no  avail. 

39.  Righteousness  and  Justice 
(Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  202-69) 

Now  will  I  tell  a  tale  to  princes  though  they  themselves  are  wise. 
Thus  spake  the  hawk  to  the  nightingale  of  speckled  neck,  as  he  bore 
her  far  aloft  to  the  clouds  in  the  clutch  of  his  talons,  while  she,  on 
his  crooked  talons  impaled,  made  pitiful  lament :  unto  her  he  spake 
masterfully:   'Wretch!  wherefore  dost  thou  shriek?    Lo !  thou 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  AND  JUSTICE 


179 


art  held  in  the  grasp  of  a  stronger.  There  shalt  thou  go,  even 
where  I  carry  thee,  for  all  thy  minstrelsy.  And  as  I  will,  I  shall 
make  my  meal  of  thee,  or  let  thee  go.  A  fool  is  he  who  would  con- 
tend with  the  stronger.  He  loseth  the  victory  and  suffereth  an- 
guish with  his  shame.'  So  spake  the  swift-flying  hawk,  the  long- 
winged  bird.  .  .  . 

Whoso  to  stranger  and  to  townsman  deal  straight  judgments, 
and  no  whit  depart  from  justice,  their  city  flourisheth  and  the  people 
prosper  therein.  And  there  is  in  their  land  peace,  that  reareth  the 
young,  and  Zeus  doth  never  decree  troublous  war  for  them.  Neither 
doth  Famine  ever  consort  with  men  who  deal  straight  judgments, 
nor  Doom  :  but  with  mirth  they  tend  the  works  that  are  their  care. 
For  them  earth  beareth  much  livelihood,  and  on  the  hills  the  oak's 
top  beareth  acorns,  the  oak's  midst  bees :  their  fleecy  sheep  are 
heavy  with  wool  :  their  wives  bear  children  like  unto  their  fathers  : 
they  flourish  with  good  things  continually,  neither  go  they  on  ships, 
but  bounteous  earth  beareth  fruit  for  them.  But  whoso  pursue 
evil  insolence,  and  froward  works,  for  them  doth  Zeus  of  the  far- 
seeing  eyes,  the  Son  of  Cronos,  decree  justice.  Yea,  oftentimes  a 
whole  city  reapeth  the  recompense  of  the  evil  man  who  sinneth 
and  worketh  the  works  of  foolishness.  On  them  doth  the  Son  of 
Cronos  bring  from  Heaven  a  grievous  visitation,  even  famine  and 
plague  together,  and  the  people  perish.  Their  women  bear  not 
children :  their  houses  decay  by  devising  of  Olympian  Zeus :  or 
anon  He  destroyeth  a  great  host  of  them  within  a  wall  it  may  be, 
or  the  Son  of  Cronos  taketh  vengeance  on  their  ships  in  the  sea. 

O  Princes,  do  ye  too  consider  this  vengeance.  For  the  Im- 
mortals are  nigh  among  men  and  remark  them  that  with  crooked 
judgments  oppress  one  another,  taking  no  heed  of  the  anger  of  the 
gods.  Yea,  thrice  ten  thousand  Immortals  are  there  on  the  boun- 
teous earth,  who  keep  watch  over  mortal  men :  who  watch  over 
judgments  and  froward  works,  clad  in  mist,  faring  everywhere  over 
the  earth.  Also  there  is  the  maiden  Justice,  the  daughter  of  Zeus, 
glorious  and  worshipful  among  the  gods  who  hold  Olympus.  And 
whenever  one  injureth  her  with  crooked  reviling,  straightway  she 
sitteth  by  Zeus  the  Father  the  Son  of  Cronos,  and  telleth  of  the 
unrighteous  mind  of  men,  till  the  people  pay  for  the  folly  of  their 
kings,  who  with  ill  thoughts  wrest  aside  judgments,  declaring  falsely. 


i8o 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


Beware  of  these  things,  0  Kings,  and  set  straight  your  speech, 
bribe-devourers,  and  utterly  forget  crooked  judgments.  He  de- 
viseth  evil  for  himself  who  deviseth  evil  for  another,  and  the  evil 
counsel  is  worst  for  him  that  counselleth.  The  eye  of  Zeus,  that 
seeth  all  things  and  remarketh  all,  beholdeth  these  things  too,  and 
He  will,  and  He  faileth  not  to  notice  what  manner  of  justice  this  is 
that  our  city  holdeth.  .  .  . 

40.  Rural  Economy 
(Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  405-705) 

Get  a  house  first  and  a  woman  and  a  plowing  ox  1  —  a  slave 
woman  —  not  a  wife  —  who  might  also  follow  the  oxen  :  and  get 
all  gear  arrayed  within  the  house,  lest  thou  beg  of  another  and  he 
deny  thee  and  thou  go  lacking,  and  the  season  pass  by,  and  thy 
work  be  minished.  Neither  put  off  till  the  morrow  nor  the  day  after. 
The  idle  man  filleth  not  his  barn,  neither  he  that  putteth  off.  Dili- 
gence prospereth  work,  but  the  man  who  putteth  off  ever  wrestleth 
with  ruin. 

What  time  the  might  of  the  keen  sun  abateth  sweltering  heat, 
when  Zeus  Almighty  raineth  in  the  autumn  and  the  flesh  of  men 
turneth  lighter  far  —  for  then  the  star  Sirius  goeth  over  the  heads 
of  men  born  to  death  but  for  a  brief  space  in  the  daytime,  and 
taketh  a  greater  space  of  the  night  —  then  is  wood  cut  with  iron 
axe  less  liable  to  be  wormeaten,  but  sheddeth  its  leaves  to  earth 
and  ceaseth  to  sprout.  Then  be  thou  mindful  to  cut  wood  :  a  sea- 
sonable work.  Three  foot  cut  thy  mortar,  a  pestle  of  three  cubits 
an  axle  of  seven  feet :  so  will  it  be  right  meet.  Howbeit  if  thou  cut 
it  of  eight  feet,  thou  canst  cut  therefrom  a  mallet.  Three  spans 
cut  thou  the  felloe  for  a  wagon  of  ten  palms.  Cut  therewithal 
many  bent  planks.  And  bring  thou  home  a  plowbeam,  when  thou 
findest  it  by  search  on  hill  or  field  —  of  holm  oak :  For  this  is  the 
strongest  to  plow  with,  when  Athene's  servant  fasteneth  it  in  the 
share  beam  and  fixeth  it  with  dowels  to  the  pole.  Get  thee  two 
plows,  fashioning  them  at  home,  one  of  the  natural  wood,  the  other 
jointed,  since  it  is  far  better  to  do  so.    So  if  thou  break  the  one, 

1  These  directions  evidently  are  for  the  farmer  of  small  means.  Soon,  however, 
and  without  notice,  he  takes  in  mind  the  lord  of  a  considerable  estate. 


DIRECTIONS  FOR  FARMING  181 


thou  canst  yoke  the  oxen  to  the  other.  Freest  of  worms  are  poles 
of  bay  or  elm.  Get  thee  then  sharebeam  of  oak,  plowbeam  of  holm, 
and  two  oxen,  bulls  of  nine  years.  For  the  strength  of  such  is  not 
weak,  in  the  fulness  of  their  age :  they  are  best  for  work.  They 
will  not  quarrel  in  th*e  furrow  and  break  the  plow,  and  leave  their 
work  undone.  And  with  them  let  a  man  of  forty  follow,  his  dinner 
a  loaf  of  four  quarters,  eight  pieces,  who  will  mind  his  work  and 
drive  a  straight  furrow,  no  more  gaping  after  his  fellows,  but  having 
his  heart  in  his  work.  Than  he  no  younger  man  is  better  at  sowing. 
For  the  mind  of  a  younger  man  is  fluttered  after  his  age-fellows. 

Take  heed  what  time  thou  hearest  the  voice  of  the  crane  from 
the  high  clouds  uttering  her  yearly  cry,  which  bringeth  the  sign  for 
plowing  and  showeth  forth  the  season  of  rainy  winter,  and  biteth 
the  heart  of  him  that  hath  no  oxen.  Then  feed  thou  the  oxen  of 
crooked  horn  in  their  stalls.  For  an  easy  thing  it  is  to  say,  Give 
me  a  team  of  oxen,  and  a  wagon ;  but  easy  also  is  it  to  refuse : 
Mine  oxen  have  work  to  do.  The  man  whose  wealth  is  in  his  im- 
agining saith  he  will  build  a  wagon.  Fool !  who  knoweth  not  that 
a  wagon  hath  a  hundred  pieces  of  wood?  Whereof  take  thou 
thought  beforehand  to  lay  them  up  at  home.  And  when  first  plow- 
ing appeareth  for  men,  then  haste  thyself  and  thy  thralls  in  wet  and 
dry  to  plow  in  the  season  of  sowing,  hasting  in  the  early  morn  that 
so  thy  fields  may  be  full.  Plow  in  spring,  but  the  field  that  is 
fallowed  in  summer  will  not  belie  thee.  Sow  the  fallow  field  while 
yet  the  soil  is  light.  Fallow  land  is  a  defender  of  doom,  a  com- 
forter of  children. 

And  pray  thou  unto  Zeus  the  Lord  of  Earth  and  unto  pure 
Demeter  that  the  holy  grain  of  Demeter  may  be  full  and  heavy : 
thus  pray  thou  when  first  thou  dost  begin  thy  plowing,  when  grasp- 
ing in  thy  hand  the  end  of  the  stilt-handle  thou  comest  down  on  the 
backs  of  the  oxen  as  they  draw  the  pole  by  the  yoke  collar.  And 
let  a  young  slave  follow  behind  with  a  mattock  and  cause  trouble 
to  the  birds  by  covering  up  the  seed.  For  good  husbandry  is  best 
for  mortal  men  and  bad  husbandry  is  worst.  So  will  the  grain  ears 
nod  with  ripeness  to  the  ground,  if  the  Lord  of  Olympus  himself 
vouchsafe  a  good  issue.  So  shalt  thou  drive  the  spider's  web 
from  thy  vessels  and  I  have  hope  that  thou  wilt  rejoice  as  thou 
takest  of  thy  store  of  livelihood.    And  in  good  case  thou  shalt  come 


182  ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


to  grey  spring  and  shalt  not  look  to  others,  but  another  shall  have 
need  of  thee. 

But  if  at  the  turning  of  the  sun  thou  dost  plow  the  goodly  earth, 
sitting  shalt  thou  reap,  grasping  a  little  in  thy  hand,  binding  it 
contrariwise,  covered  with  dust,  no  way  rejoicing.  And  in  a  basket 
shalt  thou  bring  it  home,  and  few  there  be  that  shall  admire  thee. 
Otherwise  at  other  times  is  the  will  of  Zeus  the  Lord  of  the  ^Egis 
and  hard  for  mortal  men  to  know.  But  if  thou  plowest  late,  this 
shall  be  a  charm  for  thee.  When  first  the  cuckoo  uttereth  his  note 
amid  the  leaves  of  the  oak  and  rejoiceth  men  over  the  limitless 
earth,  then  may  Zeus  rain  on  the  third  day  and  cease  not,  neither 
overpassing  the  hoof 1  of  an  ox  nor  falling  short  thereof :  so  shall 
the  late  plower  vie  with  the  early.  Keep  thou  all  things  well  in 
mind  nor  fail  to  mark  either  the  coming  of  grey  spring  or  seasonable 
rain. 

But  pass  by  the  smith's  forge  and  crowded  assembly  place 2  in  the 
winter  season  when  cold  constraineth  men  from  work,  wherein  a 
diligent  man  would  greatly  prosper  his  house,  lest  the  helplessness 
of  evil  winter  overtake  thee  with  poverty  and  thou  press  a  swollen 
foot  with  lean  hand.  But  the  idle  man  who  waiteth  on  empty 
hope,  for  lack  of  livelihood  garnereth  many  sorrows  for  his  soul. 
Hope  is  a  poor  companion  for  a  man  in  need,  who  sitteth  in  an  as- 
sembly place  of  men  when  he  hath  no  livelihood  secured.  Nay, 
declare  thou  to  thy  thralls  while  it  is  still  midsummer :  It  will  not 
be  summer  always ;  build  ye  barns. 

But  the  month  Lenaion,3  evil  days,  cattle-flaying  every  one,  do 
thou  shun,  and  the  frosts  that  appear  for  men's  sorrow  over  the 
earth  at  the  breath  of  Boreas,  which  over  Thrace  the  nurse  of  horses 
bloweth  on  the  wide  sea  and  stirreth  it  up :  and  earth  and  wood 
bellow  aloud.  Many  an  oak  of  lofty  foliage  and  many  a  stout  pine 
in  the  mountain  glens  doth  his  onset  bring  low  to  the  bounteous 
earth,  and  all  the  unnumbered  forest  crieth  aloud,  and  wild  beasts 
shudder  and  set  their  tails  between  their  legs,  even  they  whose  hide 
is  covered  with  fur.  Yea,  even  through  these,  shaggy-breasted 
though  they  be,  he  bloweth  with  chill  breath.  Through  the  hide  of 
the  ox  he  bloweth,  and  it  stayeth  him  not,  and  through  the  thin- 

1  I.e.,  filling  the  cavity  in  the  soil  made  by  the  imprint  of  a  hoof. 

2  Meeting  place  of  a  club.  3  December-January. 


MARRIAGE;  LUCKY  DAYS  183 

haired  goat :  but  nowise  through  the  sheep  doth  the  might  of  the 
wind  Boreas  blow,  because  of  their  year's  growth  of  wool.  But  it 
maketh  the  old  man  trip  along.  Through  the  delicate  maiden  it 
bloweth  not,  who  within  the  house  abideth  by  her  dear  mother's 
side,  not  yet  knowing  the  works  of  golden  Aphrodite :  when  she 
hath  bathed  her  tender  body  and  anointed  her  with  olive  oil  and 
lieth  down  at  night  within  the  house,  on  a  winter  day,  when  the 
Boneless  One  1  gnaweth  his  own  foot  within  his  fireless  house  and 
cheerless  home. 

In  the  flower  of  thine  age  lead  thou  home  thy  bride,  when  thou 
art  not  far  short  of  thirty  years  nor  far  over.  This  is  the  timely 
marriage.  Four  years  past  maturity  be  the  woman  :  let  her  marry 
in  the  fifth.  Marry  a  maiden  that  thou  mayest  teach  her  good 
ways.  Marry  a  neighbor  best  of  all,  with  care  and  circumspection, 
lest  thy  marriage  be  a  joy  to  thy  neighbors.  For  no  better  spoil 
doth  a  man  win  than  a  good  wife,  even  as  than  a  bad  wife  he  win- 
neth  no  worse  —  a  gluttonous  woman,  that  roasteth  her  husband 
without  a  brand,  and  giveth  him  over  to  untimely  age. 

41.  Items  from  a  Farmer's  Calendar 
(Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  793-828) 

On  the  great  twentieth 2  at  full  day 3  should  a  wise  man  be  born. 
Verily  such  a  one  shall  be  of  discreet  mind. 

The  tenth  day  is  a  good  day  for  the  birth  of  males,  the  middle 
fourth  for  the  birth  of  a  girl.  On  that  day  tame  thou  by  touch  of 
hand  sheep  and  horned  trailing  kine  and  sharp-toothed  dog  and 
sturdy  mules.  But  beware  in  thy  heart  that  griefs  assail  thee  not 
on  the  fourth,  whether  of  the  waning  or  the  waxing  month.  It  is 
a  very  fateful  day. 

On  the  fourth  of  the  month  lead  home  thy  bride,  distinguishing 
the  birds  that  are  best  for  this  business. 

The  fifth  days  avoid  since  they  are  hard  and  dread.  On  the 
fifth  day  they  say  the  Erinyes  attended  the  birth  of  Horcos,  whom 
Eris  bare  to  be  the  bane  of  men  that  swear  falsely. 

1  A  mollusk. 

2  The  twentieth  of  that  month  in  which  is  the  longest  day  of  the  year ;  Flach's  note. 

3  The  Romans,  too,  considered  a  birth  in  the  daytime  as  of  better  omen,  hence  the 
frequency  of  their  praenomen  Lucius. 


1 84 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


On  the  middle  seventh  circumspectly  cast  the  grain  of  Demeter 
on  the  rounded  threshing-floor.  And  let  the  woodman  cut  wood 
for  the  house,  and  much  timber  for  ship-building,  even  such  timber 
as  is  meet  for  ships. 

On  the  fourth  day  begin  the  building  of  slender  ships. 

The  middle  ninth  is  a  better  day  toward  afternoon.  The  first 
ninth  is  utterly  harmless  for  men.  A  good  day  is  this  to  beget  or 
to  be  born,  whether  for  man  or  woman  :  and  it  is  never  a  day  of  evil. 

Few  men,  however,  know  that  the  twenty-seventh  is  best  to 
broach  the  jar  and  to  set  the  yoke  on  necks  of  oxen  and  of  mules 
and  swift-footed  horses,  and  to  draw  down  to  the  wine-dark  sea 
the  swift  ship  many-benched.  Few  men  call  it  truly.  On  the 
fourth  day  open  the  jar.  The  middle  fourth  is  above  all  a  holy 
day.  Few  again  know  that  the  fourth  which  followeth  the  twentieth 
of  the  month  is  the  best  at  dawn,  but  it  is  worse  toward  afternoon. 
These  days  are  a  great  boon  to  men  on  earth.  But  the  others  are 
shifty  and  fateless,  and  bring  naught.  Another  praiseth  another 
day  but  few  men  know.  Anon  a  day  is  a  stepmother,  anon  a 
mother.  Therein  happy  and  blessed  is  he  who,  knowing  all  these 
things,  worketh  his  work  blameless  before  the  deathless  gods. 

42.  Tyrt^us 

For  a  translation  of  the  only  extant  poem,  substantially  complete,  of 
Callinus,  see  Botsford,  Source-Book  of  Ancient  History,  141.  For  a  translation 
of  a  fragment  of  Tyrtaeus  not  given  here,  op.  cit.  141-3. 

(The  fragments  given  below  are  from  the  Eunomia,  "Good  Government. " 
The  numbers  are  those  of  Bergk,  Anthologia  Lyrica.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Aristotle,  Politics,  v.  6.  2:  "In  the  aristocratic  governments  risings  occur  .  .  . 
further,  whenever  one  class  is  excessively  resourceless,  and  the  others  are  well 
off,  and  especially  does  this  happen  in  wars.  And  this  came  to  pass  also  in 
Lacedaemon  at  the  time  of  the  Messenian  war.  It  is  also  evident  from  the 
verse  of  Tyrtaeus,  the  so-called  Eunomia ;  for  some,  being  hard-pressed  on  ac- 
count of  the  war,  demanded  that  the  land  be  divided  afresh." 

Pausanias  iv.  18.  1:  "The  Lacedaemonians  made  a  decree,  since  they  were 
tilling  the  soil  more  for  those  in  Eira  (a  fortress  held  by  the  Messenians)  than 
for  themselves,  that  Messenia  and  the  contiguous  strip  of  Laconia,  while  they 
were  engaged  in  war,  should  be  left  unseeded.  And  from  this  resulted  a  scarcity 
of  grain  in  Sparta,  and  with  the  scarcity  of  grain  a  civil  disturbance :  for  those 
who  had  their  possessions  there  would  not  endure  it  that  their  own  should  be 
untilled :  and  for  these  Tyrtaeus  solved  their  differences." 


SPARTA 


2.  For  Cronion  himself,  the  spouse  of  fair- wreathed  Hera, 
Zeus,  gave  this  commonwealth  to  the  scions  of  Heracles, 
With  whom,  forsaking  windy  Erineos,  we  arrived  in  the 
Broad  Isle  of  Pelops.1 

3.  Greed  for  money  will  undo  Sparta  and  nothing  else;.2 
For  thus  he  with  the  silver  bow,  the  far-working  lord  Apollo, 
He  of  the  Golden  locks,  gave  oracle  from  his  rich  shrine. 

4.  Having  listened  to  Phoebus,  they  bore  from  Delphi  home 
The  oracles  of  the  god  and  consummating  words : 

That  god-honored  kings  should  be  rulers  of  counsel 
Whose  concern  is  the  winsome  commonwealth  of  Sparta, 
And  aged  elders ;  and  then  men  of  the  people 
In  full  harmony  with  straightforward  sentences 
Should  utter  what  is  fair  and  nought  but  justice  do, 
Nor  counsel  for  this  town  [unseemly  things]  .  .  . 
And  for  the  commons'  multitude  should  victory  and  power  ensue  : 
For  thus  did  Phoebus  reveal  for  the  commonwealth  about  these 
things 3 

5.  To  our  king  Theopompus,  beloved  of  the  gods, 
On  whose  account  we  captured  broad  Messene, 
Messene  good  to  plow  and  good  to  plant ; 

For  it  they  fought  full  nineteen  years, 
Ceaselessly  ever,  possessing  enduring  spirit, 
Men  of  the  lance,  the  sires  of  our  sires ; 

And  in  the  twentieth  year  the  one  party  did  leave  their  fertile 
fields,  • 

And  fled  from  the  great  mountains  of  Ithome.4 

1  This  is  the  earliest  reference  to  the  " Dorian  migration."  Erineos  is  a  town  in 
Doris,  from  which  according  to  the  view  here  presented  the  "scions  of  Heracles"  with 
their  followers  migrated  to  Peloponnese. 

2  From  this  statement  and  from  other  evidence  it  is  clear  that  the  social  conditions 
at  Sparta  in  the  seventh  century  were  quite  different  from  those  of  the  fifth  and  fourth 
centuries;  cf.  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  chs.  vi,  xxi. 

3  In  this  stanza  the  poet  declares  that  the  organization  of  the  Lacedaemonian  govern- 
ment into  kings,  elders,  and  assembly  of  citizens,  with  their  several  functions,  is  a  divine 
dispensation,  the  revelation  of  Apollo.  On  this  ground  it  is  the  religious  duty  of  every 
one  to  attend  to  his  appointed  function. 

4  The  first  Messenian  war,  here  briefly  described,  was  waged  about  700  B.C. ;  Busolt, 
Griech.  Cesch.  1.  589  sq.  According  to  the  text  the  object  of  the  Spartans  was  conquest. 
The  two  remaining  stanzas,  6  and  7,  describe  the  condition  of  the  subject  Messenians. 


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ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


6.  Like  asses  ground  by  heavy  burdens, 
Bringing  to  their  masters  from  grievous  necessity 
One  half  of  all  the  product  that  the  soil  doth  bear, 

7.  Lamenting  their  masters,  both  wives  and  themselves, 
Whenever  the  pernicious  lot  of  death  overtakes  one. 

43.  Alcman 

(Parthenion,  "  Girls'  Choral  Song,"  4.  36  sqq.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 
On  Alcman  and  the  importance  of  his  poetry,  see  p.  12. 

4.  From  the  gods  is  vengeance ;  but  he  is  happy  who  cheerily 
weaves  the  web  of  his  days  unweeping.  I  sing  the  light  of  Agido ; 
I  see  her  like  the  sun,  which  Agido  attests  is  shining  for  us.  As  for 
myself,  may  the  illustrious  maiden-leader  of  the  choir  not  let  me 
be  either  praised  or  blamed  at  all.1  For  she  seems  to  be  distin- 
guished for  her  comeliness  in  such  a  manner,  as  though  one  were  to 
place  among  the  grazing  cattle  a  steed  compactly  made,  that  won 
the  prizes  with  ringing  hoof,  (a  creature)  of  winged  dreams. 

5.  Indeed,  seest  thou  not?  The  swift  steed  is  an  Enetan;2 
and  the  streaming  tresses  of  my  maiden-cousin  grace  her  like  gold 
unalloyed ;  silver-like  her  countenance :  frankly  what  shall  I  tell 
you?  Agesichora  is  she.  But  she  who  is  second  after  Agido  in 
form,  will  run  as  a  steed  from  Scythia  to  the  Eibeni.3  For  the 
stars  of  the  Pleiades  struggle  with  us  as  we  are  bearing  a  mantle  to 
Artemis,  rising  during  the  ambrosial  night  like  Sirius. 

6.  For  neither  is  there  so  great  a  satiety  of  purple  as  to  ward 
off  (our  competitors),  nor  serpent-shaped  variegated  (bracelet),  nor 
Lydian  head-band,  adornment  of  maidens  with  long  eyelashes,4  nor 
the  tresses  of  Nanno,  but  not  even  divine  Areta,  nor  Sylacis  and 
Cleesisera ;  nor  will  you  come  into  the  chorus  of  vEnesimbrota  and 
say:  " Would  that  Astaphis  were  mine!  and  would  that  Philylla 

1  Evidently  Alcman  is  the  trainer  of  the  chorus  for  whom  he  is  writing  this  ode. 

2  The  Eneti  were  a  people  of  Paphlagonia;  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  V.  2562. 
Hence  the  horse  is  supposed  to  have  come  from  that  country. 

3  The  word  Kolaxaios  signifies  "Scythian"  (Hdt.  iv.  5).  The  Eibeni  were  a  race  in 
Lydia  that  bred  horses,  Greek  forerunners  perhaps  of  the  Ionians  —  the  Ionitae ;  cf. 
Stephanus  of  Byzantium,  s.v. 

4  If  the  text  is  correct,  it  means  eyelashes  like  a  garment,  veiling  the  eye. 


A  SOLDIER  OF  FORTUNE 


187 


direct  her  glance  toward  me!"  But  Agesichora  keeps  me 
safe.1  .  .  . 

44.  Archilochus 

(Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

3.  In  my  lance  is  kneaded  bread;  in  my  lance  is  wine  of 
Ismarus ;  and  I  drink  while  leaning  on  my  lance.2 

5.  But  come,  with  earthen  drinking- vessel  through  the  rowers' 
seats  of  the  swift  ship  3  wend  thou  thy  way,  and  pull  the  lids  from 
hollow  jars,  and  gather  red  wine  from  the  must :  for  not  even  we 
will  be  able  to  be  sober  on  this  watch. 

6.  My  shield  is  now  the  boast  of  some  Saian,  (my  shield)  which 
by  a  thicket  unscathed  I  forsook  against  my  will ;  but  I  myself 
escaped  death's  consummation.  As  for  that  shield,  good  riddance  ! 
another  time  I  shall  acquire  one  that  will  not  be  worse.4 

9.  Groanful  troubles  lamenting,  O  Pericles,5  neither  will  any 
one  of  the  citizens  nor  the  city  itself  rejoice  in  feasts ;  such  men  the 
wave  of  the  loud-roaring  sea  washes  away,  and  our  hearts  are 
swollen  with  grief.  But  for  incurable  ills,  the  gods,  my  friend,  have 
set  endurance  as  the  mighty  remedy :  sometimes  this  one,  some- 
times that  one  has  the  affliction ;  but  now  it  has  turned  to  us,  and 
we  lament  a  bleeding  wound.  Another  time  to  others  it  will  turn ; 
but  forthwith  bear  up,  thrusting  from  you  womanish  sorrowing 
sore. 

20.  This  (island)  6  like  a  donkey's  spine  doth  stand ;  covered 

1Agido  and  Agesichora,  daughters  of  the  king,  are  leaders  of  the  chorus  for 
whom  Alcman  writes.  Stanzas  4  and  5  sing  their  praises.  Stanza  6  describes  the 
competing  chorus :  Agesichora  alone  saves  us  from  defeat  at  its  hands !  On  the 
poem  in  general,  see  Diels,  H.,  "Alkmans  Partheneion,"  in  Hermes,  XXXI  (1896) 
339-74. 

2  This  verse  is  a  drastic  expression  of  his  mercenary  life. 

3  He  is  serving  on  shipboard ;  perhaps  he  is  now  a  pirate,  as  when  he  says  :  "There 
were  seven  dead  men  trampled  under  foot  and  we  were  a  thousand  murderers ; "  Murray. 

4  Here  he  boasts  of  having  thrown  away  his  shield  —  a  soldier's  most  disgraceful 

act. 

5  This  stanza  is  addressed  to  Pericles  on  the  death  of  friends  by  shipwreck ;  it 
illustrates  the  character  of  a  man  subject  indeed  to  great  griefs,  but  whose  courageous 
spirit  forthwith  rallies  from  despondency. 

6  The  island  is  Thasos,  to  which  he  had  gone  as  a  colonist  in  quest  of  gold.  He  con- 
trasts the  island  with  charming  Italy  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sybaris. 


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ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


with  savage  forests ;  for  there  is  no  fair  spot  nor  a  lovely  one,  nor 
charming  such  as  is  about  the  currents  of  the  Siris  stream. 

24.  For  Gyges  1  care  I  not,  the  one  so  rich  in  gold,  nor  ever  did 
envy  possess  me,  nor  do  I  look  with  jealousy  upon  the  works  of 
gods ;  of  mighty  princely  power  I  shall  not  speak :  for  it  is  far  away 
from  mine  eyes. 

56.  Glaucus,  look !  for  now  the  deep  is  troubled  by  the  waves, 
and  about  the  heights  of  Gyros  stands  a  towering  cloud,  a  sign 
of  storm:  from  lack  of  hope  doth  fear  come  over  me. 

58.  Leave  all  things  to  the  gods :  ofttimes  from  evil's  they  lift 
men  up  that  lie  upon  the  black  soil,  and  ofttimes  do  they  overturn 
them,  even  when  they  stand  firmly,  and  lay  them  on  their  backs ; 
then  many  troubles  come ;  ■  and  in  quest  of  lif e  he  wanders,  and  his 
mind  is  overturned. 

45.  Semonides  (Simonides)  of  Amorgos 

(Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

In  way  diverse  did  God  fashion  woman's  mind 
At  first ;  one  out  of  the  long-bristled  swine, 
In  whose  abode  all  is  upside  down  in  mire, 
And  lies  in  foul  disorder,  rolls  along  the  ground, 
Herself  unwashed,  her  garments  unlaundered 
She  sits  mid  filth  and  groweth  fat. 

Another  woman  God  created  from  the  wicked  fox, 
Of  all  aknowing ;  of  evil  nothing 
Nor  of  better  things  doth  aught  escape  her  mind ; 
And  some  of  this  she  often  calleth  bad, 
Another,  excellent :  her  wrath  is  ever  so  or  so. 

Another  from  the  dog,  of  speedy  gait,  her  mother's  other  self. 

Set  all  to  hear  and  all  to  know 

Agazing  everywhere  and  roving  so, 

She  screams,  though  she  sees  no  mortal  soul. 

Not  even  though  he  threatened  could  her  husband  make  her  stop, 

1  Gyges  was  king  of  Lydia  about  this  time.  The  poem  is  the  expression  of  modera- 
tion in  desires. 


TYPES  OF  WOMEN 


Not  even  if  in  angry  fit  he'd  break  her  teeth  with  a  stone 
Nor  even  if  to  gentle  speech  resorteth  he 
Nor  either  if  'mid  guest-friends  she  should  chance  to  sit, 
But  firmly  does  she  hold  her  ineffectual  scream. 

Another  the  Olympians  shaped  of  earth 

And  then  bestowed  on  man  —  half-witted  she 

Nor  evil  nor  the  good  such  woman  knows ; 

Of  works  she  only  knows  how  to  eat ; 

Not  even  when  God  an  evil  tempest  makes, 

Though  shivering  will  she  draw  her  chair  closer  to  the  fire. 

Another  from  the  sea,  which  has  but  two-fold  thought ; 

One  day  she  laughs  and  blithesome  is ; 

The  guest  within  the  house  who  sees  her  will  commend : 

No  other  woman  better  than  this  one 

In  all  mankind  nor  fairer  is  to  see. 

Another  day  she  is  insufferable,  to  see  her  with  one's  eyes 

Or  to  approach  her,  but  she  rages  then 

Without  measure,  like  bitch  for  pups  concerned, 

Ungentle- she  to  all,  repelling  them. 

To  foes  and  friends  alike  demeans  herself 

Just  as  the  sea  without  a  quiver  often 

Stands  propitious,  a  great  joy  to  seafaring  men 

In  Summer's  season,  but  oftentimes  does  rage, 

With  heavy  beating  billows  moving  on ; 

To  such,  a  woman  of  such  kind  resembles. 

Another  from  the  ashen-colored  and  much  beaten  ass, 
Which  whether  by  constraint  or  by  the  urging  call 
Is  satisfied  to  do  all  her  toilsome  task, 

With  full  complacence :  meanwhile  she  munches  in  a  corner 
All  night,  all  day,  she  eateth  by  the  hearth.  .  .  . 

Another  one  a  dainty  steed  with  flowing  mane  produced,  m 
Who  turns  aside  from  servile  work  and  toil.  • 
A  gristmill  she'd  not  touch  nor  sieve 
Would  lift,  nor  dirt  throw  from  the  house, 
Nor  sit  by  the  fire,  keeping  from  the  soot : 


190 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


It  is  by  sheer  constraint  she  wins  her  husband's  friendship. 

On  every  day  she  washes  off  each  spot 

Twice,  sometimes  thrice ;  with  ointments  fragrant  is : 

And  always  wears  her  manelike  tresses  combed 

Deep  ;  with  blossoms  shades  she  them. 

A  comely  thing  to  see  is  such  a  wife 

For  others,  but  to  him  who  weds  her  proves  an  ill, 

Unless  he  be  a  prince  or  sceptered  sovereign, 

Who  with  such  things  his  fancy  doth  adorn. 

Another  from  the  ape  :  this  decidedly  Zeus 

Did  bestow  on  husbands  as  the  greatest  evil. 

Most  ugly  is  her  face ;  a  woman  such  as  she 

Goes  through  the  town,  all  mankind  laughs  at  her. 

Thickest  in  neck,  she  barely  plies  her  limbs, 

No  curving  hips,  of  withered  limbs :  O  wretched  goodman 

Who  does  embrace  such  evil  thing ; 

All  counsels  and  the  ways  of  people  does  she  know, 

Just  like  a  monkey,  ridicule  concerns  her  not, 

Nor  would  she  do  a  goodly  turn  to  anyone,  but  this,  she  1 

And  this  all  day  long  doth  she  plot  and  plan, 

To  work  the  greatest  evil  in  her  might. 

The  other  from  the  bee ;  fortunate  he  who  gets  her : 

For  she  alone  to  censure  furnishes  no  occasion, 

But  by  her  life  doth  bloom  and  doth  increase ; 

Dear  to  her  loving  spouse  she  groweth  old. 

Often  hath  she  given  birth  to  children  fair  and  famed. 

Distinguished  is  she  among  the  women  all  — 

A  grace  divine  doth  play  about  her  form. 

Nor  does  she  pleasure  take  to  sit  among  the  women, 

Where  they  do  hold  converse  of  scandals  bold. 

Such  are  the  wives  which  Zeus  doth  grant  to  men 

A  boon  of  grace,  the  best  there  are,  the  wisest  of  the  sex. 

For  Zeus  did  make  this  greatest  evil, 

The  woman ;  for  even  if  they  seem  to  furnish  usefulness, 

To  him  who  weds  them  most  they  prove  a  bane. 


JOYS  ARE  FEW  AND  FLEETING 


191 


For  never  he  with  cheerful  spirit  passes  through  a  day 

Complete,  who  with  a  woman  is.  .  .  . 

And  when  the  husband  most  does  seem  to  please  his  mood 

At  home  abiding,  be  it  fate  divine  or  kindliness  of  man, 

She  finds  some  word  of  censure,  helms  herself  to  fight. 

For  where  a  woman  is,  not  even  into  the  home 

With  willing  mind  (the  husband)  would  receive  a  stranger 

Who  arrives.  .  .  . 

46.  Mimnermus 
(Translated  by  E.  G.  S.)  . 

1.  What  living  is  there  and  what  charm  without  golden  Aphrodite? 
I  would  be  dead,  when  no  more  these  things  were  my  concern.  .  .  . 
If  youth's  blossoms  may  be  plucked 

For  men  and  for  women ;  but  when  there  comes  on 

Lamentable  age,  which  renders  ugly  even  the  comely  man, 

Ever  his  mind  is  ground  by  evil  cares  about, 

Nor  does  he  rejoice  in  gazing  at  beams  of  the  sun, 

But  he  is  hateful  to  boys,  unhonored  by  women, 

So  grievous  has  God  rendered  old  age. 

2.  Our  growth  is  like  the  leaves  in  the  season  of  much-blossoming 
Spring ;  when  swiftly  they  do  increase  in  the  beams  of  the  sun, 
Like  unto  these,  for  a  mere  ell  of  time  youth's  blossoms 

Do  we  enjoy,  from  gods  knowing  nor  evil 

Nor  good.    The  murky  Fates  stand  by  our  side, 

This  one  holding  goal  of  troublesome  old  age, 

And  the  other,  of  death ;  slender  the  measure  of  the 

Harvest  of  youth ;  as  far  as  the  sun  sheds  his  light  on  the  earth. 

But  when  this  consummation  of  bloom  has  passed, 

Straightway  to  die  is  better  than  living ; 

For  many  evils  ensue  in  the  spirit ;  one  time  one's  house 

Is  ruined,  lamentable  are  the  works  of  poverty ; 

Another  again  lacks  children,  yearning  chiefly  for  whom 

He  passes  under  the  earth  to  Hades'  realm ; 

Another  has  a  disease  that  consumes  his  spirit,  nor  is  there 

Any  of  men  to  whom  Zeus  gives  not  evils  abundant. 


192 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


14.  Not  his  courage  1  and  spirit  heroic,  such  as  I  learn  from 
my  fathers,  who  saw  him  driving  before  him  the  lines  of  the  Lydians 
fighting  on  steeds,  all  through  the  Hermian  plain,  wight  with  ashen 
spear,  —  by  no  means  his  spirit  did  censure  Pallas  Athene ;  pierc- 
ing was  his  hearty  courage,  when  he  among  the  fore-fighters  would 
sally,  in  the  onset  of  bloody  war,  bitterly  beset  by  the  missiles  of 
foemen ;  for  not  any  wight  'mong  the  enemies  was  better  then  he, 
to  advance  into  the  performance  of  the  mighty  din  of  battle,  when 
it  was  borne  along  in  the  beams  of  the  swift  sun-god. 

47.  Alcleus 

There  was  fierce  strife  between  the  nobles  and  the  democracy.  The  people 
were  led  by  demagogues,  who,  Alcaeus  protested,  were  aiming  to  make  them- 
selves tyrants.  Chief  among  them  was  Myrsilus.  Alcaeus,  the  inspiring 
genius  of  the  aristocratic  faction,  inveighed  against  Myrsilus  in  the  following 
well  known  lines  :  — 

This  man,  this  raving  idiot  here, 
With  rank  supreme  and  power  great, 
Will  quickly  overthrow  the  state ; 
Already  is  the  crisis  near. 

The  conspiracy  of  the  poet  and  his  adherents  against  Myrsilus  is  vouched  for 
in  a  scholium  attached  to  a  new  fragment:  "In  the  first  banishment,  when 
after  conspiring  against  Myrsilus,  Alcaeus  and  Phan  .  .  .  and  their  adherents 
failed  in  their  plot  and  fled  to  Pyrrha  [Lesbos]  before  they  could  be  brought  to 
trial."    While  in  exile  Alcaeus  thus  addressed  his  country :  — 

A.    APOSTROPHE  TO  HIS  COUNTRY 

(Newly  discovered  fragment ;  translated  by  J.  M.  Edmonds,  Classical  Review, 
XXIII,  1910,  pp.  241-3) 

What  purpose  or  intent  is  in  thee,  my  country,  that  thou  hast 
been  so  long  time  afraid?  Be  of  good  cheer;  for  thus  saith  the 
great  son  of  Cronos  himself,  whensoever  fear  of  dread  war  hath 
seized  upon  thee,  never  shall  neighbor  foeman,  nay  nor  one  that 

1  The  object  of  this  poem,  which  portrays  an  Ionian  hero  battling  for  his  country 
against  the  Lydians,  is  evidently  to  hold  up  to  his  fellow-citizens  a  pattern  of  martial 
virtue  at  a  time  when  the  Ionians  were  too  devoted  to  peace  to  defend  their  fatherland 
against  hostile  neighbors. 


SONGS  OF  CIVIL  WAR 


i93 


with  far-flung  misery  hither  on  shipboard  passeth  the  sea,  compass 
thee  about  with  tearful  combat,  unless  thou  of  thyself  send  afar 
all  the  best  of  thy  people  to  sunder  them  from  thee.  For  'tis  men 
that  are  a  city's  tower  in  war.  But  if  one  do  other  than  Zeus  did 
will  it,  him,  strive  as  he  may,  fate  ever  overwhelmeth.  .  .  .  For 
what  did  Tenages,  son  of  yEolus  prove,  whom  in  woeful  "War  the 
spear  of  his  brother  Macar  slew  of  old.  Touching  such  matters, 
this  is  now  my  prayer :  may  I  no  longer  behold  the  sunlight,  if 
the  son  of  Cleanax,  or  yonder  Split-Foot,  or  the  son  of  Archeanax, 
be  suffered  yet  to  live  by  one  whom,  casting  him  forth  from  his 
dear,  sweet  home,  Myrsilus  hath  done  to  death. 

While  in  exile  Alcaeus  addressed  the  following  poem  to  Melanippus,  who 
besought  him  to  come  back.  To  return  home,  the  poet  says,  would  be  as  diffi- 
cult as  to  recross  the  Acheron  from  Hades'  realm.  Sisyphus  hoped  to  escape 
death  but  met  with  a  worse  fate. 

B.    TO  MELANIPPUS 

(Newly  discovered  fragment ;  translated  by  J.  M.  Edmonds,  Classical  Review, 

XXVIII,  1914,  p.  76) 

There  are  extensive  lacunae,  which  the  translator  has  filled  by  conjecture. 

O  why,  Melanippus,  do  you  pray  you  might  be  with  me?  or 
why,  when  once  fate  has  sent  me  to  eddying  Acheron,  shall  I  hope 
to  recross  it  and  see  again  the  pure  light  of  the  sun  ?  Nay,  set  not 
your  desire  on  things  too  great.  King  Sisyphus  son  of  ^Eolus 
thought  with  a  craft  unsurpassed  to  have  escaped  death,  but  for 
all  his  cunning  he  crossed  the  eddying  Acheron  in  fate  the  second 
time ;  and  the  son  of  Cronos  ordained  that  he  should  have  below 
a  toil  the  woefullest  in  all  the  world.  So  I  pray  you  bewail  not 
these  things  [or  lament  not  so].  If  ever  cries  were  unavailing,  our 
cries  are  unavailing  now.  Assuredly  some  of  these  things  were  to 
be  suffered  with  an  enduring  heart.  When  the  wind  rises  in  the 
north,  no  skilful  pilot  puts  out  into  the  wide  sea. 

We  do  not  know  how  long  after  these  events  the  death  of  Myrsilus,  perhaps 
by  violence,  gave  Alcaeus  occasion  for  the  following  outburst  of  joy :  — 

Now  for  wine  and  joy  divine, 
Myrsilus  is  dead ! 


194 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


Now  'tis  meet  the  earth  to  beat 
With  quick  and  happy  tread ; 

For  Myrsilus  is  dead, 

Myrsilus  is  dead ! 

This  version  is  the  rendering  of  an  amended  text.  The  manuscript  read- 
ing (Bergk,  20)  is  simpler ;  "  Now  'tis  meet  to  drink  perforce  and  get  thor- 
oughly drunk,  for  Myrsilus  is  dead."  It  was  on  a  similar  occasion  of  civil  strife, 
when  his  fortunes  were  at  a  low  ebb,  that  he  composed  the  following  poem. 

C.    THE  SHIP  OF  STATE 

(Newly  discovered  fragment ;  translated  by  J.  M.  Edmonds,  Classical  Review, 

XXVIII.  78) 

The  sailors  have  cast  all  their  cargo  overboard  and  are  saving 
themselves  as  best  they  can.  Meanwhile  beaten  with  the  roaring 
wave,  she  (the  ship)  bethinks  her  that  she  no  longer  desires  to  fight 
with  storm  and  tempest,  but  would  willingly  strike  ,  a  reef  and  go 
to  the  bottom.  That  is  her  plight;  but  for  me,  dear  companions, 
I  would  forget  these  things  and  make  merry  here  with  you  and  with 
Bacchus.  And  yet  why  do  we  take  our  love  off  our  country,  even 
though  fools  have  thrown  all  she  hath  into  confusion? 

D.    THE  ARMORY 

This  is  one  of  his  "Songs  of  Party  Strife,"  in  which  he  tried  to  inspire  his 
comrades  with  new  courage  and  new  hope  of  success. 

The  spacious  hall  in  brazen  splendor  gleams, 
And  all  the  house  in  Ares's  honor  beams. 

The  helmets  glitter ;  high  upon  the  wall 
The  nodding  plumes  of  snowy  horse's  hair, 

Man's  noblest  ornaments,  wave  over  all ; 
And  brightly  gleaming  brazen  greaves  are  there, 

Each  hanging  safe  upon  its  hidden  nail, 

A  sure  defence  against  the  arrowy  hail. 
And  many  coats  of  mail,  and  doublets  stout, 

Breast-plates  of  new-spun  linen,  hollow  shields, 

Well-worn  and  brought  from  foe-abandoned  fields, 
And  broad  Chalcidian  swords  are  stacked  about. 

Bear  well  in  mind  these  tools  of  war,  they  make 

Easy  and  sure  the  work  we  undertake. 


A  FORMER  PUPIL 


i95 


E.  Spring 

I  feel  the  coming  of  the  flowery  Spring, 

Wakening  tree  and  vine ; 
A  bowl  capacious  quickly  bring 

And  mix  the  honeyed  wine. 

Weave  for  my  throat  a  garland  of  fresh  dill, 

And  crown  my  head  with  flowers, 
And  o'er  my  breast  sweet  perfumes  spill 

In  aromatic  showers. 

48.  Sappho 

a.  concerning  the  pupil  atthis  who  has  gone  to  another 

TEACHER 

A  newly  discovered  fragment,  translated  with  commentary  by  J.  M. 
Edmonds,  Classical  Review,  XXIII  (19 10)  103  sq.  Atthis,  a  pupil,  left  Sappho 
for  another  teacher  named  Andromeda.  This  fact  comes  from  frag.  41  (Bergk) : 
"Atthis,  it  has  become  hateful  for  thee  to  think  of  me,  and  now  thou  flutterest 
after  Andromeda."  In  frag.  33  she  says,  "I  loved  thee  once,  Atthis,  long  ago." 
The  new  fragment  is  from  a  different  poem,  as  the  meter  is  different  and  the 
third  person  is  used,  though  the  subject  is  the  same.  Contrary  to  our  own 
notion  of  propriety,  Sappho  felt  no  repugnance  to  regarding  the  details  of  toilet 
and  the  eating  of  dainties  as  subjects  for  lyrical  treatment.  The  chief  interest, 
however,  is  the  relation  between  teacher  and  pupil. 

So  my  Atthis  has  not  come  back,  and  in  sooth  I  would  I  were 
dead.  And  yet  she  wept  full  sore  to  leave  me  behind,  and  said, 
'  Alas  !  how  sad  our  lot,  Sappho ;  I  swear  'tis  all  against  my  will  I 
leave  thee.'  To  her  I  answered,  'Go  thy  way  rejoicing  and  re- 
member me;  for  thou  knowest  how  fond  I  was  of  thee.  And  if 
thou  rememberest  not,  Oh  then  I  am  fain  to  remind  thee  of  what 
thou  forgettest,  how  dear  and  beautiful  was  the  life  we  led  together. 
For  with  many  a  garland  of  violets  and  sweet  roses  mingled  thou 
hast  decked  thy  flowing  locks  by  my  side,  and  with  many  a  woven 
necklet  made  of  a  hundred  blossoms  thy  dainty  throat ;  and  with 
many  a  jar  of  myrrh  both  of  the  precious  and  of  the  royal  hast  thou 
anointed  thy  fair  young  skin  before  me,  and  lying  upon  the  couch, 
hast  thou  satisfied  thyself  with  dainty  meats  and  with  sweet  drinks.' 


196 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


B.    MNASIDICA,   SOMETIME  PUPIL  OF  SAPPHO 

A  newly  discovered  fragment,  translated  with  commentary  by  J.  M. 
Edmonds,  Classical  Review,  XXIII  (1910)  99-104.  The  poem  is  addressed 
to  a  pupil  who  is  still  with  Sappho,  but  the  subject  is  another  pupil,  who  has 
gone  to  live  at  Sardis,  probably  having  married  some  Lydian  grandee.  The 
poem  throws  further  light  on  Sappho's  school,  and  affords  an  interesting  glimpse 
of  the  social  relations  between  Lesbos  and  Lydia. 

Atthis,  our  beloved  Mnasidica  dwells  in  far-off  Sardis,  but  she 
often  sends  her  thoughts  hither,  recalling  how  once  we  used  to  live 
in  the  days  when  she  thought  thee  like  a  glorious  goddess,  and  loved 
thy  song  the  best.  Now  she  shines  among  the  dames  of  Lydia,  as 
after  sunset  the  stars  that  are  about  her,  when  she  spreads  her 
light  o'er  briny  sea  and  eke  o'er  flowery  field,  while  the  good  dew 
lies  on  the  ground  and  the  roses  revive  and  the  dainty  anthrysc  and 
the  honey  lotus  with  all  its  blooms.  And  oftentimes  when  our 
beloved,  wandering  abroad,  calls  to  mind  her  gentle  Atthis,  the 
heart  devours  her  tender  breast  with  the  pain  of  longing  ;  and  she 
cries  aloud  for  us  to  come  thither ;  and  what  she  says  we  know  full 
well,  thou  and  I,  for  Night,  the  many-eared,  calls  it  to  us  across  the 
dividing  sea. 

C.    TO  A  LADY  UNLEARNED 

(Translated  by  J.  A.  Symonds) 

Yea,  thou  shalt  die, 
And  lie 

Dumb  in  the  silent  tomb ; 
Nor  of  thy  name 
Shall  there  be  any  fame 

In  ages  yet  to  be  or  years  to  come : 
For  of  the  flowering  Rose, 
Which  on  Pieria  blows, 

Thou  hast  no  share : 
But  in  sad  Hades'  house, 
Unknown,  inglorious. 

'Mid  the  dim  shades  that  wander  there 
Shalt  thou  flit  forth  and  haunt  the  filmy  air. 


SONGS  OF  LOVE 


197 


D.    FAIREST  IS  THE  HEART'S  BELOVED 

(Newly  found  fragment  translated  by  J.  M.  Edmonds,  Classical  Review, 

XXVIII,  1914,  P-  75) 

Mr.  Edmonds  supposes  that  Sappho  is  in  exile  and  that  Anactoria  and 
another  woman  are  in  Mytilene.  Anactoria  has  fallen  in  love  with  a  soldier 
and  therefore  neglects  her  girl  friend.  Sappho  writes  to  Anactoria  lamenting 
that  she  (Sappho)  has  not  the  joy  of  close  contact  with  the  girl  neglected  by 
Anactoria.    It  is  possible,  however,  that  Sappho  personates  a  young  man. 

All  these  newly  discovered  fragments  abound  in  lacunae  and  the  conjec- 
tures offered  for  filling  them  are  only  tentative. 

The  fairest  thing  in  all  the  world  some  say  is  a  troop  of  horse- 
men, and  some  a  host  of  foot,  and  some  again  a  navy  of  ships  ;  but 
to  me  'tis  the  heart's  beloved.  And  'tis  easy  to  make  this  under- 
stood by  any.  When  Helen  surveyed  much  mortal  beauty,  she 
chose  for  best  the  destroyer  of  all  the  honor  of  Troy,  and  thought 
not  so  much  either  of  child  or  of  parent  dear,  but  was  led  astray 
by  Love  to  bestow  her  heart  afar;  for  woman  is  ever  easy  to  be 
bent  when  she  thinks  lightly  of  what  is  near  and  dear.  Even  so 
you  to-day,  my  Anactoria,  remember  not,  it  seems,  when  she  is 
with  you  one  of  whom  I  would  rather  the  sweet  sound  of  her  foot- 
fall and  the  sight  of  the  brightness  of  her  beaming  face  than  all  the 
chariots  and  armored  footmen  of  Lydia.  I  know  that  in  this  world 
man  cannot  have  the  best ;  yet  to  pray  for  a  share  in  what  was 
once  shared  is  better  than  to  forget  it. 

E.  A  LOVE  SONG 

(Translated  by  J.  A.  Symonds) 

Peer  of  gods  he  seemeth  to  me,  the  blissful 
Man  who  sits  and  gazes  at  thee  before  him, 
Close  beside  thee  sits,  and  in  silence  hears  thee 

Silverly  speaking, 
Laughing  love's  low  laughter.    Oh  this,  this  only 
Stirs  the  troubled  heart  in  my  breast  to  tremble! 
For  should  I  but  see  thee  a  little  moment, 

Straight  is  my  voice  hushed ; 


iq8 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


Yea,  my  tongue  is  broken,  and  through  and  through  me 
'Neath  the  flesh  impalpable  fire  runs  tingling ; 
Nothing  see  mine  eyes,  and  a  noise  of  roaring 

Waves  in  my  ear  sounds  ; 
Sweat  runs  down  in  rivers,  a  tremor  seizes 
All  my  limbs,  and  paler  than  grass  in  autumn, 
Caught  by  pains  of  menacing  death,  I  falter, 

Lost  in  the  love-trance. 

For  other  selections  from  Alcaeus  and  Sappho,  see  Botsford,  Source-Book 
of  Ancient  History,  143-6. 

49.  Anacreon 

the  upstart  artemon 

(Preserved  in  Athenaeus  xii.  533  e.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Blond  Eurypyte"  is  interested  in  Artemon,  who  moves  in  a  litter, 
who  formerly  had  a  shabby  garment,  coverings  tied  about  him,  and 
wooden  dice  in  his  ears^  and  a  worn  oxskin  about  his  flanks,  the 
unwashed  cover  of  a  worthless  shield,  the  comrade  of  bread-selling 
women  and  voluntary  prostitutes,  the  scoundrelly  Artemon,  de- 
vising the  life  of  a  cheat;  oft  putting  his  neck  in  the  stocks,  and 
oft  in  the  wheel,  and  often  scourged  on  back  with  leather  whip, 
his  hair  and  beard  pulled  out.  But  now  he  bravely  moves  along  in 
chariot,  wearing  golden  ear-rings,  the  son  of  Cyce,  and  carries  an 

umbrella  with  ivory  frame,  quite  like  the  women. 

t 

50.  Theognis 
(Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Know  this  thus :  but  have  no  fellowship  with  the  bad,  yet 
always  hold  to  the  good,1  and  with  them  do  drink,  and  eat  and  with 
them  do  sit,  and  them  do  please :  for  from  the  noble  thou  wilt 
learn  noble  lessons  but  if  thou  minglest  with  the  bad,  thou  wilt 
destroy  even  what  sense  thou  hast.  Hast  thou  learned  this,  then 
have  fellowship  with  the  good  and  some  day  thou  wilt  say  that  well 
I  counselled  my  friends.  .  .  . 

1  Generally  with  Theognis  "the  good"  are  the  blooded  nobility,  "the  bad,"  the 
commons  whether  rich  or  poor. 


ARISTOCRATIC  SENTIMENTS 


199 


No  good  men,  0  Cyrnus,  ever  did  ruin  any  town  :  but  whenever 
it  pleases  the  bad  to  be  overweening,  and  they  ruin  the  land,  and  give 
their  verdicts  in  favor  of  the  unrighteous  for  their  own  lucre's  sake, 
and  power,  —  then  do  not  hope  that  long  that  commonwealth  will 
be  still,  not  even  if  now  it  lies  in  perfect  rest,  whenever  these  things 
prove  pleasing  to  the  bad  men,  namely  gains  that  come  about  at- 
tended with  evil  to  the  land.  For  from  them  come  risings  and  civil 
slaughter  of  men  :  never  may  autocrat 1  be  pleasing  to  this  state.  .  .  . 

Cyrnus,  the  city  is  still  the  same,  but  the  people  are  other,  who 
before  knew  neither  rightful  verdicts  nor  laws,  but  about  their 
flanks  wore  out  the  skins  of  goats,  and  'yond  the  town  like  stags 
did  feed  from  soil.  And  now  they  are  the  Good,  O  son  of  Polypais, 
and  those  erst  noble  now  are  mean.  Who  could  endure  to  behold 
this  ?  One  another  they  cheat  while  laughing  at  each  other,  know- 
ing neither  the  minds  of  the  bad  nor  minds  of  the  good.2  .  .  . 

Rams  we  seek  and  asses,  O  Cyrnus,  and  stallions  of  noble  breed, 
and  men  desire  to  have  the  acquisition  of  the  good,  yet  a  nobleman 
does  not  care  to  marry  a  mean  woman  daughter  of  a  mean  man, 
(even)  if  she  bring  him  much  money.  But  a  maid  does  not  decline 
to  be  the  spouse  of  a  mean  man ;  she  wills  a  rich  man  instead  of 
a  good.  For  it  is  money  they  honor,  and  mean  man's  offspring 
marries  the  noble,  and  the  mean  man  mates  with  the  child  of  the 
good  : 3  riches  blended  the  stocks.  Thus  marvel  thou  not,  O  son  of 
Polypais,  that  the  race  of  the  citizens  loses  its  lustre,  for  the  noble 
is  mixed  with  the  mean. 

He  himself  though  he  knows  this  maid  to  be  of  mean  sire,  leads 
her  to  his  home,  induced  by  money,  he  of  fine  repute,  her  of  mean 
repute :  since  forceful  necessity  urges  him  on,  (necessity)  which 
rendered  patient  the  mind  of  the  groom. 

1  Monarch  (novvapxoi) . 

2  I.e.,  the  country  people,  once  clad  in  skins,  have  come  to  power,  and  the  blooded 
nobles  are  beneath  them. 

3  Theognis,  the  noble,  is  horrified  at  such  mesalliances. 


200 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


51.  SlMONIDES 
(Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

A.    ON  THE  BATTLE  OF  PLATiEA 

Centre  held  these  who  dwell  in  Ephyra 1  blessed  by  fountains, 
Experts  in  every  form  of  valor  in  war ; 

And  they  who  reside  in  the  city  of  Glaucus,  Corinthian  town, 

Who  set  up  fairest  witness  of  their  toils, 

Of  precious  gold  in  open  sky ;  and  for  them  it  extols 

Their  own  wide  fame  and  their  fathers : 

For  of  witnesses  best  is  gold  resplendent  in  ether. 

B.   VARIOUS  EPITAPHS 

Battling  for  Greece  the  Athenians  at  Marathon  level'd  the 
power  of  Persians,  wearers  of  gold. 

With  myriads  three  hundred  here  once  fought  from  Peloponnesus 
thousands  four.2 

Stranger,  report  to  the  Spartans,  that  here  we  lie,  obedient  to 
their  laws. 

Stranger,  once  we  dwelled  in  well-watered  Corinth ; 
But  now  Salamis,  isle  of  Ajax,  possesses  us ; 
[Capturing  with  ease  Phoenician  ships  and  Persians  and 
Medians,  holy  Hellas  we  saved.] 3 

1  An  earlier  name  of  Corinth. 

2  This  epitaph  on  the  Peloponnesians  who  fought  at  Thermopylae  is  taken  from 
Herodotus  vii.  228.  From  the  same  source  is  the  following  epitaph  on  the  three  hun- 
dred Spartans  who  fell  in  the  same  battle. 

3  This  epitaph  is  quoted  by  Dio  Chrysostom,  Or.  XXXVII.  109  (R)  under  the  name 
of  the  poet  Simonides.  It  is  quoted  likewise  but  without  the  name  by  Plutarch,  De 
malignitate  Herodoti,  to  show  the  unfairness  of  Herodotus  in  even  repeating  the  story 
that  the  Corinthians  tried  to  run  away  from  the  battle  of  Salamis  (Hdt.  viii.  94). 
Herodotus  adds  that  the  story  is  told  and  believed  only  by  the  Athenians,  while  the 
Corinthians  maintain  that  they  were  among  the  bravest  in  the  battle  —  a  contention 
in  which  they  are  borne  out  by  the  rest  of  the  Greeks. 

In  1895  M.  Dragoumis  found  in  Salamis  a  stone  which  had  long  served  as  a  door- 
step to  a  peasant's  cottage,  and  which  was  inscribed  with  the  first  two  lines  of  the  epi- 
taph. The  remainder,  —  the  part  inclosed  in  brackets,  —  did  not  belong  to 
the  genuine  epitaph.  Before  this  discovery  it  had  been  suspected  by  certain  scholars 
on  philological  grounds.  The  information  contained  in  this  note  has  been  kindly 
supplied  by  Professor  E.  D.  Perry,  Columbia  University. 


EPITAPH  AND  SKOLION 


20I 


Sons  of  Athenians  having  destroyed  the  host  of  the  Persians, 
Warded  away  from  their  fatherland  grievous  slavery.1 

This  is  the  tomb  of  that  Adimantus,  on  account  of  whose  plans 
Hellas  placed  on  her  head  the  wreath  of  freedom.2 

C.    TO  ARCHEDICE,  DAUGHTER  OF  HIPPIAS,  TYRANT  OF  ATHENS 

Of  a  man  who  once  in  Hellas  in  his  own  generation  held  foremost 
rank, 

Of  Hippias,  the  daughter  Archedice  this  dust  doth  conceal ; 
Who,  with  father  and  husband  and  brothers  as  princes, 
And  children,  was  not  elated  in  mind  to  sinful  presumption. 

52.  Skolion  to  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton 

(Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Skolia  the  Greeks  called  brief  poems  declaimed  by  individual  guests  at 
banquets,  in  turn,  or  . when  some  one  of  them  was  called  upon,  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  a  lyre  played  by  the  contributor  himself.  They  were  called 
Skolia  (crooked)  on  account  probably  of  a  permissible  freedom  or  irregularity 
of  metre.  The  subjoined  specimen  was  ascribed  to  an  Athenian,  Calli- 
stratus.  —  E.  G.  S. 

In  a  branch  of  myrtle  will  I  bear  my  sword 
Just  like  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton, 
When  they  slew  the  tyrant, 
And  made  Athens  a  place  of  equal  rights.3 

Dearest  Harmodius,  you  are  not  dead,  I  ween, 
But  in  the  islands  of  the  Blessed  they  say  thou  art, 
Where  are  swift  footed  Achilles 
And  Tydeus'  son,  they  say,  the  worthy  Diomede. 

In  a  branch  of  myrtle  will  I  bear  my  sword, 
Just  like  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton, 

1  This  epitaph  probably  refers  to  the  achievements  of  the  Athenians  at  Platsea. 

2  Adimantus  was  admiral  of  the  Corinthians  in  the  battle  of  Salamis. 

3  For  the  story  of  the  assassination  of  Hipparchus  by  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton, 
see  no.  29,  §  18.  As  a  reward  for  this  deed  the  democratic  government  of  Athens  de- 
creed to  the  descendants  of  the  two  tyrannicides  exemption  from  public  burdens  and 
various  public  honors  forever. 


202 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


When  at  the  sacrifices  of  Athena, 
They  slew  the  autocrat  Hipparchus. 

Ever  the  renown  of  you  two  will  be  upon  the  earth, 

Dearest  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton, 

Because  you  slew  the  tyrant 

And  made  Athens  a  place  of  equal  rights. 

53.  A  Sedition  in  Miletus 
(Heracleides  of  Pontus,  Concerning  Justice,  ii,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xii.  26) 

Heracleides  of  Heracleia  on  the  Pontus  was  a  pupil  of  Plato.  He  wrote 
many  works  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects,  literary,  musical,  scientific,  and 
philosophical.  His  treatise  on  Justice,  from  which  the  following  excerpt  was 
taken  by  Athenaeus,  contained  three  books;  Diogenes  Laertius  v.  86.  The 
fragments  are  collected  in  Mtiller,  C,  Frag.  hist,  grcec.  II.  p.  254  sqq.  See  also 
Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  II.  52-4. 

Heracleides  of  Pontus,  in  the  second  book  of  his  treatise  on 
Justice,  says, — "The  city  of  the  Milesians  fell  into  misfortunes, 
on  account  of  the  luxurious  lives  of  the  citizens,  and  on  account  of 
the  political  factions ;  for  the  citizens,  not  loving  equity,  destroyed 
their  enemies  root  and  branch.  For  all  the  rich  men  and  the  popu- 
lace formed  opposite  factions  (and  they  call  the  populace  Gergithae) . 
At  first  the  people  got  the  better,  and  drove  out  the  rich  men,  and, 
gathering  the  children  of  those  who  fled  into  some  threshing-floors, 
collected  a  lot  of  oxen,  and  so  trampled  them  to  death,  destroying 
them  in  a  most  impious  manner.  Therefore,  when  in  their  turn 
the  rich  men  got  the  upper  hand,  they  smeared  over  all  those  whom 
they  got  into  their  power  with  pitch,  and  so  burnt  them  alive.  And 
when  they  were  being  burnt,  they  say  that  many  other  prodigies 
were  seen,  and  also  that  a  sacred  olive  took  fire  of  its  own  accord  ;  on 
which  account  the  God  drove  them  for  a  long  time  from  his  oracle ; 
and  when  they  asked  the  oracle  on  what  account  they  were  driven 
away,  he  said  — 

My  heart  is  grieved  for  the  defenceless  Gergithae, 
So  helplessly  destroy'd  ;  and  for  the  fate 
Of  the  poor  pitch-clad  bands,  and  for  the  tree 
Which  never  more  shall  nourish  or  bear  fruit. 


LUXURY  203 

54.  Luxury  of  Athenian  Grandees  in  Early  Time 

(Heracleides  of  Pontus,  Concerning  Pleasure,  in  Athenaeus  xii.  5) 

The  city  of  the  Athenians,  while  it  indulged  in  luxury,  was  a 
very  great  city,  and  bred  very  magnanimous  men.  For  they  wore 
purple  garments  and  were  clad  in  embroidered  chitons.  They 
bound  their  hair  in  knots,  and  wore  golden  grasshoppers  over  their 
foreheads  and  in  their  hair.  Their  slaves  followed  them,  carrying 
folding  chairs  for  them,  in  order  that  if  they  wished  to  sit  down,  they 
might  not  be  without  some  proper  seat,  and  be  forced  to  put  up 
with  any  chance  seat.  These  men  were  such  heroes  that  they  con- 
quered in  the  battle  of  Marathon,  and  alone  worsted  the  power  of 
combined  Asia. 

55.  Luxury  of  the  Ionians 

(Democritus,  Concerning  the  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  quoted  by 
Athenaeus  xii.  19) 

Democritus  of  Ephesus,  who  wrote  the  work,  with  the  title  given  above, 
lived  in  the  Hellenistic  age.  See  Susemihl,  Griech.  Lit.  II.  387.  The  subjoined 
excerpt  is  the  only  known  fragment  of  the  work ;  cf.  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  grcec. 
IV.  383  sq. 

The  Magnesians  also,  who  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Mgeander, 
were  undone  because  they  indulged  in  too  much  luxury,  as  Callinus 
relates  in  his  Elegies ;  and  Archilochus  confirms  this  :  for  the  city 
of  Magnesia  was  taken  by  the  Ephesians.  And  concerning  these 
same  Ephesians,  Democritus,  who  was  himself  an  Ephesian,  speaks 
in  the  first  book  of  his  treatise  on  the  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus  ; 
where,  relating  their  excessive  effeminacy,  and  the  dyed  garments 
which  they  used  to  wear,  he  uses  these  expressions  :  —  "  And  as  for 
the  violet  and  purple  robes  of  the  Ionians,  and  their  saffron  garments, 
embroidered  with  round  figures,  those  are  known  to  every  one ;  and 
the  caps  which  they  wear  on  their  heads  are  in  like  manner  em- 
broidered with  figures  of  animals.  They  wear  also  garments  called 
sarapes,  of  yellow,  or  scarlet,  or  white,  and  some  even  of  purple : 
and  they  wear  also  long  robes  called  calasires,  of  Corinthian  work- 
manship;  and  some  of  these  are  purple,  and  some  violet-colored 
and  some  hyacinth-colored ;  and  one  may  also  see  some  which  are 
of  a  fiery  red,  and  others  which  are  of  a  sea-green  color.    There  are 


204 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


also  Persian  calasires,  which  are  the  most  beautiful  of  all.  And  one 
may  see  also,"  continues  Democritus,  "  the  garments  which  they 
call  actaeae ;  and  the  actaea  is  the  most  costly  of  all  the  Persian 
articles  of  dress :  and  this  actaea  is  woven  for  the  sake  of  fineness 
and  of  strength,  and  it  is  ornamented  all  over  with  golden  millet- 
grains  ;  and  all  the  millet-grains  have  knots  of  purple  thread  passing 
through  the  middle,  to  fasten  them  inside  the  garment."  And  he 
says  that  the  Ephesians  use  all  these  things. 

(Duris  of  Samos,  Annals  of  the  Samians,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xii.  30) 

Duris  was  a  pupil  of  Theophrastus,  and  for  a  time  ruler  of  his  native  island. 
He  wrote  in  twenty-nine  books  a  work  entitled  Histories,  beginning  with  the 
battle  of  Leuctra,  371,  and  some  minor  works.  Among  the  latter  was  his 
Annals  of  the  Samians  in  at  least  two  books.  For  his  fragments,  see  Miiller, 
Frag.  hist,  groec.  II.  pp.  466-88.  See  also  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  II.  160  sq.; 
Schwartz,  "  Duris,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  V.  1853-6. 

Duris,  speaking  concerning  the  luxury  of  the  Samians,  quotes 
the  poems  of  Asius,  to  prove  that  they  used  to  wear  armlets  on 
their  arms :  and  that,  when  celebrating  the  festival  of  the  Heraea, 
they  used  to  go  about  with  their  hair  carefully  combed  down  over 
the  back  of  their  head  and  over  their  shoulders ;  and  he  says  that 
this  is  proved  to  have  been  their  regular  practice  by  this  proverb 
—  "  To  go,  like  a  worshipper  of  Hera,  with  his  hair  braided." 
Now  the  verses  of  Asius  run  as  follows :  — 

And  they  march'd,  with  carefully  comb'd  hair 

To  the  most  holy  spot  of  Hera's  temple, 

Clad  in  magnificent  robes,  whose  snow-white  folds 

Reach'd  the  ground  of  the  extensive  earth, 

And  golden  knobs  on  them  like  grasshoppers, 

And  golden  chaplets  loosely  held  their  hair ; 

Gracefully  waving  in  the  genial  breeze ; 

And  on  their  arms  were  armlets,  highly  wrought, 

*****  and  sung 

The  praises  of  the  mighty  warrior. 

But  Heracleides  of  Pontus,  in  his  treatise  on  Pleasure,  says  that 
the  Samians,  being  most  extravagantly  luxurious,  destroyed  the  city, 
out  of  their  meanness  to  one  another,  as  effectually  as  the  Sybarites 
destroyed  theirs. 


LUXURY 


205 


56.  The  Sybarites 

(Clearchus,  Lives,  v,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xii.  15) 

Clearchus  of  Soli,  Cyprus,  was  a  pupil  of  Aristotle.  His  Lives,  in  at  least 
eight  books,  were  not  biographies  but  descriptions  of  various  classes  of  people. 
They  were  an  important  source  for  Athenaeus.  For  the  fragments,  see  Miiller, 
Fragmenta  historicorum  grcecorum,  II.  pp.  302-27.  See  also  Christ,  Griech. 
Lit.  II.  60. 

Why  need  we  mention  the  Sybarites,  among  whom  bathing 
attendants  and  pourers  of  water  were  first  introduced  in  fetters, 
in  order  to  prevent  their  going  too  fast,  and  to  prevent  their  scalding 
the  bathers  in  their  haste?  The  Sybarites  were  the  first  people, 
too,  who  forbade  those  who  practise  the  noisy  arts  from  dwelling 
in  their  city,  such  as  braziers,  smiths,  carpenters,  and  similar 
mechanics,  thus  providing  that  their  slumbers  should  always  be 
undisturbed.    It  used  to  be  unlawful  also  to  rear  a  cock  in  the  city. 

(Timaeus,  Sicelica  et  Italica,  vii,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xii.  15-18) 
On  Timaeus,  see  ch.  xviii,  D.  introduction. 

Timaeus  relates  concerning  them  that  a  citizen  of  Sybaris,  once 
going  into  the  country  and  seeing  the  farmers  digging,  said  that 
he  himself  felt  that  he  had  broken  his  bones  by  the  sight ;  and  some 
one  who  heard  him  replied:  "And  I,  when  I  heard  you  say  this, 
felt  as  if  I  had  a  pain  in  my  side."  Once  at  Croton  some  Sybarites 
were  standing  near  one  of  the  athletes  who  were  digging  up  dust  for 
the  palaestra,  and  said  that  they  marvelled  that  men  who  had  such 
a  city  had  no  slaves  to  dig  the  palaestra  for  them.  Another  Syba- 
rite, coming  to  Lacedaemon  and  being  invited  to  the  phidition, 
sitting  down  on  a  wooden  seat  and  eating  with  them,  said  that 
originally  he  had  been  surprised  at  hearing  of  the  valor  of  the  Lace- 
daemonians ;  but  that  now  that  he  had  seen  the  city,  he  thought 
that  they  in  no  respect  surpassed  other  men,  for  that  the  greatest 
coward  on  earth  would  rather  die  a  thousand  times  than  live  and 
endure  such  a  life  as  theirs. 

It  is  a  custom  among  them  that  even  their  children  up  to  the  age 
when  they  are  ranked  among  the  ephebi,  should  wear  purple  gowns 
and  curls  braided  with  gold.    It  is  a  custom  also  with  them  to 


206 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


breed  in  their  houses  little  manikins  and  dwarfs,  as  Timon  says, 
who  are  called  by  some  people  stilpones,  and  also  little  Maltese 
dogs,  which  follow  them  even  to  the  gymnasia.  .  .  . 

Furthermore  the  Sybarites  used  to  wear  garments  made  of 
Milesian  wool,  and  from  this  custom  arose  a  great  friendship  be- 
tween the  two  cities,  as  Timaeus  relates.  For  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Italy  the  Milesians  gave  the  preference  to  the  Etruscans,  and  of 
foreigners  to  the  Ionians  because  they  were  devoted  to  luxury. 
But  the  cavalry  of  the  Sybarites,  in  number  more  than  5000,  used 
to  march  in  procession  in  saffron-colored  robes  over  their  breast- 
plates; and  in  summer  their  young  men  used  to  go  away  to  the 
caves  of  the  Lusiades  nymphs,  and  live  there  in  all  kinds  of  luxury. 

Whenever  the  rich  men  of  Sybaris  left  the  city  for  the  country, 
although  they  always  travelled  in  carriages,  they  used  to  consume 
three  days  in  a  day's  journey.  Some  of  the  roads  which  led  to  their 
villas  in  the  country  were  covered  all  over  with  awnings;  and  a 
great  many  of  them  had  cellars  near  the  sea,  into  which  their  wine 
was  brought  by  canals  from  the  country.  Some  of  it  was  exported 
and  some  brought  to  the  city  in  boats.  They  celebrate  many  public 
festivals,  and  they  honor  with  golden  crowns  those  who  display 
great  magnificence  on  such  occasions,  and  proclaim  their  names  at 
public  sacrifices  and  games,  announcing  not  only  the  general  good 
will  of  such  people  toward  the  city  but  also  the  great  magnificence 
they  had  displayed  in  the  feasts.  On  these  occasions  they  even 
crown  those  cooks  who  have  served  up  the  most  exquisite  dishes. 
Among  the  Sybarites  there  were  found  baths  in  which,  while  lying- 
down,  people  were  steamed  with  warm  vapors.  .  .  .  Laughing  at 
those  who  left  their  country  to  travel  in  foreign  lands,  they  them- 
selves used  to  boast  that  they  had  grown  old  without  ever  having 
crossed  the  bridges  which  led  over  their  frontier  rivers. 

It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  besides  the  fact  of  their  riches, 
the  natural  character  of  their  country  —  since  there  are  no  harbors 
on  their  coasts  and  since  in  consequence  nearly  all  the  produce  of 
their  land  is  consumed  by  the  inhabitants  themselves  —  and  to 
some  extent  also  an  oracle  of  God  has  excited  them  all  to  luxury 
and  has  caused  them  to  live  in  practices  of  most  immoderate  dis- 
soluteness. Further,  their  city  lies  in  a  hollow,  and  in  summer  is 
liable  to  excess  of  cold  both  morning  and  evening ;  but  in  the  middle 


WOMEN  AT  BANQUETS 


207 


of  the  day  the  heat  is  intolerable,  so  that  the  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants believe  that  the  rivers  contribute  a  great  deal  to  their 
health.  On  this  account  it  has  been  said  that  an  inhabitant  of 
Sybaris  who  wishes  not  to  die  before  his  time  ought  never  to  see 
the  sun  rise  or  set.  .  .  . 

(Phylarchus,  Histories,  xxv,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xii.  20) 

Phylarchus  was  a  Greek  historian  who  wrote  in  great  detail  an  account  of 
the  period  from  the  expedition  of  Pyrrhus  against  Peloponnese  to  the  death  of 
king  Cleomenes  of  Sparta,  272-220  B.C.,  in  twenty-eight  books.  His  trust- 
worthiness is  impugned  by  Polybius,  ii.  56,  and  by  Plutarch,  Themistocles,  32 ; 
Aratus,  38.  He  was  especially  inclined  to  digression  with  a  view  to  entertaining 
his  readers  and  to  giving  them  moral  instruction.  For  the  fragments  of  his 
work,  see  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  grcec.  I.  pp.  334-58.  See  also  Christ,  Griech.  Lit. 
II.  161  sq. 

Phylarchus  states  that  the  Sybarites,  giving  loose  rein  to  luxury, 
made  a  law  that  women  might  be  invited  to  banquets,  and  that 
those  who  intended  to  invite  them  to  sacred  festivities  must  make 
preparation  a  year  beforehand,  in  order  that  they  might  have  all 
that  time  to  provide  themselves  with  garments  and  other  ornaments 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  occasion,  and  so  might  come  to  the  ban- 
quet to  which  they  were  invited.  If,  too,  any  confectioner  or  cook 
invented  any  peculiar  and  excellent  dish,  no  other  artist  was  al- 
lowed to  make  it  for  a  year.  But  he  alone  who  invented  it  was  en- 
titled to  all  the  profit  to  be  derived  from  the  manufacture  of  it  for 
that  time,  in  order  that  others  might  be  induced  to  labor  at  ex- 
celling in  such  pursuits.  In  the  same  way  it  was  provided  that 
those  who  sold  eels  were  not  to  be  liable  to  pay  a  tax,  nor  those 
who  caught  them.  In  the  same  way  the  laws  exempted  from 
all  burdens  those  who  dyed  the  marine  purple  and  those  who 
imported  it. 

57.  The  Mines  of  Siphnos 
(Herodotus  iii.  57) 

The  Samians  who  had  fought  against  Polycrates,  when  they 
knew  that  the  Lacedaemonians  were  about  to  forsake  them,  left 
Samos  themselves,  and  sailed  to  Siphnos.  They  happened  to  be 
in  want  of  money ;  and  the  Siphnians  at  that  time  were  at  the  height 


208 


ECONOMY  AND  SOCIETY 


of  their  greatness,  no  islanders  having  so  much  wealth  as  they. 
There  were  mines  of  gold  and  silver  in  their  country,  and  of  so  rich 
a  yield,  that  from  a  tithe  of  the  ores  the  Siphnians  furnished  out  a 
treasury  at  Delphi  which  was  on  a  par  with  the  richest  there.  What 
the  mines  yielded  was  divided  year  by  year  among  the  citizens.  At 
the  time  when  they  formed  the  treasury,  the  Siphnians  consulted 
the  oracle,  and  asked  whether  their  good  things  would  remain  to 
them  many  years.    The  prophetess  made  answer  as  follows :  — ■ 

"  When  the  Prytaneis'  seat  shines  white  in  the  island  of  Siphnos, 
White-browed  all  the  forum  —  need  then  of  a  true  seer's  wisdom  — 
Danger  will  threat  from  a  wooden  host,  and  a  herald  in  scarlet. " 

Now  about  this  time  the  forum  of  the  Siphnians  and  their  town- 
hall  (prytaneum)  had  been  adorned  with  Parian  marble. 

58.  The  Mines  of  Thasos 

(Herodotus  vi.  46) 

The  year  after  these  events,  Darius  received  information  from 
certain  neighbors  of  the  Thasians  that  those  islanders  were  making 
preparations  for  revolt ;  he  therefore  sent  a  herald,  and  bade  them 
dismantle  their  walls,  and  bring  all  their  ships  to  Abdera.  The 
Thasians,  at  the  time  when  Histiaeus  the  Milesian  made  his  attack 
upon  them,  had  resolved  that,  as  their  income  was  very  great,  they 
would  apply  their  wealth  to  building  ships  of  war,  and  surrounding 
their  city  with  another  and  a  stronger  wall.  Their  revenue  was 
derived  partly  from  their  possessions  upon  the  mainland,  partly 
from  the  mines  which  they  owned.  They  were  masters  of  the  gold- 
mines at  Scapte-Hyle,  the  yearly  produce  of  which  amounted  in 
all  to  eighty  talents.  Their  mines  in  Thasos  yielded  less,  but  still 
were  so  far  prolific  that,  besides  being  entirely  free  from  land-tax, 
they  had  a  surplus  income,  derived  from  the  two  sources  of  their 
territory  on  the  mainland  and  their  mines,  in  common  years  of  two 
hundred,  and  in  the  best  years  of  three  hundred  talents. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  range  of  sources  for  this  subject  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  selec- 
tions.   The  topics  are  covered  by  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  chs.  viii,  ix; 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


209 


Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  I.  265-346,  402-46.  The  subject  is  lightly  treated  by 
Mahaffy,  J.  P.,  Social  Life  in  Greece  from  Homer  to  Menander,  chs.  iv,  v.  The 
works  on  Greek  literature,  religion,  and  philosophy  treat  their  appropriate 
aspects  of  the  subject.  More  special  are  Wildbrandt,  M.,  "Die  politische  und 
sociale  Bedeutung  der  attischen  Geschlechter  vor  Solon,"  in  Philol.  supplb.  VII 
(1898).  133-228;  Glotz,  G.,  La  solidarity  de  la  famille  dans  le  droit  criminel 
en  Grece  (Paris,  1904) ;  Etudes  sociales  etjuridiques  sur  Vantiquite  grecque  (Paris, 
1906).  On  the  economic  history  of  the  period,  in  addition  to  Beloch,  see  the 
earlier  chapters  of  Guiraud,  P.,  La  propriety  fonder e  en  Grece  (Paris,  1893) ; 
Francotte,  H.,  V Industrie  dans  la  Grece  ancienne  (2  vols.,  Brussels,  1900). 
For  other  works  on  society  and  economy,  see  ch.  xiv. 


CHAPTER  VI 


GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 
During  the  period  479-404  B.C. 

59.  Aristeides  and  the  Founding  of  the  Absolute 
Democracy 

(Aristotle,  Constitution  of  the  Athenians,  24.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

For  the  earlier  chapters  of  this  treatise,  see  nos.  27-30.  The  reforms  of 
Cleisthenes  had  so  accentuated  the  popular  features  of  the  constitution  that 
from  his  time  the  government  of  Athens  may  be  called  a  democracy  though  of 
a  strongly  conservative  character.  Conservative  elements  were  (1)  the  prev- 
alence of  country  life,  which  kept  the  masses  from  continual  participation  in 
public  affairs,  (2)  the  want  of  pay  for  public  services,  which  practically  debarred 
the  poorer  classes  from  the  offices.  (By  introducing  pay  for  various  public 
services  Aristeides  encouraged  the  concentration  of  the  population  within  the 
City,  and  founded  the  absolute  democracy)  cf.  Plutarch,  Aristeides,  25. 
Afterward  Ephialtes  and  Pericles  still  further  democratized  the  constitution 
along  the  lines  drawn  by  Aristeides;  Arist.  Const.  Ath.  25,  27,  41. 

Afterward  1  as  (the  citizens  of)  the  state  had  acquired  confidence,' 
and  a  great  quantity  of  money  had  accumulated,  he  (Aristeides) 
advised  them  to  lay  hold  on  the  leadership,2  and  to  come  in  from 
the  country  and  live  in  the  City,3  assuring  them  that  there  would  be 
a  livelihood  for  all,  —  some  serving  in  the  army,  others  in  garrisons, 
others  attending  to  administrative  work,4  —  and  that  thus  they 
would  secure  the  leadership.5    Adopting  this  policy  and  usurping 

1  After  the  battle  of  Salamis,  480  B.C. 

2  The  leadership  of  the  Delian  confederacy;  no.  67  sqq. 

3  Merely  the  beginning  of  this  concentration  took  place  in  the  lifetime  of  Aristeides ; 
for  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  the  majority  of  Athenians  still  lived  in 
the  country;  Thucydides  ii.  14-16.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  in  this  chapter  Aris- 
totle is  speaking  mainly  of  the  results,  rather  than  of  the  beginnings,  of  the  policy  ini- 
tiated by  Aristeides. 

4  Evidently  the  policy  of  Aristeides  was  to  introduce  pay  for  both  military  and  civil 
services. 

5  Here  is  an  indication  that  the  development  of  the  democracy  and  of  imperialism 
went  hand  in  hand. 

210 


PAYMENT  FOR  PUBLIC  SERVICE 


211 


the  imperial  power,  they  began  to  treat  their  allies  more  despotically, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Chians,  Lesbians,  and  Samians,  whom 
they  retained  as  guards  of  their  empire,  leaving  them  their  own 
constitutions  and  the  dependencies  which  they  severally  chanced  to 
rule.  Thus  they  established  for  the  multitude  an  abundant  supply 
of  provisions,  as  Aristeides  had  pointed  out ;  for  it  resulted  that 
from  the  tributes  and  the  taxes  more  than  twenty  thousand  men 
derived  their  support. 

There  were  6000  jurors,  1600  archers,  and  besides  them  1200 
cavalry,  500  councillors,  500  guards  of  the  dockyards ;  in  the  city 
moreover  50  guardsmen,  about  700  men  in  domestic  offices,  and 
about  700  (?)  1  men  in  the  offices  beyond  the  border.  Afterward, 
too,  when  they  engaged  in  the  (Peloponnesian)  war,  there  were  2500 
heavy  infantry,2  20  guard-ships,  and  the  other  ships  which  carried 
the  guards 3  appointed  by  lot,  2000  in  all ;  furthermore  those  main- 
tained in  the  prytaneum,  the  orphans,  and  the  guards  of  the  prisons., 
All  these  persons  obtained  their  living  from  the  public  funds. 

60.  The  Old  Juror  Madly  Loves  his  Work 

(Aristophanes,  Wasps,  87-135) 

An  old  juror  has  devoted  himself  to  his  daily  task,  with  so  much  spirit  that 
he  is  in  danger  of  losing  his  wits.  His  adult  son  hopes  to  cure  him  of  his  strange 
malady  by  confining  him  at  home  behind  bolts  and  bars.  The  following  ac- 
count of  this  procedure  is  given  by  Xanthias,  a  household  slave.  The  Wasps* 
from  which  the  following  extracts  are  taken,  was  presented  at  Athens  in  the 
Lenaean  festival  of  the  year  422. 

I'll  tell  you  the  disease  old  master  has. 
He  is  a  lawcourt-lover,  no  man  like  him. 

1  It  is  reasonable  to  suspect  that  this  number  is  merely  a  dittography  of  the  pre- 
ceding, 700,  in  place  either  of  some  smaller  number  or  perhaps  of  some  phrase  which 
has  been  lost  beyond  recovery. 

2  That  number  was  kept  permanently  under  arms,  in  addition  to  special  expedi- 
tions, for  which  pay  had  to  be  provided ;  cf.  Cavaignac,  Etudes  sur  Vhistoire  financiere 
d'Athenes  au  Ve  Steele,  115  sqq. 

3  Recent  editors  have  changed  <t>6povs,  "tributes,"  to  Qpotipovs.  "guards."  The 
tributes  were  regularly  brought  in  by  the  allies  themselves,  arrears  only  being  collected 
by  Athenian  fleets.  The  ships  here  referred  to  probably  had  the  task  of  transporting 
the  garrisons  to  places  where  they  were  needed. 


2i2  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


Judging  is  what  he  dotes  on,  and  he  weeps 

Unless  he  sits  on  the  front  bench  of  all. 

At  night  he  gets  no  sleep,  no,  not  one  grain ; 

Or  if  he  doze  the  tiniest  speck,  his  soul 

Flutters  in  dreams  about  the  water-clock.1 

So  used  is  he  to  holding  votes,  he  wakes 

With  thumb  and  first  two  fingers  closed,2  as  one 

That  offers  incense  on  a  new  moon's  day. 

If  on  a  gate  is  written  Lovely  Demus,3 

Meaning  the  son  of  Pyrilamp,  he  goes 

And  writes  beside  it,  Lovely  Verdict-Box. 

The  cock  which  crew  from  eventide,  he  said, 

Was  tampered  with,  he  knew,  to  call  him  late,  — 

Bribed  by  officials  whose  accounts  were  due. 

Supper  scarce  done,  he  clamors  for  his  shoes, 

Hurries  ere  daybreak  to  the  Court,  and  sleeps 

Stuck  like  a  limpet  to  the  doorpost  there. 

So  sour  he  is,  the  long  condemning  line 

He  marks  for  all,  then  homeward,  like  a  bee 

Laden  with  wax  beneath  his  finger-nails.4 

Lest  he  lack  votes,  he  keeps,  to  judge  withal, 
A  private  pebble-beach  5  secure  within. 
Such  is  his  frenzy,  and  the  more  you  chide  him 
The  more  he  judges ;  so  with  bolts  and  bars 
We  guard  him  straitly  that  he  stir  not  out. 
For  ill  the  young  man  brooks  the  sire's  disease. 
And  first  he  tried  by  soft  emollient  words 

1  Water-clock,  clepsydra  (/cXei^iJSpa),  was  used  for  measuring  the  amount  of  time 
allowed  to  the  speakers,  and  was  therefore  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  the 
court  room. 

2  As  though  he  were  holding  the  pebble,  ballot,  ready  to  cast. 

3  It  was  a  habit  of  the  lover  to  write  the  name  of  his  beloved  on  gates  and  walls. 
Demus,  son  of  Pyrilampes,  was  a  noted  beauty. 

4  In  a  considerable  class  of  cases  the  law  permitted  the  prosecutor  to  propose  a 
penalty.  The  defendant  could  then  propose  a  lighter  penalty,  and  the  jurors  had  to 
decide  between  the  two.  A  short  mark  on  a  waxen  tablet,  used  in  such  cases  as  a  ballot* 
indicated  the  lighter  penalty  and  a  longer  mark  the  heavier.  The  sour  juror  always 
made  the  long  mark,  digging  his  nails  deeply  into  the  wax. 

6  See  note  2. 


THE  TYPICAL  JUROR 


213 


To  win  him  over,  not  to  don  his  cloak 

Or  walk  abroad ;  but  never  a  jot  he  yielded. 

He  washed  and  cleansed  him  then ;  but  never  a  jot. 

A  Corybant 1  next  he  made  him,  but  old  master, 

Timbrel  and  all,  into  the  New  Court  bursts 

And  there  sits  judging.    So  when  these  rites  failed, 

We  cross  the  strait,  and  in  ^gina  place  him, 

To  sleep  the  night  inside  Asclepius'  temple ; 2 

Lo  !  with  the  dawn  he  stands  at  the  Court  rails ! 

Then  after  that  we  let  him  out  no  more. 

But  he  !  he  dodged  along  the  pipes  and  gutters, 

And  so  made  off ;  we  block  up  every  cranny, 

Stopping  and  stuffing  them  with  clouts  of  rag  : 

Quick  he  drove  pegs  into  the  wall,  and  clambered 

Up  like  an  old  jackdaw,  and  so  hopped  out. 

Now  then  we  compass  all  the  house  with  nets, 

Spreading  them  round,  and  mew  him  safe  within. 

Well,  sirs,  Philocleon  is  the  old  man's  name ; 

Ay  truly  ;  and  the  son's,  Bdelycleon  : 3 

A  wondrous  high-and-mighty  mannered  man. 

(Aristophanes,  Wasps,  214-78) 

Bdelycleon,  the  son,  and  Sosias,  another  slave,  are  outside  the  house  on 
guard.  They  especially  fear  that  when  the  rest  of  the  jurors,  swarming  in 
from  the  country,  pass  the  house,  they  will  contrive  somehow  to  free  their 
caged  comrade.  The  description  of  these  old  men  trudging  through  the  night 
along  the  rough,  muddy  roads,  some  accompanied  by  their  sons  carrying  lan- 
terns, is  a  striking  feature  of  life  at  Athens  in  those  times.  Particularly  it  is 
to  be  noticed  that  the  jurors  here  referred  to  are  all  old  men,  and  are  from 
country  homes. 

Bdelycleon  ...  In  a  little  while 
His  fellow-justices  will  come  this  way 
Calling  him  up. 

Sosias.    Why,  sir,  'tis  twilight  now. 

1  Corybant,  priest  of  Cybele,  worshiped  with  noisy  music  and  wild  excitement. 

2  For  a  passage  illustrating  incubation  in  a  temple  of  Asclepius,  see  no.  78. 

3  Philocleon  signifies  "Lover  of  Cleon,"  the  famous  demagogue;  Bdelycleon  means 
"Hater  of  Cleon." 


2i4  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


Bdel.  Why  then,  by  Zeus,  they  are  very  late  to-day. 
Soon  after  midnight  is  their  usual  time 
To  come  here  carrying  lights,  and  warbling  tunes 
Sidono-Phrynich-beautiful-antique,1 
Wherewith  they  call  him  out. 

Sos.    And  if  they  come, 
Had  we  not  better  pelt  them  with  some  stones  ? 

Bdel.  Pelt  them,  you  rogue  !    You  might  as  well  provoke 
A  nest  of  wasps  2  as  anger  these  old  men. 
Each  wears  beside  his  loins  a  deadly  sting, 
Wherewith  they  smite,  and  on  with  yells  and  cries 
They  leap,  and  strike  at  you,  like  sparks  of  fire. 

Sos.  Tut,  never  trouble,  give  me  but  some  stones, 
I'll  chase  the  biggest  wasps-nest  of  them  all. 

Chorus  of  Jurors  — 

Step  out,  step  out,  my  comrades  stout:    no  loitering,  Comias, 
pound  along, 

You're  shirking  now,  you  used,  I  vow,  to  pull  as  tough  as  leathern 
thong ; 

Yet  now,  with  ease,  Charinades,  can  walk  a  brisker  pace  than  you. 
Come,  every  dear  and  tried  compeer,  come,  quickly  come,  ere 
morning  break, 

And  as  you  go,  be  sure  to  throw  the  light  around  on  every  side  ; 
Lest  somewhere  nigh  a  stone  may  lie,  and  we  therefrom  be  dam- 
nified. 

Boy.  O  father,  father,  here's  some  mud  !  look  sharp  or  in  you'll  go. 
Choe.  Pick  up  a  stick  and  trim  the  wick,3  a  better  light  to  show. 
Boy.  Nay  father,  with  my  finger  thus  I  choose  to  trim  the 
lamp. 

Chor.  How  dare  you  rout  the  wick  about,  you  little  wasteful 

scamp, 

1  Phrynichus,  a  dramatic  poet,  was  an  older  contemporary  of  ^Eschylus.  There 
was  much  song  and  little  dialogue  in  his  plays,  and  evidently  he  delighted  in  compound- 
ing words,  as  did  ^Eschylus. 

2  The  Chorus  of  jurors  were  dressed  to  represent  wasps,  hence  the  name  of  the 
comedy. 

3  The  lantern  was  a  vessel  containing  olive  oil,  in  which  floated  a  wick.  Outside 
the  larger  towns  of  Greece  the  same  kind  of  lamp  is  still  in  use. 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  COURT 


215 


And  that  with  oil  so  scarce?  But  no,  it  don't  disturb  your  quiet, 
However  dear  the  oil  may  be,  when  I  have  got  to  buy  it. 

Boy.  If  with  your  knuckles  once  again  you  'monish  us,  I  swear 
We'll  douse  the  light  and  take  to  flight,  and  leave  you  floundering 
there. 

Then  wading  on  without  the  lamp  in  darkness,  I'll  be  bound 
You'll  stir  and  splash  the  mud  about,  like  snipes  in  marshy  ground. 
Chor.  Ah,  greater  men  than  you,  my  boy,  'tis  often  mine  to 
beat. 

But,  bless  me,  this  is  filth  indeed  I  feel  beneath  my  feet ; 
Ay,  and  within  four  days  from  this,  or  sooner,  it  is  plain, 
God  will  send  down  upon  our  town  a  fresh  supply  of  rain. 
So  dense  and  thick  around  the  wick  these  thieves  1  collect  and 
gather, 

And  that's,  as  everybody  knows,  a  sign  of  heavy  weather. 
Well,  well,  'tis  useful  for  the  fruits,  and  all  the  backward  trees, 
To  have  a  timely  fall  of  rain,  and  eke  a  good  north  breeze. 
But  how  is  this  ?  2    Our  friend  not  here !    How  comes  it  he's  so 
slack  ? 

By  Zeus,  he  never  used  to  be  at  all  a  hanger-back. 
He  always  marched  before  us  all,  on  legal  cares  intent, 
And  some  old  tune  of  Phrynichus  he  warbled  as  he  went. 
O  he's  a  wonder  for  the  songs !    Come,  comrades,  one  and  all, 
Come  stand  around  the  house  and  sing,  its  master  forth  to  call. 
If  once  he  hears  me  tuning  up,  I  know  it  won't  be  long 
Before  he  comes  creep,  creeping  out,  from  pleasure  at  the  song. 
How  is  it  our  friend  is  not  here  to  receive  us  ? 

Why  comes  he  not  forth  from  his  dwelling  ? 
Can  it  be  that  he's  had  the  misfortune  to  lose 

His  one  pair  of  shoes : 
Or  striking  his  toe  in  the  dark,  by  the  grievous 
Contusion  is  lamed,  and  his  ankle  inflamed  ? 

1  Thieves  (^K^res),  fungous  growths  on  the  wick,  caused  by  the  heaviness  of  the 
atmosphere.  The  roads  are  now  bad  enough  but  will  be  worse  after  that  rain ;  but  the 
fields  and  trees  need  it. 

2  They  halt  in  the  road  and  look  toward  Philocleon's  house. 


2i6  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


(Aristophanes,  Wasps,  291-317) 

The  following  conversation  between  the  boy  and  his  father  indicates  the 
straitened  condition  of  the  small  farmer  at  this  time.  His  fields  had  been 
ravaged  by  the  enemy,  and  he  had  nothing  but  his  juror's  fee  to  depend  upon 
for  the  daily  food  of  his  family. 

Boy.  Father,  if  a  boon  I  pray, 
Will  you  grant  it,  father,  eh  ? 

Chor.  Certainly  I  will,  my  son. 
Tell  me  what  you'd  have  me  buy. 
Dibs,1  my  son  ?    Hey,  my  son  ? 
Dibs  it  is  undoubtedly. 

Boy.  Dibs,  my  father  !    No,  my  father  ! 
Figs!  for  they  are  sweeter  far. 

Chor.  You  be  hanged  first :  yet  you  shall  not 
Have  them,  monkey,  when  you  are. 

Boy.  Then,  my  father,  woe  betide  you !    Not  another  step  I'll 
guide  you. 

Chor.  Is  it  not  enough  that  I 
With  this  paltry  pay  must  buy 
Fuel,  bread,  and  sauce  for  three  ? 
Must  I  needs  buy  figs  for  thee  ! 

Boy.  Father,  if  the  Archon  say 
That  the  court  won't  sit  to-day, 
Tell  me  truly,  father  mine, 
Have  we  wherewithal  to  dine  ? 
O  my  father,  should  not  we 
Then  in  " Straits  of  Helle" 2  be? 

Chor.  Out  upon  it !    Out  upon  it ! 
Then  indeed,  I  should  not  know 
For  a  little  bit  of  supper 
Whither  in  this  world  to  go. 

Boy.  Why,  my  mother,  didst  thou  breed  me,  giving  nothing  else 
to  feed  me, 
But  a  store  of  legal  woe  ? 

1  Dibs,  knucklebones,  commonly  played  by  children. 

2  Straits  of  Helle ;  the  boy  means  to  say  that  they  will  be  in  straits,  but  the  word 
reminds  him  of  a  poetic  phrase,  which  he  proceeds  to  utter,  though  it  makes  mere 
nonsense. 


A  JUROR'S  ADVANTAGES 


217 


Chor.  Empty  scrip  !  O  empty  show, 
Bootless,  fruitless  ornament ! 

Boy.  O!    0!    Woe!  Woe! 
Ours  to  sorrow  and  lament. 


{Ibid.  548-614) 

As  the  action  of  the  comedy  develops,  Philocleon,  the  father,  proposes  to 
discourse  on  the  enviable  features  of  the  juror's  position,  while  his  son,  Bdely- 
cleon,  takes  note  of  the  points  he  makes. 


Philocleon.  Away,  away,  like  a  racer  gay,  I  start  at  once  from 
the  head  of  the  lists, 
To  prove  that  no  kinglier  power  than  ours  in  any  part  of  the  world 
exists. 

Is  there  any  creature  on  earth  more  blest,  more  feared  and  petted 

from  day  to  day, 
Or  that  leads  a  happier,  pleasanter  life,  than  a  Justice  of  Athens, 

though  old  and  gray  ? 
For  first  when  rising  from  bed  in  the  morn,  to  the  criminal  Court 

betimes  I  trudge, 
Great  six-foot  fellows  are  there  at  the  rails,  in  anxious  haste  to 

salute  their  judge. 
And  the  delicate  hand  which  has  dipped  so  deep  in  the  public  purse, 

he  claps  into  mine, 
And  he  bows  before  me  and  makes  his  prayer,  and  softens  his  voice 

to  a  pitiful  whine  ; 
'O  pity  me,  pity  me,  Sir,'  he  cries,  'if  you  ever  indulged  your  long- 
ing for  pelf, 

When  you  managed  the  mess  on  a  far  campaign,  or  served  some  office 

of  state  yourself.' 
The  man  would  never  have  heard  my  name,  if  he  had  not  been  tried 

and  acquitted  before. 
Bdelycleon  {Writing).  I'll  take  a  note  of  the  point  you  make 

that  1  suppliant  fellows  your  grace  implore.' 
Phil.  So  when  they  have  begged  and  implored  me  enough,  and 

my  angry  temper  is  wiped  away, 
I  enter  in  and  take  my  seat,  and  then  I  do  none  of  the  things  I 

say. 


218  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


I  hear  them  utter  all  sorts  of  cries,  designed  expressly  to  win  my 
grace, 

What  won't  they  utter,  what  won't  they  urge,  to  coax  a  Justice 

who  tries  their  case  ? 
Some  vow  they  are  needy  and  friendless  men,  and  over  their  poverty 

wail  and  whine, 

And  reckon  up  hardships,  false  and  true,  till  he  makes  them  out  to 

be  equal  to  mine. 
Some  tell  us  a  legend  of  days  gone  by,  or  a  joke  from  ^Esop  witty 

and  sage, 

Or  jest  and  banter  to  make  me  laugh,  that  so  I  may  doff  my  terrible 
rage. 

And  if  all  this  fails,  and  I  stand  unmoved,  he  leads  by  the  hand  his 
little  ones  near, 

He  brings  his  girls  and  he  brings  his  boys ;  and  I,  the  Judge,  am 

composed  to  hear. 
They  huddle  together  with  piteous  bleats;  while  trembling  above 

them  he  prays  to  me, 
Prays  as  to  a  God  his  accounts  to  pass,  to  give  him  a  quittance,  and 

leave  him  free. 

'  If  thou  lovest  a  bleating  male  of  the  flock,  0  lend  thine  ear  to  this 
boy  of  mine ; 

Or  pity  the  sweet  little  delicate  girl,  if  thy  soul  delights  in  the  squeak- 
ing of  swine.' 

So  then  we  relax  the  pitch  of  our  wrath,  and  screw  it  down  to  a  peg 
more  low. 

Is  this  not  a  fine  dominion  of  mine,  a  derision  of  wealth  with  its 
pride  and  show? 
Bdel.  (Writing).  A  second  point  for  my  note-book  that,  'a 

derision  of  wealth  with  its  pride  and  show.'  .  .  . 
Phil.  But  the  nicest  and  pleasantest  part  of  it  all  is  this,  which 
I'd  wholly  forgotten  to  say, 
'Tis  when  with  my  fee  in  my  wallet  I  come,  returning  home  at  the 
close  of  the  day, 

O  then  what  a  welcome  I  get  for  its  sake ;  my  daughter,  the  darling, 

is  foremost  of  all, 
And  she  washes  my  feet  and  anoints  them  with  care,  and  above 

them  she  stoops  and  a  kiss  lets  fall, 


PRINCIPLES  OF  GOVERNMENT 


219 


Till  at  last  by  the  pretty  Papas  of  her  tongue  she  angles  withal  my 
three-obol  away. 

Then  my  dear  little  wife,  she  sets  on  the  board  nice  manchets  of 

bread  in  a  tempting  array, 
And  cosily  taking  a  seat  by  my  side,  with  loving  entreaty  constrains 

me  to  feed ; 

'I  beseech  you  taste  this,  I  implore  you  try  that.'    This,  this  I 

delight  in,  and  ne'er  may  I  need 
To  look  to  yourself  and  your  pantler,  a  scrub,  who,  whenever  I  ask 

him  my  breakfast  to  set, 
Keeps  grumbling  and  murmuring  under  his  breath. 

61.  The  Relative  Value  of  the  Three  Principal  Forms 
of  Government 

(Herodotus  ih\  80-82) 

In  the  age  of  Pericles  and  of  Herodotus  the  Greeks  began  for  the  first  time 
to  take  a  lively  interest  in  discussing  the  principles  of  government  —  a  study 
which  finally  led  to  the  creation  of  Political  Science]  The  following  passage 
contains  the  earliest  known  comparison  of  monarchy,  oligarchy,  and  democracy. 
Although  Herodotus  puts  it  in  the  mouths  of  certain  Persian  grandees  shortly 
before  the  accession  of  Darius,  521  B.C.,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  ideas 
were  Greek,  and  that  in  the  lifetime  of  the  historian  discussions  of  the  kind  were 
novel. 

80.  And  now  when  five  days  were  gone,  and  the  hubbub  had 
settled  down,  the  conspirators  1  met  together  to  consult  about  the 
situation  of  affairs.  At  this  meeting  speeches  were  made,  to  which 
many  of  the  Greeks  give  no  credence,  but  they  were  made  never- 
theless. Otanes  recommended  that  the  management  of  public 
affairs  should  be  entrusted  to  the  whole  nation.  "To  me,"  he  said, 
"it  seems  advisable  that  we  should  no  longer  have  a  single  man  to 
rule  over  us —  the  rule  of  one  is  neither  good  nor  pleasant.  Ye  can- 
not have  forgotten  to  what  lengths  Cambyses  went  in  his  haughty 
tyranny,  and  the  haughtiness  of  the  Magi  ye  have  yourselves  ex- 

1  They  were  the  grandees  above  mentioned.  The  conspiracy  had  been  for  the 
slaying  of  a  certain  Magian  who  had  usurped  the  Persian  throne  after  the  death  of 
Cambyses.  Of  those  who  were  present  three  men,  Otanes,  Megabyzus,  and  Darius, 
engaged  in  the  discussion. 


220  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 

perienced.  How  indeed  is  it  possible  that  monarchy  should  be  a 
well-adjusted  thing,  when  it  allows  a  man  to  do  as  he  likes  without 
being  answerable?  Such  license  is  enough  to  stir  strange  and  un- 
wonted thoughts  in  the  heart  of  the  worthiest  of  men.  Give  a 
person  this  power,  and  straightway  his  manifold  good  things  puff 
him  up  with  pride,  while  envy  is  so  natural  to  human  kind  that  it 
cannot  but  arise  in  him.  But  pride  and  envy  together  include  all 
wickedness  —  both  of  them  leading  on  to  deeds  of  savage  violence. 
True  it  is  that  kings,  possessing  as  they  do  all  that  heart  can  desire, 
ought  to  be  void  of  envy  ;  but  the  contrary  is  seen  in  their  conduct 
toward  the  citizens.  They  are  jealous  of  the  most  virtuous  among 
their  subjects,  and  wish  their  death  ;  while  they  take  delight  in  the 
meanest  and  basest,  being  ever  ready  to  listen  to  the  tales  of  slan- 
derers. A  king,  besides,  is  beyond  all  other  men  inconsistent  with 
himself.  Pay  him  court  in  moderation,  and  he  is  angry  because 
you  do  not  show  him  more  profound  respect ;  show  him  profound 
respect,  and  he  is  offended  again,  because  (as  he  says)  you  fawn  on 
him.  But  the  worst  of  all  is  that  he  sets  aside  the  laws  of  the  land, 
puts  men  to  death  without  trial,  and  subjects  women  to  violence. 
The  rule  of  the  many,  on  the  other  hand,  has,  in  the  first  place,  the 
fairest  of  names,  to  wit,  isonomy;1  and  further  it  is  free  from  all 
those  outrages  which  a  king  is  wont  to  commit.  There,  places  are 
given  by  lot,  the  magistrate  is  answerable  for  what  he  does,  and 
measures  rest  with  the  commonalty.  I  vote,  therefore,  that  we  do 
away  with  monarchy,  and  raise  the  people  to  power.  For  the 
people  are  all  in  all." 

81.  Such  were  the  sentiments  of  Otanes.  Megabyzus  spoke 
next,  and  advised  the  setting  up  of  an  oligarchy:  —  "In  all  that 
Otanes  has  said  to  persuade  you  to  put  down  monarchy,"  he  ob- 
served, "I  fully  concur;  but  his  recommendation  that  we  should 
call  the  people  to  power  seems  to  me  not  the  best  advice.  For  there 
is  nothing  so  void  of  understanding,  nothing  so  full  of  wantonness 
as  the  unwieldy  rabble.  It  were  folly  not  to  be  borne,  for  men, 
while  seeking  to  escape  the  wantonness  of  a  tyrant,  to  give  them- 
selves up  to  the  wantonness  of  a  rude  unbridled  mob.  The  tyrant, 
in  all  his  doings,  at  least  knows  what  he  is  about,  but  a  mob  is  al- 


1  Isonomy,  equality  before  the  law. 


MONARCHY  IS  BEST 


221 


together  devoid  of  knowledge ;  for  how  should  there  be  any  knowl- 
edge in  a  rabble,  untaught,  and  with  no  natural  sense  of  what  is 
right  and  fit?  It  rushes  wildly  into  state  affairs  with  all  the  fury 
of  a  stream  swollen  in  the  winter,  and  confuses  everything.  Let 
the  enemies  of  the  Persians  be  ruled  by  democracies;  but  let  us 
choose  out  from  the  citizens  a  certain  number  of  the  worthiest, 
and  put  the  government  into  their  hands.  For  thus  both  we  our- 
selves shall  be  among  the  governors,  and  with  power  entrusted  to 
the  best  men,  it  is  likely  that  the  best  counsels  will  prevail  in  the 
state." 

82.  This  was  the  advice  which  Megabyzus  gave,  and  after  him 
Darius  came  forward,  and  spoke  as  follows  :  —  "  All  that  Megabyzus 
said  against  democracy  was  well  said,  I  think ;  but  about  oligarchy 
he  did  not  speak  advisedly ;  for  take  these  three  forms  of  govern- 
ment —  democracy,  oligarchy,  and  monarchy  —  and  let  them  each 
be  at  their  best,  I  maintain  that  monarchy  far  surpasses  the  other 
two.  What  government  can  possibly  be  better  than  that  of  the 
very  best  man  in  the  whole  state  ?  The  counsels  of  such  a  man  are 
like  himself,  and  so  he  governs  the  mass  of  the  people  to  their  heart's 
content ;  while  at  the  same  time  his  measures  against  evil-doers  are 
kept  more  secret  than  in  other  states.  Contrariwise,  in  oligarchies, 
where  men  vie  with  each  other  in  the  service  of  the  commonwealth, 
fierce  enmities  are  apt  to  arise  between  man  and  man,  each  wishing 
to  be  leader,  and  to  carry  his  own  measures ;  whence  violent  quarrels 
come,  which  lead  to  open  strife,  often  ending  in  bloodshed.  Then 
monarchy  is  sure  to  follow ;  and  this  result,  too,  shows  how  far  that 
rule  surpasses  all  others.  I  Again,  in  a  democracy  it  is  impossible 
but  that  there  will  be  malpractices;  these  malpractices,  however, 
do  not  lead  to  enmities,  but  to  close  friendships,  which  are  formed 
among  those  engaged  in  them,  who  must  hold  well  together  to  carry 
on  their  villainies.  Thus  things  go  on  until  a  man  stands  forth  as 
champion  of  the  commonalty,  and  puts  down  the  evil-doers. 
Straightway  the  author  of  so  great  a  service  is  admired  by  all,  and 
from  being  admired  soon  comes  to  be  appointed  king ;  so  that  here 
too  it  is  plain  that  monarchy  is  the  best  government.)  Lastly,  to 
sum  up  all  in  a  word,  whence,  I  ask,  was  it  that  we  got  the  freedom 
which  we  enjoy  ?  —  did  democracy  give  it  us,  or  oligarchy  or  a  mon- 
arch Z    As  a  single  man  recovered  our  freedom  for  us,  my  sentence 


222  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


is  that  we  keep  to  the  rule  of  one.  Even  apart  from  this,  we  ought 
not  to  change  the  laws  of  our  forefathers  when  they  work  fairly; 
for  to  do  so  is  not  well." 

62.  Strictures  on  the  Athenian  Democracy 

{Polity  of  the  Athenians,  by  an  unknown  author.  The  translation  of  Dakyns, 
Works  of  Xenophon,  has  been  revised,  on  the  basis  of  a  comparison  of  the 
Greek  text,  by  E.  G.  S.) 

In  the  introduction  to  the  preceding  selection  reference  has  been  made  to 
the  dawning  interest  in  the  principles  of  government.  One  of  the  lines  along 
which  political  thought  was  advancing  was  the  criticism  of  existing  constitu- 
tions. An  example  is  the  treatise  here  given,  which  has  come  down  to  us  among 
the  works  of  Xenophon,  but  which  is  certainly  earlier  than  any  of  his  writings. 
Evidently  it  was  composed  early  in  the  Peloponnesian  war,  about  425  or  424. 
The  real  author,  unknown  by  name,  is  aptly  styled  "Old  Oligarch"  by  Zimmern, 
Greek  Commonwealth,  444.  The  work  itself  is  evidence  that  the  author  was  a 
man  of  mature  years,  experience,  and  judgment,  who  set  forth  the  blemishes 
of  democracy  usually  with  truth,  however  hostile  his  spirit,  and  always  with 
clearness  and  logic.  His  pamphlet  should  be  studied  along  with  the  Funeral 
Oration  of  Pericles,  as  the  two  documents  balance  and  correct  each  other. 

Naturally  we  are  repelled  by  the  tone  of  the  pamphlet,  by  the  author's 
narrow,  unsympathetic  treatment  of  common  people,  slaves,  and  aliens  —  by 
his  total  lack  of  humanity,  his  complete  absorption  in  the  welfare  of  his  narrow 
class.  He  cannot  entertain  a  thought  of  compromise ;  the  only  alternative  to 
democracy  is  the  rule  of  his  own  class  and  the  enslavement  of  the  masses. 

It  is  interesting  to  the  student  of  political  science  as  the  earliest  known 
political  treatise  in  any  language,  while  to  anyone  investigating  the  history  and 
the  society  of  that  age  it  is  an  invaluable  source  of  information.  Notable  is 
the  author's  interest  in  economic  conditions.  Because  of  its  unusual  impor- 
tance the  entire  document  is  printed  below. 

I.  1.  Now,  as  concerning  the  Polity  of  the  Athenians,  and  the 
type  or  manner  of  constitution  which  they  have  chosen,  I  praise 
it  not,  in  so  far  as  the  very  choice  involves  the  welfare  of  the  baser 
folk  as  opposed  to  that  of  the  better  class.  I  repeat,  I  withhold 
my  praise  so  far ;  but,  given  the  fact  that  this  is  the  type  agreed 
upon,  I  propose  to  show  that  they  set  about  its  preservation  in 
the  right  way;  and  that  those  other  transactions  in  connection 
with  it,  which  are  looked  upon  as  blunders  by  the  rest  of  the  Hel- 
lenic world,  are  the  reverse. 


CONSIDERATION  FOR  THE  POOR  223 

2.  In  the  first  place,  I  maintain,  it  is  only  just  that  the  poorer 
classes  and  the  People  of  Athens  should  have  the  advantage  over 
the  men  of  birth  and  wealth,  seeing  that  it  is  the  people  who  row 
the  vessels,  and  put  round  the  city  her  girdle  of  power.  For  the 
steersman,  the  boatswain,  the  commanders  of  fifty,  the  lookout- 
man  at  the  prow,  the  shipwright  —  these  are  the  people  who  engird 
the  city  with  power  far  rather  than  her  heavy  infantry  and  men  of 
birth  and  quality.  This  being  the  case,  it  seems  only  just  that  of- 
fices of  state  should  be  thrown  open  to  every  one  both  by  the  lot 
and  by  the  show  of  hands,1  and  that  the  right  of  speech  should 
belong  to  any  citizen  who  likes,  without  restriction.  3.  Further, 
there  are  many  of  these  offices  which,  according  as  they  are  in  good 
or  in  bad  hands,  are  a  source  of  safety  or  of  danger  to  the  People 
and  in  these  the  People  prudently  abstain  from  sharing ;  as,  for 
instance,  they  do  not  think  it  incumbent  on  themselves  to  share 
in  the  drawing  of  lots  for  general  or  commander  of  cavalry.  The 
sovereign  People  recognize  the  fact  that  in  foregoing  the  personal 
exercise  of  these  offices  and  leaving  them  to  the  control  of  the  more 
competent  citizens,  they  secure  the  balance  of  advantage  to  them- 
selves. It  is  only  those  departments  of  government  which  bring 
emolument  and  assist  the  private  households  that  the  People  care 
to  keep  in  their  own  hands.2 

4.  In  the  next  place,  in  regard  to  what  some  people  are  puzzled 
to  explain  —  the  fact  that  everywhere  greater  consideration  is 
shown  to  the  base,  to  poor  people  and  to  common  folk,  than  to 
persons  of  good  quality,  —  so  far  from  being  a  matter  of  surprise, 
this,  as  can  be  shown,  is  the  keystone  of  the  preservation  of  the 
democracy.  It  is  these  poor  people,  this  common  folk,  this  riff-raff, 
whose  prosperity,  combined  with  the  growth  of  their  numbers,  en- 
hance the  democracy.  Whereas  a  shifting  of  fortune  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  wealthy  and  the  better  classes  implies  the  establish- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  commonalty  of  a  strong  power  in  opposition 
to  itself.    5.  In  fact,  all  the  world  over  the  cream  of  society  is  in 

1  The  ordinary  method  of  electing  officials  who  were  not  appointed  by  lot.  Voting 
in  the  law  courts,  on  the  other  hand,  was  by  ballot. 

2  The  democratic  theory  was  that  for  most  offices  the  Athenians  were  all  sufficiently 
qualified,  but  that  for  certain  magistracies  special  qualifications  were  necessary.  The 
former  were  filled  by  lot,  the  latter  by  election. 


224  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


opposition  to  the  democracy.  Naturally,  since  the  smallest  amount 
of  intemperance  and  injustice,  together  with  the  highest  scrupu- 
lousness in  the  pursuit  of  excellence,  is  to  be  found  in  the  ranks  of 
the  better  class,  while  within  the  ranks  of  the  People  will  be  found 
the  greatest  amount  of  ignorance,  disorderliness  and  rascality,1  — 
poverty  acting  as  a  strong  incentive  to  base  conduct,  not  to  speak 
of  lack  of  education  and  ignorance,  traceable  to  the  want  of  means 
which  afflicts  some  portions  of  mankind. 

6.  The  objection  may  be  raised  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  allow 
the  universal  right  of  speech  and  a  seat  in  council.  These  privileges 
should  have  been  reserved  for  the  cleverest,  the  flower  of  the  com- 
munity. But  here  again  it  will  be  found  that  they  are  acting  with 
wise  deliberation  in  granting  to  even  the  baser  sort  the  right  of 
speech,  for  supposing  only  the  better  people  might  speak,  or  sit 
in  council,  blessings  would  fall  to  the  lot  of  those  like  themselves, 
but  to  the  commonalty  the  reverse  of  blessings.  Whereas  now, 
any  one  who  likes,  any  base  fellow,  may  get  up  and  discover  some- 
thing to  the  advantage  of  himself  and  his  equals.  7.  It  may  be 
retorted:  "And  what  sort  of  advantage  either  for  himself  or  for 
the  People  can  such  a  fellow  be  expected  to  discern  ?  "  The  answer 
is,  that  in  their  judgment  the  ignorance  and  the  baseness  of  this 
fellow,  together  with  his  good  will,  are  worth  a  great  deal  more  to 
them  than  your  superior  person's  virtue  and  wisdom,  coupled  with 
aversion.  8.  What  it  comes  to,  therefore,  is  that  a  state  founded 
upon  such  institutions  will  not  be  the  best  state ;  but,  given  a  de- 
mocracy, these  are  the  right  means  to  secure  its  preservation.  The 
People,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  do  not  demand  that  the  city  should 
be  well  governed  and  themselves  slaves.  They  desire  to  be  free 
and  to  be  masters.  As  to  bad  legislation,  they  do  not  concern 
themselves  about  that.  In  fact,  what  you  believe  to  be  poor  leg- 
islation is  the  very  source  of  the  People's  strength  and  freedom. 
9.  But  if  you  seek  for  good  laws,  in  the  first  place  you  will  see  the 
cleverest  members  of  the  community  laying  down  the  laws  for  the 
rest.    And  in  the  next  place,  the  better  class  will  curb  and  chastise 

1  The  view  here  offered  is  rejected,  and  the  opposite  view  maintained,  by  Socrates, 
in  Xenophon,  Memorabilia,  iii.  5.  19.  He  asserts  —  and  there  is  no  reason  for  doubting 
it  —  that  the  poor  were  far  more  obedient  to  authority  than  the  knights  and  the  heavy 
infantry. 


SLAVES  AND  RESIDENT  ALIENS 


225 


the  lower  orders ;  the  better  class  will  deliberate  in  behalf  of  the 
state,  and  not  suffer  men  in  fits  of  madness  to  sit  in  council,  or  to 
speak  or  vote  in  the  assembly.  No  doubt ;  but  under  the  weight 
of  such  blessings  the  People  would  in  a  very  short  time  be  reduced 
to  slavery. 

10.  Another  point  is  the  extraordinary  amount  of  license  granted 
to  slaves  and  resident  aliens  at  Athens,  where  a  blow  is  illegal,  and 
a  slave  will  not  step  aside  to  let  you  pass  him  in  the  street.  I  will 
explain  the  reason  of  this  peculiar  custom.  Supposing  it  were  legal 
for  a  slave  to  be  beaten  by  a  free  citizen,  or  for  a  resident  alien  or 
freedman  to  be  beaten  by  a  citizen,  it  would  frequently  happen  that 
an  Athenian  might  be  mistaken  for  a  slave  or  an  alien  and  receive 
a  beating ;  since  the  Athenian  People  are  not  better  clothed  than 
the  slave  or  alien,  nor  in  personal  appearance  is  there  any  superiority. 
11.  Or  if  the  fact  itself  that  slaves  in  Athens  are  allowed  to  indulge 
in  luxury,  and  indeed  in  some  cases  to  live  magnificently,  be  found 
astonishing,  this  too,  it  can  be  shown,  is  done  of  set  purpose.  Where 
we  have  a  naval  power  dependent  upon  wealth,  we  must  perforce 
be  slaves  to  our  slaves,  in  order  that  we  may  get  in  our  slave-rents, 
and  let  the  real  slave  go  free.  Where  you  have  wealthy  slaves  it 
ceases  to  be  advantageous  that  my  slave  should  stand  in  awe  of  you. 
In  Lacedaemon  my  slave  does  stand  in  awe  of  you.  But  if  your 
slave  is  in  awe  of  me,  the  chances  are  he  will  give  away  his  own 
money  to  avoid  running  a  risk  in  his  own  person.  12.  It  is  for  this 
reason  then  that  we  have  established  an  equality  of  speech  between 
our  slaves  and  free  men;  and  again  between  our  resident  aliens 
and  full  citizens,  because  the  city  stands  in  need  of  her  resident 
aliens  to  meet  the  requirements  of  such  a  multiplicity  of  arts  and 
for  the  purposes  of  her  navy.  That  is,  I  repeat,  the  justification  of 
the  equality  conferred  upon  our  resident  aliens. 

13.  Citizens  devoting  their  time  to  gymnastics  and  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  music  are  not  to  be  found  in  Athens;  the  sovereign 
People  have  dissolved  their  power,1  not  from  any  disbelief  in  the 

1  This  statement  is  not  true,  and  is  partly  contradicted  by  what  follows.  It  is 
natural,  however,  for  the  oligarch  to  imagine  that  the  democratization  of  athletics  was 
equivalent  to  their  abolition,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  general  the  democ- 
racy did  not  pursue  athletics  and  prepare  for  the  great  national  games  with  the  zeal 
of  the  aristocracy. 


226  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


beauty  and  honor  of  such  training,  but  recognising  the  fact  that 
these  are  things  the  cultivation  of  which  is  beyond  their  power. 
On  the  same  principle,  in  the  case  of  the  choregia,  the  gymnasiarchy, 
and  the  trierarchy,  the  fact  is  recognised  that  it  is  the  rich  man  who 
trains  the  chorus,  and  the  People,  for  whom  the  chorus  is  trained ; 
it  is  the  rich  man  who  is  trierarch  or  gymnasiarch,1  and  the  People 
that  profit  by  their  labors.  In  fact,  what  the  People  deem  proper 
is  to  make  wages  by  singing  and  running  and  dancing  and  manning 
the  vessels  but  only  in  order  that  they  may  be  the  gainer,  while  the 
rich  are  made  poorer.  Thus  too  in  the  courts  of  justice,  justice  is 
not  more  an  object  of  concern  to  the  jurymen  than  what  touches 
personal  advantage.2 

14.  To  speak  next  of  the  allies,  and  in  reference  to  the  point 
that  emissaries  from  Athens  come  out  and,  according  to  common 
opinion,  calumniate  and  vent  their  hatred  upon  the  better  sort  of 
people,  this  is  done  on  the  principle  that  the  ruler  cannot  help  being 
hated  by  those  whom  he  rules ;  but  that  if  wealth  and  respecta- 
bility are  to  wield  power  in  the  subject  cities,  the  empire  of  the  Athe- 
nian People  has  but  a  short  lease  of  existence.  This  explains  why 
the  better  people  are  punished  with  infamy,  robbed  of  their  money, 
driven  from  their  homes,  and  put  to  death,  while  the  baser  sort 
are  promoted  to  honor.3  On  the  other  hand,  the  better  Athenians 
throw  their  aegis  over  the  better  class  in  the  allied  cities.  And  why  ? 
Because  they  recognise  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  their  own  class 
at  all  times  to  protect  the  best  element  in  the  cities.  i5(jt  may  be 
urged  that  if  it  comes  to  strength  and  power,  the  real  strength  of 
Athens  lies  in  the  capacity  of  her  allies  to  contribute  their  money 
quotaj  But  to  the  democratic  mind  it  appears  a  higher  advantage 
still  for  the  individual  Athenian  to  get  hold  of  the  wealth  of  the 
allies,  leaving  them  only  enough  to  live  upon  and  to  cultivate  their 
estates,  but  powerless  to  harbor  treacherous  designs.4 

16.  Again,  it  is  looked  upon  as  a  mistaken  policy  on  the  part  of 

1  On  these  liturgies,  expensive  public  services  performed  unpaid  by  the  wealthy, 
see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xii. 

2  On  the  jurors  see  no.  60. 

3  On  the  character  of  the  Delian  confederacy  as  a  democratic  alliance,  see  Botsford, 
Hellenic  History,  ch.  xiv. 

4  This  statement  is  absolutely  untrue ;  under  Athenian  rule  the  allies  greatly  in- 
creased in  wealth  and  prosperity ;  Botsford,  loc.  cit. 


IMPERIAL  JURISDICTION 


227 


the  Athenian  democracy  to  compel  her  allies  to  voyage  to  Athens 
in  order  to  have  their  cases  tried.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  easy  to 
reckon  up  what  a  number  of  advantages  the  Athenian  People  derive 
from  the  practice  impugned.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  steady 
receipt  of  salaries  throughout  the  year  derived  from  the  court  fees. 
Next,  it  enables  them  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  allied  states 
while  seated  at  home  without  the  expense  of  naval  expeditions. 
Thirdly,  they  thus  preserve  the  partisans  of  the  democracy,  and 
ruin  her  opponents  in  the  law  courts.  Whereas,  supposing  the 
several  allied  states  tried  their  cases  at  home,  being  inspired  by  hos- 
tility to  Athens,  they  would  destroy  those  of  their  own  citizens  whose 
friendship  to  the  Athenian  People  was  most  marked.  17.  But 
besides  all  this  the  democracy  derives  the  following  advantages 
from  hearing  the  cases  of  her  allies  in  Athens.  In  the  first  place, 
the  one  per  cent  levied  in  Peiraeus  is  an  advantage  to  the  state ; 1 
again,  the  owner  of  a  house  for  a  number  of  families  2  does  better, 
and  so,  too,  the  owner  of  a  pair  of  beasts,  or  of  slaves  to  be  let  out 
for  hire.  18.  Again,  heralds  and  criers  are  a  class  of  people  who  fare 
better  owing  to  the  sojourn  of  the  allies  at  Athens.  Further  still, 
supposing  the  allies  had  not  to  resort  to  Athens  for  the  hearing  of 
cases,  only  those  of  the  Athenians  who  sail  out  to  them  would  be 
held  in  honor,  such  as  the  general,  or  trierarch,  or  ambassador; 
whereas  now  every  single  individual  among  the  allies  is  forced  to 
pay  flattery  to  the  People  of  Athens  because  he  knows  that  he  must 
betake  himself  to  Athens  and  lose  or  win  his  case  at  the  bar,  not  of 
any  stray  set  of  judges,  but  of  the  sovereign  People  themselves, 
such  being  the  law  and  custom  at  Athens.  He  is  compelled  to  be- 
have as  a  suppliant  in  the  courts  of  justice,  and  when  some  juryman 
comes  into  court,  to  grasp  his  hand.  For  this  reason,  therefore, 
the  allies  find  themselves  more  and  more  in  the  position  of  slaves 
to  the  democracy  of  Athens. 

19.  Furthermore,  owing  to  the  possession  of  property  beyond 
the  limits  of  Attica,  and  the  exercise  of  magistracies  which  take  them 
into  regions  beyond  the  frontier,  they  and  their  attendants  have 
insensibly  acquired  the  art  of  navigation.  A  man  who  is  perpet- 
ually voyaging  is  forced  to  handle  the  oar,  he  and  his  slave  alike, 

1  This  was  the  amount  of  duty  levied  on  imports  and  exports. 

2  IZiVPOLKia. 


228  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


and  to  learn  the  terms  familiar  in  seamanship.  20.  Hence  a  stock 
of  skilful  navigators  is  produced,  bred  upon  a  wide  experience  of 
voyaging  and  practice.  They  have  learnt  their  business,  some  in 
piloting  a  small  craft,  others  a  merchant  vessel,  whilst  others 
have  been  drafted  off  from  these  activities  for  service  on  a  ship-of- 
war.  So  that  the  majority  of  them  are  able  to  row  the  moment  they 
set  foot  on  board  a  vessel,  having  been  in  a  state  of  preliminary 
practice  all  their  lives. 

II.  1.  As  to  the  heavy  infantry,  an  arm  the  deficiency  of  which 
at  Athens  is  well  recognized,  this  is  how  the  matter  stands.  They 
recognize  the  fact  that,  in  reference  to  the  hostile  power,  they  are 
themselves  inferior,  and  must  be,  even  if  their  heavy  infantry  were 
more  numerous.  But  relatively  to  the  allies,  who  pay  the  tribute 
and  are  quite  strong  on  land,  they  are  even  satisfied  to  have  the 
hoplite  element  carry  on  the  government,  if  they  (the  Athenians) 
are  stronger  than  the  allies.  2.  Apart  from  all  else,  to  a  certain 
extent  fortune  must  be  held  responsible  for  the  actual  condition. 
The  subjects  of  a  power  which  is  dominant  by  land  have  it  open  to 
them  to  form  one  commonwealth  from  several  small  states  and  fight 
with  all  their  forces  gathered  into  a  compact  union.  But  with  the 
subjects  of  a  naval  power  it  is  different.  As  far  as  they  are  groups 
of  islanders,  it  is  impossible  for  their  states  to  meet  together  for 
united  action ;  for  the  sea  lies  between  them,  and  the  dominant 
power  is  master  of  the  sea.  And  even  if  it  were  possible  for  them 
to  assemble  in  some  single  island  unobserved,  they  will  only  (do  so 
to)  perish  by  famine.  3.  And  as  to  the  states  subject  to  Athens 
which  are  not  islanders,  but  situated  on  the  continent,  the  larger 
are  held  in  check  by  apprehension,  and  the  small  ones  absolutely 
by  want,  since  there  is  no  state  in  existence  which  does  not  depend 
upon  imports  and  exports,  and  these  she  will  forfeit  if  she  does  not 
lend  a  willing  ear  to  those  who  are  masters  by  sea.  4.  In  the  next 
place,  a  power  dominant  by  sea  can  do  certain  things  which  a  land 
power  is  debarred  from  doing  ;  as,  for  instance,  ravage  the  territory 
of  a  superior,  since  it  is  always  possible  to  coast  along  to  some  point, 
where  either  there  is  no  hostile  force  to  deal  with  or  merely  a  small 
body ;  and  in  case  of  an  advance  in  force  on  the  part  of  the  enemy 
they  can  take  to  their  ships  and  sail  away.1    Such  a  performance  is 

1  Such  was  the  policy  of  Pericles  in  the  Peloponnesian  war;  Thucydides  ii.  23. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  NAVAL  SUPREMACY  229 


attended  with  less  difficulty  than  that  experienced  by  the  relieving 
force  on  land.  5.  Again,  it  is  open  to  a  power  so  dominating  by 
sea  to  leave  its  own  territory  and  sail  off  on  as  long  a  voyage  as  you 
please,  whereas  the  land  power  cannot  place  more  than  a  few  days' 
journey  between  itself  and  its  own  territory,  'for  marches  are  slow 
affairs ;  and  it  is  not  possible  for  an  army  on  the  march  to  have  food 
supplies  to  last  for  any  great  length  of  time.  Such  an  army  must 
either  march  through  friendly  territory  or  it  must  force  a  way  by 
victory  in  battle.  The  voyager  meanwhile  has  it  in  his  power  to 
disembark  at  any  point  where  he  finds  himself  in  superior  force,  or, 
at  the  worst,  to  coast  by  until  he  reaches  either  a  friendly  district 
or  an  enemy  too  weak  to  resist.  6.  Again,  those  diseases  to  which 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  are  liable  as  visitations  from  Zeus  fall  severely 
on  a  land  power,  but  are  scarcely  felt  by  the  naval  power,  for  such 
sicknesses  do  not  visit  the  whole  earth  everywhere  at  once.  Thus 
the  ruler  of  the  sea  can  get  in  supplies  from  a  thriving  district. 
7.  If  one  may  descend  to  more  trifling  particulars,  it  is  to  this  same 
lordship  of  the  sea  that  the  Athenians  owe  the  discovery,  in  the 
first  place,  of  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life  through  intercourse  with 
other  countries.  Thus  it  is  that  the  choice  things  of  Sicily  and 
Italy,  of  Cyprus  and  Egypt  and  Lydia,  of  Pontus,  of  Peloponnese, 
or  wheresoever  else  it  be,  are  all  swept,  as  it  were,  into  one  center, 
and  all  owing,  as  I  say,  to  their  maritime  empire.  8.  Again,  in 
process  of  listening  to  every  form  of  speech,  they  have  selected  for 
themselves  this  from  one  place  and  that  from  another.  Hence 
while  the  rest  of  the  Hellenes  employ  each  pretty  much  their  own 
peculiar  mode  of  speech,  habit  of  life,  and  style  of  dress,  the  Athe- 
nians-have adopted  a  composite  type,  to  which  all  sections  of  Hellas 
and  the  foreigner  alike,  have  contributed. 

9.  As  regards  sacrifices  and  temples  and  festivals  and  sacred 
enclosures,  the  Attic  Democracy  sees  that  it  is  not  possible  for  every 
poor  citizen  to  do  sacrifice  and  hold  festival,  or  to  set  up  temples 
and  to  inhabit  a  large  and  beautiful  city.  But  it  has  hit  upon  a 
means  of  meeting  the  difficulty.  They  sacrifice  —  that  is,  the  whole 
state  sacrifices  —  at  the  public  cost  a  large  number  of  victims ; 
but  it  is  the  Attic  Democracy  that  keeps  holiday  and  distributes 
the  victims  by  lot  amongst  its  members.  10.  Rich  men  have  in 
some  cases  private  gymnasia  and  baths  with  dressing-rooms,  but 


23o  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


the  People  take  care  to  have  built  at  the  public  cost  a  number  of 
palsestras,  dressing-rooms,  and  bathing  establishments  for  their 
own  special  use,  and  the  mob  gets  the  benefit  of  the  majority  of 
these  luxuries  rather  than  the  select  few  or  the  well-to-do. 

ii.  As  to  wealth,  the  Athenians  are  exceptionally  placed  with 
regard  to  Hellenic  and  foreign  communities  alike,  in  their  ability 
to  hold  it.  For  given  that  some  state  or  other  is  rich  in  timber  for 
shipbuilding,  where  is  it  to  find  a  market  for  the  product  except 
by  persuading  the  ruler  of  the  sea  ?  Or  suppose  the  wealth  of  some 
state  or  other  to  consist  of  iron,  or  may  be  of  bronze,  or  of  hemp, 
where  will  it  find  a  market  except  by  permission  of  the  supreme 
maritime  power?  Yet  these  are  the  very  things,  you  see,  which  I 
need  for  my  ships.  Timber  I  must  have  from  one,  and  from  an- 
other iron,  from  a  third  bronze,  from  a  fourth  hemp,  from  a  fifth 
wax,  etc.  12.  Besides  they  will  not  suffer  our  antagonists  in  these 
parts  to  carry  these  products  elsewhither,  or  they  will  cease  to  use 1 
the  sea.  Accordingly  I,  without  one  stroke  of  labor,  from  land  pos- 
sess all  these  good  things,  thanks  to  my  supremacy  on  the  sea ; 
whilst  not  a  single  other  state  possesses  as  much  as  two  of  them ; 
not  timber,  for  instance,  and  hemp  together,  has  the  same  city,  but 
where  hemp  is  abundant,  the  soil  will  be  light  and  devoid  of  timber. 
And  in  the  same  way  bronze  and  iron  will  not  be  products  of  the 
same  city.  The  same  rule  holds  for  the  rest,  never  two,  or  at  best 
three,  in  one  state,  but  one  thing  here  and  another  thing  there. 
13.  Moreover,  above  and  beyond  what  has  been  said,  the  coastline  of 
all  the  mainland  presents  either  some  jutting  promontory,  or  adjacent 
island,  or  narrow  strait  of  some  sort,  so  that  those  who  are  masters 
of  the  sea  can  come  to  moorings  at  one  of  these  points  and  inflict 
injury  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  mainland. 

14.  There  is  just  one  thing  which  the  Athenians  lack.  Suppos- 
ing they  were  the  inhabitants  of  an  island,  and  were  still  as  now 
rulers  of  the  sea,  they  -would  have  had  it  in  their  'power  to  inflict 
whatever  mischief  they  liked,  and  to  suffer  no  evil  in  return  (as 
long  as  they  kept  command  of  the  sea),  neither  the  ravaging  of 
their  territory  nor  the  expectation  of  an  enemy's  approach.  At 
present  the  farming  portion  of  the  community  and  the  wealthy  land- 
owners are  ready  to  cringe  before  the  enemy  overmuch,  whilst  the 

1  Another  reading  is  f)  oft  xP1fa'0|'T£U  TV  BaKdrrn  "or  where  they  shall  use  the  sea." 


THE  PEOPLE  IRRESPONSIBLE 


231 


People,  knowing  full  well  that,  come  what  may,  not  one  stock  or 
stone  of  their  property  will  suffer,  nothing  will  be  cut  down,  nothing 
burnt,  live  in  freedom  from  alarm,  without  fawning  at  the  enemy's 
approach.  15.  Besides  this,  there  is  another  fear  from  which  they 
would  have  been  exempt  in  an  island  home  —  the  apprehension  of 
the  city's  being  at  any  time  betrayed  by  a  handful  of  men  and  the 
gates  thrown  open,  and  an  enemy  bursting  suddenly  in.  How  could 
such  incidents  have  taken  place  if  an  island  had  been  their  home? 
Again,  had  they  inhabited  an  island  there  would  have  been  no 
stirring  of  sedition  against  the  people ;  whereas  at  present,  in  the 
event  of  a  rising,  those  who  set  it  on  foot  would  base  their  hopes  of 
success  on  the  introduction  of  an  enemy  by  land.  But  a  people 
inhabiting  an  island  would  be  free  from  all  anxiety  on  that  score. 
16.  Since,  however,  they  did  not  chance  to  inhabit  an  island  from  the 
first,  what  they  actually  do  is  this  —  they  deposit  their  property 
in  the  islands,  trusting  to  their  command  of  the  sea,  and  they  suffer 
the  soil  of  Attica  to  be  ravaged  without  a  sigh.  To  expend  pity  on 
that,  they  know,  would  be  to  deprive  themselves  of  other  blessings 
still  more  precious. 

17.  Further,  states  oligarchically  governed  are  forced  to  ratify 
their  alliances  and  solemn  oaths  in  a  substantial  fashion,  and  if 
they  fail  to  abide  by  their  treaties,  the  offence,  by  whomsoever 
committed,  lies  nominally  at  the  door  of  the  oligarchs  who  entered 
upon  the  contract.  But  in  the  case  of  engagements  entered  into 
by  a  democracy  it  is  open  to  the  People  to  throw  the  blame  on  the 
single  individual  who  spoke  in  favor  of  some  measure,  or  who  put 
it  to  the  vote,  and  to  enter  a  denial  for  the  rest  of  the  citizens, 
averring  that  one  was  not  present,  or  did  not  approve  of  the  terms 
of  the  agreement.  Inquiries  are  made  in  a  full  meeting  of  the 
People,  and  should  any  of  these  things  be  disapproved  of,  the  demus 
has  devised  already  innumerable  excuses  to  avoid  doing  whatever 
they  do  not  wish.  If  too  any  mischief  should  spring  out  of  any  de- 
liberations of  the  assembly,  the  People  charge  that  a  handful  of 
men  acting  against  the  interests  of  the  citizens  have  ruined  the 
state.  But  if  any  good  result  ensue,  they,  the  People,  at  once  take 
the  credit  of  that  to  themselves. 

18.  In  the  same  spirit  it  is  not  allowed  to  caricature  on  the  comic 
stage  or  otherwise  libel  the  People,  because  they  do  not  care  to  hear 


232  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


themselves  ill  spoken  of.  But  if  any  one  has  a  desire  to  satirize  his 
neighbor,  he  has  full  leave  to  do  so.  And  this  because  they  are  well 
aware  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  person  caricatured  does  not  belong 
to  the  People,  or  the  masses.  He  is  more  likely  to  be  some  wealthy 
or  well-born  person,  or  man  of  means  and  influence.  In  fact,  but 
few  poor  people  and  of  the  popular  stamp  incur  the  comic  lash,  or  if 
they  do,  they  have  brought  it  on  themselves  by  excessive  love  of 
meddling  or  some  covetous  self-seeking  at  the  expense  of  the  People, 
so  that  no  particular  annoyance  is  felt  at  seeing  such  folk  satirized. 

19.  What  I  venture  to  assert  is  therefore  that  the  People  of 
Athens  have  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  which  of  their  citizens  are 
of  the  better  sort  and  which  the  opposite.  Recognizing,  accordingly, 
those  who  are  serviceable  and  advantageous  to  themselves,  even 
though  they  be  base,  the  People  love  them ;  but  the  good  folk  they 
are  disposed  the  rather  to  hate.  This  excellence  of  theirs,  the  People 
hold,  is  not  ingrained  in  their  nature  for  any  good  to  itself,  but 
rather  for  its  injury.  In  direct  opposition  to  this,  there  are  some 
persons  who,  being  born  of  the  People,  are  yet  by  natural  instinct 
not  commoners.  20.  For  my  part  I  pardon  the  People  their  democ- 
racy, as  indeed  it  is  pardonable  in  any  one  to  do  good  to  himself. 
But  the  man  who,  not  being  himself  one  of  the  People,  prefers  to 
live  in  a  state  democratically  governed  rather  than  in  an  oligarchical 
state  takes  steps  to  commit  wrong.  He  knows  that  a  bad  man  has 
a  better  chance  of  slipping  through  the  fingers  of  justice  in  a  demo- 
cratic than  in  an  oligarchical  state. 

III.  1.  I  repeat  that  my  position  concerning  the  polity  of  the 
Athenians  is  this :  the  type  of  polity  is  not  to  my  taste,  but  given 
that  a  democratic  form  of  government  has  been  agreed  upon,  they 
do  seem  to  me  to  go  the  right  way  to  preserve  the  democracy  by  the 
adoption  of  the  particular  type  which  I  have  set  forth. 

But  there  are  other  objections  brought,  as  I  am  aware,  against 
the  Athenians  by  certain  people,  and  to  this  effect :  It  not  seldom 
happens,  they  tell  us,  that  a  man  is  unable  to  transact  a  piece  of 
business  with  the  council  or  the  People,  even  if  he  sit  waiting  a 
whole  year.  Now  this  does  happen  at  Athens,  and  for  no  other 
reason  save  that,  owing  to  the  immense  mass  of  affairs,  they  are 
unable  to  work  off  all  the  business  on  hand  and  dismiss  the  appli- 
cants.   2.  How  in  the  world  should  they  be  able,  considering  in  the 


GOVERNING  INSTITUTIONS  OVERBURDENED  233 


first  place,  that  they,  the  Athenians,  have  more  festivals  to  cele- 
brate than  any  other  state  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Hellas?  During  these  festivals  necessarily  the  transaction  of  any 
sort  of  affairs  of  state  is  still  more  out  of  the  question.  In  the  next 
place,  only  consider  the  number  of  cases  they  have  to  decide,  — 
private  suits  and  public  causes  and  scrutinies  of  accounts,  etc.  — 
more  than  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  mankind  put  together;  while 
the  council  has  multifarious  points  to  advise  upon  concerning  peace 
and  war,  concerning  ways  and  means,  concerning  the  framing  and 
passing  of  laws,  and  concerning  the  thousand  and  one  matters  affect- 
ing the  state  perpetually  occurring,  and  endless  questions  touching 
the  allies,  besides  the  receipt  of  the  tribute,  the  superintendence 
of  dockyards  and  temples,  etc.  I  ask  again,  can  any  one  find  it  at 
all  surprising  that,  with  all  these  affairs  on  their  hands,  they  are 
unequal  to  attending  to  the  business  of  all  the  world  ? 

3.  But  some  people  tell  us  that  if  the  applicant  will  only  address 
himself  to  the  council  or  the  People  with  a  fee  in  his  hand,  he  will 
have  his  business  done.  For  my  part  I  would  agree  with  these 
persons  that  a  good  many  things  are  accomplished  at  Athens  by 
dint  of  money ;  and  I  will  add  that  a  good  many  more  still  might 
be  done,  if  the  money  flowed  still  more  freely  and  from  more  pockets. 
One  thing,  however,  I  know  full  well,  that  as  to  transacting  with 
every  one  of  these  applicants  all  he  wants,  the  state  could  not  do  it, 
not  even  if  all  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  world  were  the  inducement 
offered. 

4.  Here  are  some  of  the  cases  which  have  to  be  decided  on. 
Some  one  fails  to  fit  out  his  ship  :  judgment  must  be  given.  An- 
other puts  up  a  building  on  a  piece  of  public  land  :  again  judgment 
must  be  given.  Or  to  take  another  class  of  cases :  adjudication 
has  to  be  made  between  the  choregi  for  the  Dionysia,  the  Thargelia, 
the  Panathenaea  year  after  year.  [And  again  in  behalf  of  the  gym- 
nasiarchs  a  similar  adjudication  for  the  Panathenaea,  the  Prome- 
theia,  and  the  Hephaestia,  also  year  after  year.] 1  Also  as  between 
the  trierarchs,  four  hundred  of  whom  are  appointed  each  year ;  of 
these,  too,  any  who  choose  must  have  their  cases  adjudicated  on, 
year  after  year.    But  that  is  not  all.    There  are  various  magis- 

1  Probably  spurious.  On  the  liturgies,  see  p.  226,  n.  1,  supra.  In  the  distribution 
of  liturgies  many  contentions  arose  as  to  who  were  liable. 


234  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


trates  to  examine  and  approve  and  decide  between ;  there  are  or- 
phans whose  status  must  be  examined ;  and  guardians  of  prisoners 
to  appoint.  5.  These,  be  it  borne  in  mind,  are  all  matters  of  yearly 
occurrence ;  while  at  intervals  there  are  exemptions  and  absten- 
tions from  military  service  which  call  for  adjudication,  or  in  con- 
nection with  some  extraordinary  misdemeanor,  some  case  of 
outrage  and  violence  of  an  exceptional  character,  or  some  charge 
of  impiety.  A  whole  list  of  others  I  simply  omit ;  I  am  content  to 
have  named  the  most  important  part  with  the  exception  of  the  as- 
sessments of  tribute  which  occur,  as  a  rule,  at  intervals  of  five  years. 

I  put  it  to  you,  then :  can  any  one  suppose  that  all  or  any  of 
these  disputes  may  dispense  with  adjudication  ?  If  so,  will  any  one 
say  which  ought,  and  which  ought  not  to  be  adjudicated  on,  there 
and  then  ?  6.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  forced  to  admit  that 
these  are  all  fair  cases  for  adjudication,  it  follows  of  necessity  that 
they  should  be  decided  during  the  twelve-month ;  since  even  now 
the  boards  of  judges  sitting  right  through  the  year  are  powerless 
to  stay  the  tide  of  evildoing  by  reason  of  the  multitude  of  the  people. 

7.  So  far  so  good.  "But,"  some  one  will  say,  "try  the  cases 
you  certainly  must,  but  lessen  the  number  of  the  jurors."  Yet  if 
so,  it  follows  of  necessity  that  unless  the  number  of  courts  them- 
selves are  diminished,  there  will  be  only  a  few  jurors  sitting  in 
each  court,  with  the  further  consequence  that  in  dealing  with  so 
small  a  body  of  jurors  it  will  be  easier  for  a  litigant  to  present  an 
invulnerable  front  to  the  court,  and  to  bribe  the  whole  body,  to  the 
great  detriment  of  justice. 

8.  But  besides  this  we  cannot  escape  the  conclusion  that  the 
Athenians  have  their  festivals  to  keep,  during  which  the  courts 
cannot  sit.  As  a  matter  of  fact  these  festivals  are  twice  as  numer- 
ous as  those  of  any  other  people.  However  I  will  reckon  them  as 
merely  equal  to  those  of  the  state  which  has  the  fewest. 

This  being  so,  I  maintain  that  it  is  not  possible  for  business 
affairs  at  Athens  to  stand  on  any  very  different  footing  from  the 
present,  except  to  some  slight  extent,  by  adding  here  and  deducting 
there.  Any  large  modification  is  out  of  the  question,  short  of  cur- 
tailing the  democracy  itself.  9.  No  doubt  many  expedients  might 
be  discovered  for  improving  the  constitution,  but  if  the  problems 
be  to  discover  some  adequate  means  of  making  it  better  while 


INTERSTATE  DEMOCRACY 


235 


at  the  same  time  the  democracy  is  to  remain  intact,  I  say  it  is  not 
easy  to  do  this,  except,  as  I  have  just  stated,  to  the  extent  of  some 
trifling  addition  here  or  deduction  there. 

10.  There  is  another  point  in  which  it  is  sometimes  felt  that  the 
Athenians  are  ill  advised,  in  their  adoption,  namely,  of  the  less  re- 
spectable party,  in  those  states  divided  by  faction.  But  they  do 
this  advisedly.  If  they  chose  the  more  respectable,  they  would  not 
be  choosing  those  who  held  convictions  identical  with  their  own ; 
for  there  is  no  state  in  which  the  best  element  is  friendly  to  the 
people.  It  is  the  worst  element  which  in  every  state  favors  the 
democracy  —  on  the  principle  that  like  favors  like.  The  case  is 
simple  enough.  The  Athenians  choose  what  is  most  akin  to  them- 
selves, ii.  Also  on  every  occasion  on  which  they  have  attempted 
to  side  with  the  better  classes,  it  has  not  fared  well  with  them,  but 
within  a  short  interval  the  democratic  party  has  been  enslaved,  as 
for  instance  in  Bceotia ; 1  or,  as  when  they  chose  the  aristocrats  of 
the  Milesians,  and  within  a  short  time  these  nobles  revolted  2  and 
cut  the  people  to  pieces ;  or,  as  when  they  chose  the  Lacedaemonians 
as  against  the  Messenians,3  and  within  a  short  time  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians subjugated  the  Messenians  and  went  to  war  against  Athens. 

12.  I  seem  to  overhear  a  retort,  "No  one,  of  course,  has  been 
deprived  of  his  civil  rights  at  Athens  unjustly."  My  answer  is, 
•  that  there  are  some  who  are  unjustly  deprived  of  their  civil  rights, 
though  the  cases  are  certainly  rare.  But  it  will  take  more  than  a 
few  to  attack  the  demo'cracy  at  Athens.  13.  You  may  consider  it 
an  established  fact  that  it  is  not  the  man  who  has  lost  his  civil 
rights  justly  who  takes  the  matter  to  heart,  but  the  victims,  if  any, 
of  injustice.  Yet  how  in  the  world  can  any  one  imagine  that  many 
are  in  a  state  of  civil  disability  at  Athens,  where  the  People  and  the 
holders  of  office  are  one  and  the  same?  It  is  from  iniquitous  exer- 
cise of  office,  from  iniquity  exhibited  either  in  speech  or  action,  and 
the  like  circumstances,  that  citizens  are  punished  with  deprivation 

1  After  the  battle  of  Tanagra,  457.  This  passage  is  discussed  by  Botsford,  in  Pol. 
Sci.  Quart,  xxv  (191  o).  281-3. 

2  The  Lesbian  revolt  took  place  in  428  (Thuc.  iii.  2  sqq.),  shortly  before  the  com- 
position of  this  oligarchic  treatise. 

3  The  author  here  refers  to  the  aid  brought  by  Cimon  to  the  Lacedaemonians  who 
were  besieging  the  helots  on  Mount  Ithome,  462  ;  Thucydides  i.  102  ;  Plutarch,  Cimon, 
16;  Aristophanes,  Lysistrate,  1143;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xii. 


236  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


of  civil  rights  in  Athens.  Due  reflection  on  these  matters  will  serve 
to  dispel  the  notion  that  there  is  any  danger  at  Athens  from  persons 
visited  with  disfranchisement. 

63.  The  First  Ideal  Constitution 

(The  Constitution  of  Hippodamus  of  Miletus,  summarized  and  commented 
upon  by  Aristotle,  Politics,  ii.  8,  1267  a  sq.    Jowett,  verified  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  two  selections  last  given  represent  the  beginnings  of  political  thought 
in  the  criticism  and  comparison  of  existing  forms  of  government.  Another 
line  of  political  study,  beginning  nearly  at  the  same  time  and  running  parallel, 
was  the  creation  of  ideal  constitutions.  The  first  constitution  of  the  kind  was 
that  of  Hippodamus,  a  contemporary  of  Pericles.  As  a  civil  engineer  he  had 
planned  the  cities  of  Peiraeus  and  Thurii  (Italy) ;  see  Botsford,  Hellenic 
History,  ch.  xvii. 

ch.  8.  1.  Hippodamus,  son  of  Euryphon,  a  native  of  Miletus,  the 
same  who  invented  the  art  of  planning  cities,  and  who  also  laid  out 
Peiraeus,  was  a  strange  man,  whose  fondness  for  distinction  led  him 
into  a  general  eccentricity  of  life,  which  made  some  think  him 
affected ;  for  he  would  wear  flowing  hair  and  expensive  ornaments ; 
and  yet  he  dressed  himself  in  the  same  cheap  warm  garment  both 
in  winter  and  in  summer.  Besides  aspiring  to  be  an  adept  in 
the  knowledge  of  nature,  he  was  the  first  person  not  a  statesman  who 
made  inquiries  about  the  best  form  of  government. 

2.  The  city  of  Hippodamus  was  composed  of  10,000  citizens 
divided  into  three  parts,  —  one  of  artisans,  one  of  husbandmen,  and 
a  third  of  armed  defenders  of  the  state.  3.  He  also  divided  the 
land  into  three  parts,  one  sacred,  one  public,  the  third  private. 
The  first  was  set  apart  to  maintain  the  customary  worship  of  the 
gods,  the  second  was  to  support  the  warriors,  the  third  was  the  prop- 
erty of  the  husbandman.  4.  He  also  divided  his  laws  into  three 
classes,  and  no  more ;  for  he  maintained  that  there  are  three  sub- 
jects of  lawsuits, — insult,  injury,  and  homicide.  He  likewise 
instituted  a  single  final  court  of  appeal,  to  which  all  cases  seeming 
to  have  been  improperly  decided  might  be  referred ;  this  court  he 
formed  of  elders  chosen  for  the  purpose.  5.  He  was  further  of  the 
opinion  that  the  decisions  of  the  courts  ought  not  to  be  given  by  the 
use  of  a  voting  pebble,  but  that  every  one  should  have  a  tablet  on 


CONSTITUTION  OF  HIPPODAMUS  237 


which  he  might  not  only  write  a  simple  condemnation,  or  leave  the 
tablet  blank  for  a  simple  acquittal ;  but,  if  he  partly  acquitted  and 
partly  condemned,  he  was  to  distinguish  accordingly.  To  the 
existing  law  he  objected  that  it  obliged  the  judges  to  be  guilty  of 
perjury,  whichever  way  they  voted.  6.  He  also  enacted  that  those 
who  discovered  anything  for  the  good  of  the  state  should  be  re- 
warded ;  and  he  provided  that  the  children  of  citizens  who  died  in 
battle  should  be  maintained  at  the  public  expense,  as  if  such  an 
enactment  had  never  been  heard  of  before ;  yet  it  actually  exists 
at  Athens  1  and  in  other  places. 

7.  As  to  the  magistrates,  he  would  have  them  all  elected  by  the 
people,  —  that  is,  by  the  three  classes  already  mentioned,  and  those 
who  were  elected  were  to  watch  over  the  interests  of  the  public,  of 
strangers,  and  of  orphans.  These  are  the  most  striking  points  in 
the  constitution  of  Hippodamus.    There  is  not  much  else. 

The  first  of  these  proposals  to  which  objection  may  be  taken,  is 
the  threefold  division  of  the  citizens.  8.  The  artisans,  the  husband- 
men, and  the  warriors,  all  have  a  share  in  the  government.  But 
the  husbandmen  have  no  arms,  and  the  artisans  neither  arms  nor 
land,  and  therefore  they  become  all  but  slaves  of  the  warrior  class. 
9.  That  they  should  share  in  all  the  offices  is  an  impossibility ;  for 
generals  and  the  guardians  of  the  citizens,  and  nearly  all  the  prin- 
cipal magistrates,  must  be  taken  from  the  class  of  those  who  carry 
arms.  Yet  if  the  two  other  classes  have  no  share  in  the  government, 
how  can  they  be  loyal  citizens  ?  It  may  be  said  that  those  who  have 
arms  must  necessarily  be  masters  of  both  the  other  classes,  but  this 
is  not  so  easily  accomplished  unless  they  are  numerous.  10.  If 
however  they  are,  why  should  the  other  classes  share  in  the  govern- 
ment at  all,  or  have  power  to  appoint  magistrates?  Artisans  there 
must  be ;  for  they  are  wanted  in  every  city,  and  they  can  live  by 
their  craft,  as  elsewhere ;  and  the  husbandmen,  too,  if  they  really 
provided  the  warriors  with  food,  might  fairly  have  a  share  in  the 
government.  But  in  the  republic  of  Hippodamus  they  are  sup- 
posed to  have  land  of  their  own,  which  they  cultivate  for  their 
private  benefit,  n.  Again,  as  to  this  common  land  out  of  which 
the  soldiers  are  maintained,  if  they  are  themselves  to  be  the  cul- 
tivators of  it,  the  warrior  class  will  be  identical  with  the  husband- 
1  See  Thuc.  ii.  46  (Funeral  Oration  of  Pericles) ;  no.  64. 


238  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


men,  although  the  legislator  intended  to  make  a  distinction  between 
them.  If,  again,  there  are  to  be  other  cultivators  distinct  both 
from  the  husbandmen,  who  have  land  of  their  own,  and  from  the 
warriors,  they  will  make  a  fourth  class,  which  has  no  place  in  the 
state  and  no  share  in  anything.  12.  Or  if  the  same  persons  are  to 
cultivate  their  own  lands  and  those  of  the  public  as  well,  they  will 
have  a  difficulty  in  supplying  the  quantity  of  produce  which  will 
maintain  two  households :  and  why  in  this  case  should  there  be 
any  division,  for  they  might  find  food  themselves  and  give  to  the 
warriors  from  the  same  lots?  There  is  surely  a  great  confusion 
in  all  this. 

13.  Neither  is  the  law  to  be  commended  which  says  that  the 
judges,  when  a  simple  issue  is  laid  before  them,  should  distinguish 
in  their  judgment ;  for  the  judge  is  thus  converted  into  an  arbitrator. 
Now,  in  an  arbitration,  although  the  arbitrators  are  many,  they 
confer  with  one  another  about  the  decision,  and  therefore  they  can 
distinguish ;  but  in  courts  of  law  this  is  impossible ;  and  in  fact 
most  legislators  take  pains  to  prevent  the  judges  from  holding  any 
communication  with  one  another.  14.  Again,  will  there  not  be  con- 
fusion if  the  judge  thinks  that  damages  should  be  given,  but  not  so 
much  as  the  suitor  demands  ?  He  asks,  say,  for  twenty  minae,  and 
the  judge  allows  him  ten  minae,  or  one  judge  more  and  another  less ; 
one  five,  another  four  minae.  In  this  way  they  will  go  on  appor- 
tioning the  damages,  and  some  will  grant  the  whole  and  others 
nothing.  15.  How  is  the  final  reckoning  to  be  taken?  Again,  no 
one  who  votes  for  a  simple  acquittal  or  condemnation  is  compelled 
to  perjure  himself,  if  the  indictment  is  quite  simple  and  in  right 
form ;  for  the  judge  who  acquits  does  not  decide  that  the  defendant 
owes  nothing,  but  that  he  does  not  owe  the  twenty  minae.  He  only 
is  guilty  of  perjury  who  thinks  that  the  defendant  ought  not  to  pay 
twenty  minae,  and  yet  condemns  him. 

16.  To  reward  those  who  discover  anything  which  is  useful  to 
the  state  is  a  proposal  which  has  a  specious  sound,  but  cannot  safely 
be  enacted  by  law ;  for  it  may  encourage  informers,  and  perhaps 
even  lead  to  political  commotions.  This  question  involves  another. 
It  has  been  doubted  whether  it  is  or  is  not  expedient  to  make  any 
changes  in  the  laws  of  a  country,  even  if  another  law  be  better. 
17.  Now  if  all  changes  are  inexpedient,  we  can  hardly  assent  to  the 


SHALL  LAWS  BE  CHANGED? 


239 


proposal  of  Hippodamus ;  for  under  pretence  of  doing  a  public 
service,  a  man  may  introduce  measures  which  are  really  destructive 
to  the  laws  or  to  the  constitution.  But  since  we  have  touched  upon 
this  subject,  (18)  perhaps  we  had  better  go  a  little  into  detail ;  for  as 
I  was  saying,  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion,  and  it  may  sometimes 
seem  desirable  to  make  changes.  Such  changes  in  the  other  arts 
and  sciences  have  certainly  been  beneficial ;  medicine,  for  example, 
and  gymnastic  and  every  other  art  and  science  have  departed  from 
traditional  usage.  If  accordingly  politics  be  an  art,  change  must  be 
necessary  in  this  as  in  any  other  art.  19.  The  need  of  improvement 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  old  customs  are  exceedingly  simple  and 
barbarous.  For  the  ancient  Hellenes  went  about  armed,  and  bought 
their  wives  of  each  other.  20.  The  remains  of  ancient  laws  which 
have  come  down  to  us  are  quite  absurd  ;  for  example,  at  Cyme  there 
is  a  law  about  murder,  to  the  effect  that  if  the  accuser  produce  a 
certain  number  of  witnesses  from  among  his  own  kinsmen,  the 
accused  shall  be  held  guilty. 


64.  Athenian  Character  and  Ideals 
(Pericles,  Funeral  Oration,  in  Thucydides  ii.  35-46.   Jowett,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Pericles,  who  brought  his  community  to  a  summit  of  civilization  never 
before  reached  by  the  human  race,  expressed  in  his  own  public  life  the  noblest 
aspirations  of  his  age.  No  one  could  doubt  the  competence  of  this  man  of 
clear,  penetrating  vision  to  interpret  the  character  and  ideals  of  his  people. 
This  task  he  sets  before  himself  in  the  Funeral  Oration  delivered  over  those 
who  fell  in  the  first  year  of  the  great  war  with  Peloponnesus,  431.  As  given  by 
Thucydides,  the  essential  ideas  are  those  of  the  statesman,  but  the  style  is 
certainly  that  of  the  historian  (p.  29  supra),  who  in  inserting  this  oration  in  his 
narrative  after  the  close  of  the  war,  undoubtedly  colored  even  the  thought  with 
somber  hues  from  his  city's  overthrow  in  404.  However  the  credit  may  be 
divided  between  Pericles  and  Thucydides,  the  speech  is  certainly  one  of  the 
most  precious  documents  which  treat  of  the  history  of  civilization.  See  Zim- 
mern,  Greek  Commonwealth,  a  large  part  of  which  is  avowedly  a  commentary 
on  this  document.  For  a  briefer  interpretation  in  the  same  spirit,  see  Ferguson, 
Greek  Imperialism,  lect.  ii. 

35.  Most  of  those  who  have  spoken  here  before  me  have  com- 
mended the  lawgiver  who  added  this  oration  to  our  other  funeral 
customs;  it  seemed  to  them  a  worthy  thing  that  such  an  honor 


240  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


should  be  given  at  their  burial  to  the  dead  who  have  fallen  on  the 
field  of  battle.  But  I  should  have  preferred  that,  when  men's 
deeds  have  been  brave,  they  should  be  honored  in  deed  only,  and 
with  such  an  honor  as  this  public  funeral,  which  you  are  now  wit- 
nessing. Then  the  reputation  of  many  would  not  have  been  im- 
perilled by  the  eloquence  or  want  of  eloquence  of  one,  and  their 
virtues  believed  or  not  as  he  spoke  well  or  ill.  For  it  is  difficult  to 
say  neither  too  little  nor  too  much ;  and  even  moderation  is  apt 
not  to  give  the  impression  of  truthfulness.  The  friend  of  the  dead 
who  knows  the  facts  is  likely  to  think  that  the  words  of  the  speaker 
fall  short  of  his  knowledge  and  of  his  wishes ;  another  who  is  not 
so  well  informed,  when  he  hears  of  anything  which  surpasses  his 
own  powers,  will  be  envious  and  will  suspect  exaggeration.  Man- 
kind are  tolerant  of  the  praises  of  others  so  long  as  each  hearer 
thinks  that  he  can  do  as  well  or  nearly  as  well  himself ;  but  when 
the  speaker  rises  above  him,  jealousy  is  aroused  and  he  begins  to  be 
incredulous.  However,  since  our  ancestors  have  set  the  seal  of 
their  approval  upon  the  practice,  I  must  obey,  and  to  the  utmost  of 
my  power  shall  endeavor  to  satisfy  the  wishes  and  beliefs  of  all  who 
hear  me. 

36.  I  will  speak  first  of  our  ancestors,  for  it  is  right  and  becoming 
that  now,  when  we  are  lamenting  the  dead,  a  tribute  should  be  paid 
to  their  memory.  There  has  never  been  a  time  when  they  did  not 
inhabit  this  land,  which  by  their  valor  they  have  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation,  and  we  have  received  from  them  a  free 
state.  But  if  they  were  worthy  of  praise,  still  more  were  our  fathers, 
who  added  to  their  inheritance,  and  after  many  a  struggle  trans- 
mitted to  us,  their  sons,  this  great  empire.  And  we  ourselves  as- 
sembled here  to-day,  who  are  still  most  of  us  in  the  vigor  of  life, 
have  chiefly  done  the  work  of  improvement,  and  have  richly  en- 
dowed our  city  with  all  things ;  so  that  she  is  sufficient  for  herself 
both  in  peace  and  war.1  Of  the  military  exploits  by  which  our 
various  possessions  were  acquired,  or  of  the  energy  with  which  we 
or  our  fathers  drove  back  the  tide  of  war,  Hellenic  or  Barbarian, 

1  Because  of  the  insecurity  of  commerce  in  Hellenic  times,  and  of  the  dangers  which 
continually  threatened  the  communications  of  every  city-state  with  the  outside  world, 
the  general  policy  of  statesmen  was  to  make  their  communities  as  self-sufficing  as 
possible. 


HOW  ATHENS  BECAME  GREAT 


241 


I  will  not  speak ;  for  the  tale  would  be  long  and  is  familiar  to  you. 
But  before  I  praise  the  dead,  I  should  like  to  point  out  by  what 
principles  of  action  we  rose  to  power,  and  under  what  institutions 
and  through  what  manner  of  life  our  empire  became  great.  For 
I  conceive  that  such  thoughts  are  not  unsuited  to  the  occasion,  and 
that  this  numerous  assembly  of  citizens  and  strangers  may  profit- 
ably listen  to  them. 

37.  Our  form  of  government  does  not  enter  into  rivalry  with 
the  institutions  of  others.  We  do  not  copy  our  neighbors,  but  are 
an  example  to  them.  It  is  true  that  we  are  called  a  democracy,  for 
the  administration  is  in  the  hands  of  the  many  and  not  of  the  few. 
But  while  the  law  secures  equal  justice  to  all  alike  in  their  private 
disputes,  the  claim  of  excellence  is  also  recognized;  and  when  a 
citizen  is  in  any  way  distinguished,  he  is  preferred  to  the  public 
service,  not  as  a  matter  of  privilege,  but  as  the  reward  of  merit. 
Neither  is  poverty  a  bar,  but  a  man  may  benefit  his  country  what- 
ever be  the  obscurity  of  his  condition.  There  is  no  exclusiveness 
in  our  public  life,  and  in  our  private  intercourse  we  are  not  sus- 
picious of  one  another,  nor  angry  with  our  neighbor  if  he  does  what 
he  likes ;  we  do  not  put  on  sour  looks  at  him  which,  though  harm- 
less, are  not  pleasant.  While  we  are  thus  unconstrained  in  our 
private  intercourse,  a  spirit  of  reverence  pervades  our  public  acts ; 
we  are  prevented  from  doing  wrong  by  respect  for  authority  and 
for  the  laws,  having  an  especial  regard  to  those  which  are  ordained 
for  the  protection  of  the  injured  as  well  as  to  those  unwritten  laws 
which  bring  upon  the  transgressor  of  them  the  reprobation  of  the 
general  sentiment. 

38.  And  we  have  not  forgotten  to  provide  for  our  weary  spirits 
many  relaxations  from  toil ;  we  have  regular  games  and  sacrifices 
throughout  the  year ;  at  home  the  style  of  our  life  is  refined ;  and 
the  delight  which  we  daily  feel  in  all  these  things  helps  to  banish 
sadness.  Because  of  the  greatness  of  our  city  the  fruits  of  the  whole 
earth  flow  in  upon  us ;  so  that  we  enjoy  the  goods  of  other  countries 
as  freely  as  of  our  own. 

39.  Then,  again,  our  military  training  is  in  many  respects  su- 
perior to  that  of  our  adversaries.  Our  city  is  thrown  open  to  the 
world,  and  we  never  expel  a  foreigner,  or  prevent  him  from  seeing  or 
learning  anything  of  which  the  secret,  if  revealed  to  an  enemy, 


242  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


might  profit  him.1  We  rely  not  upon  management  or  trickery, 
but  upon  our  own  hearts  and  hands.  And  in  the  matter  of  educa- 
tion, whereas  they  from  early  youth  are  always  undergoing  laborious 
exercises  which  are  to  make  them  brave,  we  live  at  ease,  and  yet 
are  equally  ready  to  face  the  perils  which  they  face.  And  here  is 
the  proof.  The  Lacedaemonians  come  into  Attica  not  by  them- 
selves, but  with  their  whole  confederacy  following;  we  go  alone 
into  a  neighbor's  country  ;  and  although  our  opponents  are  fighting 
for  their  homes  and  we  on  a  foreign  soil,  we  have  seldom  any  diffi- 
culty in  overcoming  them.  Our  enemies  have  never  yet  felt  our 
united  strength ;  the  care  of  a  navy  divides  our  attention,  and  on 
land  we  are  obliged  to  send  our  own  citizens  everywhere.  But 
they,  if  they  meet  and  defeat  a  part  of  our  army,  are  as  proud  as 
if  they  had  routed  us  all,  and  when  defeated  they  pretend  to  have 
been  vanquished  by  us  all. 

If,  then,  we  prefer  to  meet  danger  with  a  light  heart  but  without 
laborious  training,  and  with  a  courage  which  is  gained  by  habit  and 
not  enforced  by  law,  are  we  not  greatly  the  gainers  ?  Since  we  do 
not  anticipate  the  pain,  although,  when  the  hour  comes,  we  can  be 
as  brave  as  those  who  never  allow  themselves  to  rest ;  and  thus  too 
our  city  is  equally  admirable  in  peace  and  in  war.  40.  For  we  are 
lovers  of  the  beautiful,  yet  simple  in  our  tastes,  and  we  cultivate 
the  mind  without  loss  of  manliness.  Wealth  we  employ,  not  for 
talk  and  ostentation,  but  when  there  is  a  real  use  for  it.  To  avow 
poverty  with  us  is  no  disgrace  ;  the  true  disgrace  is  in  doing  nothing 
to  avoid  it.  An  Athenian  citizen  does  not  neglect  the  state  because 
he  takes  care  of  his  own  household ;  and  even  those  of  us  who  are 
engaged  in  business  have  a  very  fair  idea  of  politics.  We  alone  regard 
a  man  who  takes  no  interest  in  public  affairs,  not  as  a  harmless  but  as  a 
useless  character ;  and  if  few  of  us  are  originators,  we  are  all  sound 
judges  of  a  policy.  The  great  impediment  to  action  is,  in  our  opinion, 
not  discussion,  but  the  want  of  that  knowledge  which  is  gained  by 
discussion  preparatory  to  action.  For  we  have  a  peculiar  power  of 
thinking  before  we  act  and  of  acting  too,  whereas  other  men  are 
courageous  from  ignorance  but  hesitate  upon  reflection.  Further, 
they  are  surely  to  be  esteemed  the  bravest  spirits  who,  having  the 

1  In  contrasting  the  Athenians  with  "others,"  Pericles  has  especially  the  Lacedae- 
monians in  mind. 


THE  SCHOOL  OF  HELLAS 


243 


clearest  sense  both  of  the  pains  and  pleasures  of  life,  do  not  on  that 
account  shrink  from  danger.  In  doing  good,  again,  we  are  unlike 
others  ;  we  make  our  friends  by  conferring,  not  by  receiving,  favors. 
Now  he  who  confers  a  favor  is  the  firmer  friend,  because  he  would 
fain  by  kindness  keep  alive  the  memory  of  an  obligation ;  but  the 
recipient  is  colder  in  his  feelings,  because  he  knows  that  in  requiting 
another's  generosity  he  will  not  be  winning  gratitude  but  only 
paying  a  debt.  We  alone  do  good  to  our  neighbors  not  upon  a 
calculation  of  interest,  but  in  the  confidence  of  freedom  and  in  a 
frank  and  fearless  spirit.  41.  To  sum  up  :  I  say  that  Athens  is  the 
school  of  Hellas,  and  that  the  individual  Athenian  in  his  own  per- 
son seems  to  have  the  power  of  adapting  himself  to  the  most  varied 
forms  of  action  with  the  utmost  versatility  and  grace.  This  is  no 
passing  and  idle  word,  but  truth  and  fact ;  and  the  assertion  is 
verified  by  the  position  to  which  these  qualities  have  raised  the 
state.  For  in  the  hour  of  trial  Athens  alone  among  her  contem- 
poraries is  superior  to  the  report  of  her.  No  enemy  who  comes 
against  her  is  indignant  at  the  reverses  which  he  sustains  at  the 
hands  of  such  a  city ;  no  subject  complains  that  his  masters  are 
unworthy  of  him.  It  is  true,  too,  that  we  shall  assuredly  not  be 
without  witnesses ;  there  are  mighty  monuments  of  our  power 
which  will  make  us  the  wonder  of  this  and  of  succeeding  ages ;  we 
shall  not  need  the  praises  of  Homer  or  any  other  panegyrist  whose 
poetry  may  please  for  the  moment,  although  his  representation  of 
the  facts  will  not  bear  the  light  of  day.  For  we  have  compelled 
every  land  and  every  sea  to  open  a  path  for  our  valor,  and  have 
everywhere  planted  eternal  memorials  of  our  friendship  and  of  our 
enmity.  Such  is  the  city  for  whose  sake  these  men  nobly  fought 
and  died  ;  they  could  not  bear  the  thought  that  she  might  be  taken 
from  them ;  and  every  one  of  us  who  survive  should  gladly  toil  on 
her  behalf. 

42.  I  have  dwelt  upon  the  greatness  of  Athens  because  1  want  to 
show  you  that  we  are  contending  for  a  higher  prize  than  those  who 
enjoy  none  of  these  privileges,  and  to  establish  by  manifest  proof 
the  merit  of  these  men  whom  I  am  now  commemorating.  Their 
loftiest  praise  has  been  already  spoken.  For  in  magnifying  the 
city  I  have  magnified  them,  and  men  like  them  whose  virtues  made 
her  glorious.    Of  how  few  Hellenes  can  it  be  said  as  of  them,  that 


244  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 

their  deeds  when  weighed  in  the  balance  have  been  found  equal 
to  their  fame  !  Methinks  that  a  death  such  as  theirs  has  been  gives 
the  true  measure  of  a  man's  worth ;  it  may  be  the  first  revelation 
of  his  virtues,  but  is  at  any  rate  their  final  seal.  For  even  those 
who  come  short  in  other  ways  may  justly  plead  the  valor  with 
which  they  have  fought  for  their  country ;  they  have  blotted  out 
the  evil  with  the  good,  and  have  benefited  the  state  more  by  their 
public  services  than  they  have  injured  her  by  their  private  actions. 
None  of  these  men  were  enervated  by  wealth  or  hesitated  to  resign 
the  pleasures  of  life ;  none  of  them  put  off  the  evil  day  in  the  hope, 
natural  to  poverty,  that  a  man,  though  poor,  may  one  day  become 
rich.  But  deeming  that  the  punishment  of  their  enemies  was 
sweeter  than  any  of  these  things,  and  that  they  could  fall  in  no 
nobler  cause,  they  determined  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives  to  be 
honorably  avenged,  and  to  leave  the  rest.  They  resigned  to  hope 
their  unknown  chance  of  happiness ;  but  in  the  face  of  death  they 
resolved  to  rely  upon  themselves  alone.  And  when  the  moment 
came  they  were  minded  to  resist  and  suffer,  rather  than  to  fly  and 
save  their  lives ;  they  ran  away  from  the  word  of  dishonor,  but  on 
the  battle-field  their  feet  stood  fast,  and  in  an  instant,  at  the  height 
of  their  fortune,  they  passed  away  from  the  scene,  not  of  their  fear, 
but  of  their  glory. 

43.  Such  was  the  end  of  these  men  ;  they  were  worthy  of  Athens, 
and  the  living  need  not  desire  to  have  a  more  heroic  spirit,  although 
they  may  pray  for  a  less  fatal  issue.  The  value  of  such  a  spirit  is 
not  to  be  expressed  in  words.  Any  one  can  discourse  to  you  for 
ever  about  the  advantages  of  a  brave  defence  which  you  know 
already.  But  instead  of  listening  to  him  I  would  have  you  day  by 
day  fix  your  eyes  upon  the  greatness  of  Athens,  until  you  become 
filled  with  the  love  of  her;  and  when  you  are  impressed  by  the 
spectacle  of  her  glory,  reflect  that  this  empire  has  been  acquired 
by  men  who  knew  their  duty  and  had  the  courage  to  do  it,  who  in 
the  hour  of  conflict  had  the  fear  of  dishonor  always  present  to  them, 
and  who,  if  ever  they  failed  in  an  enterprise,  would  not  allow  their 
virtues  to  be  lost  to  their  country,  but  freely  gave  their  lives  to 
her  as  the  fairest  offering  which  they  could  present  at  her  feast. 
The  sacrifice  which  they  collectively  made  was  individually  repaid 
to  them ;  for  they  received  again  each  one  for  himself  a  praise  which 


TO  DIE  FOR  COUNTRY 


245 


grows  not  old,  and  the  noblest  of  all  sepulchers  —  I  speak  not  of 
that  in  which  their  remains  are  laid,  but  of  that  in  which  their 
glory  survives,  and  is  proclaimed  always  and  on  every  fitting  oc- 
casion both  in  word  and  deed.  For  the  whole  earth  is  the  sepulcher 
of  famous  men ;  not  only  are  they  commemorated  by  columns  and 
inscriptions  in  their  own  country,  but  in  foreign  lands  there  dwells 
also  an  unwritten  memorial  of  them,  graven  not  on  stone  but  in 
the  hearts  of  men.  Make  them  your  examples ;  and  esteeming 
courage  to  be  freedom  and  freedom  to  be  happiness,  do  not  weigh 
too  nicely  the  perils  of  war.  The  unfortunate  who  has  no  hope  of  a 
change  for  the  better  has  less  reason  to  throw  away  his  life  than 
the  prosperous  who,  if  he  survive,  is  always  liable  to  a  change  for  the 
worse,  and  to  whom  any  accidental  fall  makes  the  most  serious 
difference.  To  a  man  of  spirit,  cowardice  and  disaster  coming 
together  are  far  more  bitter  than  death  striking  him  unperceived 
at  a  time  when  he  is  full  of  courage  and  animated  by  the  general 
hope. 

44.  Wherefore  I  do  not  now  commiserate  the  parents  of  the 
dead  who  stand  here ;  I  would  rather  comfort  them.  You  know 
that  your  life  has  been  passed  amid  manifold  vicissitudes ;  and  that 
they  may  be  deemed  fortunate  who  have  gained  most  honor,  whether 
an  honorable  death  like  theirs,  or  an  honorable  sorrow  like  yours, 
and  whose  days  have  been  so  ordered  that  the  term  of  their  hap- 
piness is  likewise  the  term  of  their  life.  I  know  how  hard  it  is  to 
make  you  feel  this,  when  the  good  fortune  of  others  will  too  often 
remind  you  of  the  gladness  which  once  lightened  your  hearts. 
Sorrow  is  felt  at  the  want  of  those  blessings,  not  which  a  man  never 
knew,  but  which  were  a  part  of  his  life  before  they  were  taken  from 
him.  Some  of  you  are  of  an  age  at  which  they  may  hope  to  have 
other  children,  and  they  ought  to  bear  their  sorrow  better ;  not  only 
will  the  children  who  may  hereafter  be  born  make  them  forget  their 
own  lost  ones,  but  the  city  will  be  doubly  a  gainer.  She  will  not 
be  left  desolate,  and  she  will  be  safer.  For  a  man's  counsel  cannot 
have  equal  weight  or  worth,  when  he  alone  has  no  children  to  risk 
in  the  general  danger.  To  those  of  you  who  have  passed  their 
prime,  I  say  :  "  Congratulate  yourselves  that  you  have  been  happy 
during  the  greater  part  of  your  days ;  remember  that  your  life  of 
sorrow  will  not  last  long,  and  be  comforted  by  the  glory  of  those 


246  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


who  are  gone.  For  the  love  of  honor  alone  is  ever  young,  and  not 
riches,  as  some  say,  but  honor  is  the  delight  of  men  when  they  are 
old  and  useless. 

45.  To  you  who  are  the  sons  and  brothers  of  the  departed,  I  see 
that  the  struggle  to  emulate  them  will  be  an  arduous  one.  For  all 
men  praise  the  dead,  and  however  preeminent  your  virtue  may  be, 
hardly  will  you  be  thought,  I  do  not  say  to  equal,  but  even  to  ap- 
proach them.  The  living  have  their  rivals  and  detractors,  but  when 
a  man  is  out  of  the  way,  the  honor  and  good- will  which  he  receives 
is  unalloyed.  And  if  I  am  to  speak  of  womanly  virtues  to  those  of 
you  who  will  henceforth  be  widows,  let  me  sum  them  up  in  one  short 
admonition  :  To  a  woman  not  to  show  more  weakness  than  is  nat- 
ural to  her  sex  is  a  great  glory,  and  not  to  be  talked  about  for  good 
or  for  evil  among  men. 

46.  I  have  paid  the  required  tribute,  in  obedience  to  the  law, 
making  use  of  such  fitting  words  as  I  had.  The  tribute  of  deeds 
has  been  paid  in  part ;  for  the  dead  have  been  honorably  interred, 
and  it  remains  only  that  their  children  should  be  maintained  at 
the  public  charge  until  they  are  grown  up  :  this  is  the  solid  prize 
with  which,  as  with  a  garland,  Athens  crowns  her  sons  living  and 
dead,  after  a  struggle  like  theirs.  For  where  the  rewards  of  virtue 
are  greatest,  there  the  noblest  citizens  are  enlisted  in  the  service  of 
the  state.  And  now,  when  you  have  duly  lamented,  every  one  his 
own  dead,  you  may  depart. 

65.  Athenian  and  Lacedemonian   Policy  and  Character 

Contrasted 

{Speech  of  Corinthian  deputies  in  the  Peloponnesian  Congress  at  Sparta,  432, 
as  given  by  Thucydides  i.  68-7 1 .  Jowett,  revised,  on  the  basis  of  a  com- 
parison of  the  Greek  text,  by  E.  G.  S.) 

This  selection  is  placed  with  those  which  immediately  precede,  to  represent, 
in  the  conflict  of  feelings  and  of  interests  which  resulted  in  the  Peloponnesian 
war,  a  view  hostile  to  Athens.  The  Corinthian  speech  and  the  reply  of  the 
Athenians  given  immediately  afterward  by  Thucydides  1.  72-8,  but  not  in- 
cluded in  this  volume,  are  masterpieces  of  pure  political  reasoning,  and  they 
set  forth,  not  merely  the  political  status  and  the  underlying  sentiment  in  the 
leading  states  as  they  were  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  but 
also  involve  a  retrospect  of  the  political  development  of  the  ^Egean  world  as  it 
passed  through  the  half  century  which  elapsed  since  Salamis  and  Plataea. 


GRIEVANCES  AGAINST  ATHENS  247 


68.  The  spirit  of  trust,  Lacedaemonians,  which  animates  your 
own  political  and  social  life,  makes  you  distrust  others  who,  like 
ourselves,  have  something  unpleasant  to  say,  and  this  temper  of 
mind,  though  favorable  to  moderation,  too  often  leaves  you  in 
ignorance  of  what  is  going  on  outside  your  own  country.  Time 
after  time  we  have  warned  you  of  the  mischief  which  the  Athenians 
would  do  to  us  ;  but  instead  of  taking  our  words  to  heart,  you  chose 
to  suspect  that  we  only  spoke  from  interested  motives.  And  this 
is  the  reason  why  you  have  summoned  these  allies  here  to  Sparta 
too  late,  —  not  before  but  after  the  injury  has  been  inflicted,  and 
when  we  are  smarting  under  the  sense  of  it.  Of  all  persons  who  has 
a  better  right  to  speak  than  ourselves,  who  have  the  heaviest  ac- 
cusations to  make,  outraged  as  we  are  by  the  Athenians,  and  neg- 
lected by  you?  If  the  crimes  which  they  are  committing  against 
Hellas  were  being  done  in  a  corner,  then  you  might  be  ignorant, 
and  we  should  have  to  inform  you  of  them :  but  now,  what  need 
of  many  words?  Some  of  us,  as  you  see,  have  already  been  en- 
slaved ;  they  are  at  this  moment  intriguing  against  others,  notably 
against  allies  of  ours  ;  and  long  ago  they  had  made  all  their  prepara- 
tions in  expectation  of  war.  Else  why  did  they  seduce  from  her 
allegiance  Corcyra,  which  they  still  hold  in  defiance  of  us,  and  why 
are  they  blockading  Potidsea,  —  the  latter  a  most  advantageous 
post  for  the  command  of  the  Thracian  peninsula,  the  former  a 
great  naval  power  which  might  have  assisted  the  Peloponnesians  ?  1 

69.  And  the  blame  of  all  this  rests  on  you ;  for  you  originally 
allowed  them  to  fortify  their  city  after  the  Persian  War,2  and  after- 
wards to  build  their  Long  Walls ; 3  and  to  this  hour  you  have  gone 
on  depriving  of  liberty  not  only  those  enslaved  by  them  but  are 
now  beginning  to  take  it  away  even  from  your  own  allies.  For  the 
true  enslaver  of  a  people  is  he  who  can  put  an  end  to  their  slavery 
but  has  no  care  about  it ;  and  all  the  more,  if  he  be  reputed  the 
champion  of  liberty  in  Hellas.  —  And  barely  now  have  we  met  in  a 
congress  and  not  even  yet  on  the  basis  of  a  clear  situation.    By  this 

1  Athens  had  recently  made  a  defensive  alliance  with  Corcyra,  a  colony  of  Corinth. 
Potidaea,  another  colony  of  Corinth,  had  long  been  a  tributary  member  of  the  Athenian 
empire  but  had  recently  revolted.  The  Athenians  accordingly  were  attempting  by 
blockade  to  reduce  the  city.  See  Thucydides  i.  24  sqq. ;  Bury,  History  of  Greece,  ch. 
x.  §  1 ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xvii  (init.).  2  See  Thucydides  i.  90-92. 

3  The  walls  connecting  Athens  with  Peirasus ;  Thuc.  i.  107. 

/ 


248  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


time  we  ought  to  have  been  considering,  not  whether  we  are 
wronged,  but  how  we  are  to  be  revenged.  The  aggressor  is  not  now 
threatening,  but  advancing;  he  has  made  up  his  mind,  while  we 
are  resolved  about  nothing.  And  we  know  too  well  by  what  road 
and  how  little  by  little  the  Athenians  move  upon  their  neighbors. 
While  they  think  that  you  are  too  dull  to  observe  them,  they  are 
more  careful,  but  when  they  perceive  that  you  with  full  knowledge 
overlook  their  aggressions,  they  will  strike  and  not  spare..  Of  all 
Hellenes,  Lacedaemonians,  you  are  the  only  people  who  keep  at  rest 
warding  off  (an  enemy)  not  with  your  active  power  but  with 
delay  :  and  you  are  the  only  people  who  do  not  destroy  the  increase 
of  your  foes  in  the  beginning  but  when  it  has  grown  to  fulness. 
How  came  you  to  be  considered  safe?  That  reputation  of  yours 
was  never  justified  by  facts.  We  all  know  that  the  Persian  made  his 
way  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  against  Peloponnesus  before  you 
encountered  him  in  a  worthy  manner ;  and  now  you  are  blind  to 
the  doings  of  the  Athenians,  who  are  not  at  a  distance  as  he  was, 
but  close  at  hand.  Instead  of  attacking  your  enemy,  you  wait, 
to  be  attacked,  and  take  the  chances  of  a  struggle  which  has  been 
deferred  until  his  power  is  doubled.  And  you  know  that  the 
Barbarian  miscarried  chiefly  through  his  own  error ;  and  that  we 
have  oftener  been  delivered  from  these  very  Athenians  by  blunders 
of  their  own,  than  by  aid  from  you.  Some  have  already  been  ruined 
by  the  hopes  which  you  inspired  in  them ;  for  so  entirely  did  they 
trust  you  that  they  took  no  precautions  themselves.  These  things 
we  say  in  no  accusing  or  hostile  spirit  —  let  that  be  understood  — 
but  by  way  of  expostulation.  For  men  expostulate  with  erring 
friends,  they  bring  accusation  against  enemies  who  have  done  them 
a  wrong. 

70.  Still  we  have  a  right  to  find  fault  with  our  neighbors,  if 
any  one  ever  had.  There  are  important  interests  at  stake  to  which, 
as  far  as  we  can  see,  you  are  insensible.  You  have  never  considered 
what  manner  of  men  are  these  Athenians  with  whom  you  will 
have  to  fight,  and  how  utterly  unlike  yourselves.  They  are  ready 
to  resort  to  novel  devices,  equally  quick  in  the  conception  and  in  the 
execution  of  every  new  plan ;  while  you  are  conservative  —  careful 
only  to  keep  what  you  have,  originating  nothing,  and  in  execution 
achieving  not  even  what  is  urgently  necessary.    Again  they  are 


SPARTANS  AND  ATHENIANS  CONTRASTED  249 


bold  beyond  their  strength ;  they  run  risks  which  prudence  would 
condemn  ;  and  in  critical  situations  they  are  full  of  hope.  Whereas 
it  is  your  way  to  have  your  action  fall  short  of  your  strength  and  of 
your  conviction  to  put  faith  not  even  in  sound  things :  when 
calamities  come  upon  you,  to  think  that  you  will  never  be  delivered 
from  them.  They  are  impetuous,  and  you  are  dilatory ;  they  are 
always  abroad,  and  you  are  always  at  home.  For  they  hope  to 
gain  something  by  leaving  their  homes ;  but  you  are  afraid  that 
any  new  enterprise  may  impair  what  you  have  already.  When 
conquerors,  they  pursue  their  victory  to  the  utmost ;  when  defeated, 
they  fall  back  the  least.  In  behalf  of  their  commonwealth  they 
make  use  of  the  physical  service  of  men  who  are  complete  strangers 
to  Athens ;  while  the  directing  mind  is  in  supreme  degree  Athens' 
own.1  When  they  do  not  carry  out  an  intention  which  they  have 
formed,  they  seem  to  have  sustained  a  personal  bereavement ; 
when  an  enterprise  succeeds,  they  have  gained  but  an  instalment  of 
what  is  to  come ;  if  they  fail,  however,  they  at  once  conceive  new 
hopes  and  so  fill  up  the  void.  With  them  alone  to  hope  is  to  have, 
•for  they  lose  not  a  moment  in  the  execution  of  an  idea.  This  is  the 
life-long  task,  full  of  danger  and  toil,  which  they  are  always  imposing 
upon  themselves.  None  enjoy  their  good  things  less,  because  they 
are  always  engaged  in  acquisition.  To  do  their  duty  is  their  only 
holiday,  and  they  deem  the  quiet  of  inaction  to  be  as  disagreeable 
as  the  most  laborious  occupation.  Therefore  if  a  man  should  say 
of  them,  in  a  word,  that  they  were  born  neither  to  have  peace  them- 
selves nor  to  allow  peace  to  other  men,  he  would  simply  speak  the 
truth. 

71.  In  the  face  of  such  an  enemy,  Lacedaemonians,  you  procrasti- 
nate and  you  do  not  believe  that  peace  is  most  enduring  to  those  who 
use  their  preparation  for  just  action,  but  are  clearly  minded  not  to 
yield  if  they  be  wronged,  whereas  justice  with  you  seems  to  consist 
in  giving  no  annoyance  to  others  and  in  defending  yourselves  only 
against  positive  injury.  But  this  policy  would  hardly  be  successful, 
even  if  your  neighbors  were  like  yourselves ;  and  in  the  present  case, 
as  we  pointed  out  just  now,  your  ways  compared  with  theirs  are 

1  Jowett's  rendering  is  quite  different :  "Their  bodies  they  devote  to  their  country 
as  though  they  belonged  to  other  men;  their  true  self  is  their  mind,  which  is  most 
truly  their  own  when  employed  in  her  service." 


25o  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


old-fashioned.  Furthermore,  as  in  the  arts,  so  also  in  politics,  the 
new  must  always  prevail  over  the  old.  In  settled  times  the  tradi- 
tions of  government  should  be  observed :  but  when  circumstances 
are  changing  and  men  are  compelled  to  meet  them,  much  additional 
devising  is  required.  The  Athenians  have  had  a  wider  experience, 
and  therefore  the  administration  of  their  state  has  adopted  novelties 
in  a  greater  degree  than  yours.  But  here  let  your  procrastination 
end;  send  an  army  at  once  into  Attica  and  assist  especially  the 
Potidaeans,  to  whom  your  word  is  pledged.  Do  not  allow  friends 
and  kindred  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  their  worst  enemies;  nor 
drive  us  in  despair  to  seek  the  alliance  of  others ;  in  taking  such  a 
course  we  should  be  doing  nothing  wrong  either  before  the  gods  who 
are  the  witnesses  of  our  oaths,  or  before  men  whose  eyes  are  upon  us. 
For  the  true  breakers  of  treaties  are  not  those  who,  when  forsaken, 
turn  to  others,  but  those  who  forsake  allies  whom  they  have  sworn 
to  defend.  We  will  remain  your  friends  if  you  choose  to  bestir 
yourselves  ;  for  we  should  be  guilty  of  an  impiety  if  we  deserted  you 
without  cause ;  and  we  shall  not  easily  find  allies  equally  congenial 
to  us.  Take  heed  then  :  you  have  inherited  from  your  fathers  the 
leadership  of  Peloponnesus ;  see  that  her  greatness  surfers  no  dimi- 
nution at  your  hands. 

66.  The  Revolution  at  Corcyra,  427 ;  the  Morals  of 
Political  Seditions 

(Thucydides  iii.  81-3.    Jowett,  revised,  on  the  basis  of  a  comparison  of  the 
Greek  text,  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Shortly  before  the  events  mentioned  in  the  following  selection  the  oligarchs 
of  Corcyra  had  seized  the  government,  put  down  the  democracy,  and  murdered 
the  leading  men  among  their  opponents;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  1040  sqq. 
Hearing  soon  afterward  that  a  Peloponnesian  fleet  was  sailing  to  the  support  of 
the  oligarchy,  the  Athenians  despatched  Eurymedon  with  sixty  triremes  to 
Corcyra  for  the  protection  of  their  own  interests  in  that  island ;  Thuc.  iii.  80. 
After  devastating  the  country,  the  Peloponnesians,  on  the  approach  of  the 
Athenian  fleet,  withdrew,  leaving  the  Corcyraean  oligarchs  in  the  lurch. 

The  relentless ,  keenness,  the  depth,  and  the  undoubted  truth  of  this 
analysis  of  the  motives  and  the  character  of  political  factions,  which  not  only 
undermined  the  foundations  of  right  conduct,  but  even  distorted  the  terms  and 
phrases  of  current  judgment,  make  the  passage  here  quoted  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  in  the  history  of  literature. . 


A  BLOODY  REVOLUTION 


81.  The  Peloponnesians  set  out  that  very  night  on  their  way 
home,  keeping  close  to  the  land,  and  transporting  the  ships  over 
the  Leucadian  isthmus,  that  they  might  not  be  seen  sailing  round. 
When  the  Corcyraeans  perceived  that  the  Athenian  fleet  was  ap- 
proaching, while  that  of  the  enemy  disappeared,  they  took  the 
Messenian  troops,  who  had  hitherto  been  outside  the  walls,  into 
the  city,  and  ordered  the  ships  which  they  had  manned  to  sail 
round  into  the  Hyllaic  harbor.  These  vessels  proceeded  on  their 
way.  Meanwhile  they  killed  any  of  their  enemies  whom  they 
caught  in  the  city.  On  the  arrival  of  the  ships  they  disembarked 
those  whom  they  had  induced  to  go  on  board,  and  despatched 
them ;  they  also  went  to  the  temple  of  Hera,  and  persuading  about 
fifty  of  the  suppliants  to  stand  their  trial,  condemned  them  all  to 
death.1  The  majority  of  the  suppliants  would  not  come  out,  and 
when  they  saw  what  was  going  on,  destroyed  one  another  in  the 
enclosure  of  the  temple  where  they  were,  except  a  few  who  hung 
themselves  on  trees,  or  put  an  end  to  their  own  lives  in  any  other 
way  which  they  could.  During  the  seven  days,  too,  while  Eury- 
medon  after  his  arrival  remained  with  his  sixty  ships,  the  Cor- 
cyraeans continued  slaughtering  those  of  their  fellow-citizens  whom 
they  deemed  their  enemies ;  they  professed  to  punish  them  for  their 
designs  against  the  democracy,  but  in  fact  some  were  killed  from 
motives  of  personal  enmity,  and  some  because  money  was  owing 
to  them,  by  the  hands  of  their  debtors.  Every  form  of  death  was 
to  be  seen,  and  as  is  wont  to  be  the  case  in  such  a  crisis,  there  was 
nothing  that  did  not  come  to  pass,  and  in  fact  there  was  more  than 
ever.2  For  the  father  slew  the  son,  and  the  suppliants  were  torn  from 
the  temples  and  slain  near  them ;  some  of  them  were  even  walled  up 
in  the  temple  of  Dionysus,  and  there  perished. 

82.  To  such  extremes  of  cruelty  did  revolution  go;  and  this 
seemed  to  be  the  worst  of  revolutions,  because  it  was  the  first.  For 
afterward  even  the  whole  Hellenic  world  was  stirred  in  civil  dis- 
order :  in  every  city  the  chiefs  of  the  democracy  and  of  the  oligarchy 
were  struggling,  the  one  to  bring  in  the  Athenians,  the  other  the 

1  Here  the  democrats,  regaining  the  upper  hand  and  looking  to  Athenian  support, 
began  to  retaliate  upon  the  oligarchs. 

2  This  statement  is  hyperbolical ;  the  author  means  to  express  the  unusual  character 
of  the  proceedings. 


252  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


Lacedaemonians.  Now  in  time  of  peace,  men  would  have  had  no 
excuse  for  introducing  either,  and  would  not  be  ready  to  do  so,  but 
when  they  were  at  war  and  both  sides  could  easily  obtain  allies 
to  the  hurt  of  their  enemies  and  the  advantage  of  themselves,  the 
dissatisfied  party  were  only  too  ready  to  invoke  foreign  aid.  Thus 
revolution  brought  upon  the  cities  of  Hellas  many  terrible  calami- 
ties, such  as  have  been  and  always  will  be  while  human  nature 
remains  the  same,  but  which  are  more  or  less  aggravated  and  differ 
in  character  with  every  new  combination  of  circumstances.  In 
peace  and  prosperity  both  states  and  individuals  are  actuated  by 
higher  motives,  because  they  do  not  fall  under  the  dominion  of 
imperious  necessities ;  but  war,  which  takes  away  the  comfortable 
provision  of  daily  life,  is  a  hard  master,  and  tends  to  assimilate  the 
wrathful  excitement  of  the  many  to  the  prevailing  situation.1 

When  troubles  had  once  begun  in  the  cities,  those  who  followed 
carried  the  revolutionary  spirit  further  and  further,  and  determined, 
by  the  ingenuity  of  their  enterprise  and  the  atrocity  of  their  re- 
venges, to  outdo  the  report  of  all  who  had  preceded  them.  The 
meaning  of  words  had  no  longer  the  same  relation  to  things,  but 
was  changed  by  them  as  they  thought  proper.  Reckless  daring 
was  held  to  be  loyal  courage ;  prudent  delay  was  specious  coward- 
ice ;  moderation  was  the  disguise  of  unmanly  weakness ;  to  be 
thoughtful  in  meeting  every  issue  was  inactivity.  Frantic  energy 
was  the  true  quality  of  a  man.  A  conspirator  who  wanted  to  be 
safe  was  a  recreant  in  disguise.  The  lover  of  violence  was  always 
trusted,  and  his  opponent  suspected.  He  who  succeeded  in  a  plot 
was  deemed  knowing,  but  a  still  greater  master  in  craft  was  he  who 
detected  one.  On  the  other  hand,  he  who  plotted  from  the  first 
to  have  nothing  to  do  with  plots  was  a  breaker  up  of  his  faction  and 
a  poltroon  who  was  afraid  of  the  enemy.  In  a  word,  he  who  could 
outstrip  another  in  a  bad  action  was  applauded,  and  so  was  he  who 
encouraged  to  evil  one  who  had  no  idea  of  it.  The  tie  of  party  was 
stronger  than  the  tie  of  blood,  because  a  partisan  was  more  ready  to 
dare  without  asking  why.  In  fact  party  associations  are  not  based 
upon  any  established  law,  nor  do  they  seek  the  public  good ;  they  are 
founded  in  defiance  of  the  laws  and  from  self-interest.    The  seal 

1  -rrpbs  tcl  irapbvra  ras  Spy  as  tCjv  woWCjv  6/jloioi;  the  translation  of  this  clause 
here  given  is  more  precise  than  that  of  Jowett. 


THE  MORALS  OF  FACTIONS 


253 


of  good  faith  was  not  divine  law  but  fellowship  in  crime.  If  an 
enemy  when  he  was  in  the  ascendant  offered  fair  words,  the  opposite 
party  received  them  not  in  a  generous  spirit,  but  with  a  jealous 
watchfulness  of  his  actions.  Revenge  was  dearer  than  self-preser- 
vation. Any  agreements  sworn  to  by  either  party,  when  they 
could  do  nothing  else,  were  binding  for  the  moment  only,  when  they 
had  no  strength  from  other  sources.  But  he  who  on  a  favorable 
opportunity  first  took  courage  and  struck  at  his  enemy  when  he 
saw  him  undefended,  had  greater  pleasure  in  a  perfidious  than  he 
would  have  had  in  an  open  act  of  revenge.  He  congratulated  him- 
self that  he  had  taken  the  safer  course,  and  also  that  he  had  over- 
reached his  enemy  and  gained  the  prize  of  superior  ability.  In 
general,  the  dishonest  more  easily  gain  credit  for  cleverness  than 
the  simple  for  goodness;  men  take  a  pride  in  the  one,  but  are 
ashamed  of  the  other. 

The  cause  of  all  these  evils  was  the  love  of  power,  originating 
in  avarice  and  ambition,  and  the  party-spirit  which  is  engendered 
by  them  when  men  are  fairly  embarked  in  a  contest.  For  the 
leaders  on  either  side  used  specious  names,  the  one  party  professing 
to  uphold  the  constitutional  equality  of  the  many,  the  other  the 
wisdom  of  an  aristocracy,  while  they  made  the  public  interests, 
to  which  in  name  they  were  devoted,  in  reality  their  prize.  Striv- 
ing in  every  way  to  overcome  each  other,  they  committed  the  most 
monstrous  crimes;  yet  even  they  were  surpassed  by  the  magni- 
tude of  their  revenges  which  they  pursued  to  the  very  utmost, 
neither  party  observing  any  definite  limits  either  of  justice  or  public 
expediency,  but  both  alike  making  the  caprice  of  the  moment  their 
law.  Either  by  the  help  of  an  unrighteous  sentence,  or  grasping 
power  with  a  strong  hand,  they  were  eager  to  satiate  the  love  of 
victory 1  of  the  moment.  Neither  faction  cared  for  religion ;  but 
any  specious  pretence  which  succeeded  in  effecting  some  odious 
purpose  was  greatly  lauded.  And  the  citizens  who  held  an  inter- 
mediate position  fell  a  prey  to  both  sides ;  either  they  were  disliked 
because  they  held  aloof,  or  men  were  jealous  of  their  surviving. 

83.  Thus  revolution  gave  birth  to  every  form  of  wickedness  in 
Hellas.    The  simplicity  which  is  so  large  an  element  in  a  noble 


1  tt]p  avrlKa  (piKopticiav  iKiri/j.Tr\dvai  (Stahl's  text). 


254  GENERAL  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS 


nature  was  laughed  to  scorn'  and  disappeared.  An  attitude  of 
perfidious  antagonism  everywhere  prevailed ;  for  there  was  no 
word  binding  enough,  nor  oath  terrible  enough  to  reconcile  enemies. 
Each  man  was  strong  only  in  the  conviction  that  nothing  was 
secure ;  he  had  to  look  to  his  own  safety,  and  could  not  afford  to 
trust  others.  Inferior  intellects  generally  succeeded  best.  For 
aware  of  their  own  deficiencies,  and  fearing  the  capacity  of  their 
opponents,  for  whom  they  were  no  match  in  powers  of  speech,  and 
whose  subtle  wits  were  likely  to  anticipate  them  in  contriving  evil, 
they  struck  boldly  and  at  once.  But  the  clever  sort,  presuming  in 
their  arrogance  that  they  would  be  aware  in  time,  and  disdaining 
to  act  when  they  could  think,  were  taken  off  their  guard  and  easily 
destroyed. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  chs.  xii-xix ;  Ferguson,  Greek  Imperialism,  23 
sqq. ;  Bury,  chs.  viii-xi ;  Holm,  II.  chs.  vi-xxviii ;  Abbott,  Greece,  II.  ch.  vi  to 
end  of  vol.  Ill;  Pericles  and  the  Golden  Age  of  Athens;  Curtius,  bk.  III.  ch. 
ii-bk.  IV.  ch.  v ;  Grote,  chs.  xliv-lxv ;  Freeman,  History  of  Sicily. 

Zimmern,  A.  E.,  Greek  Commonwealth  (see  Contents) ;  Grundy,  G.  B., 
Thucydides  and  the  History  of  his  Age  (London,  191 1) ;  "  Population  and  Policy 
of  Sparta  in  the  Fifth  Century,"  in  J  own.  Hell.  St.  XXVIII  (1908).  77-96. 

Meyer,  Gesch.  d.  Alt.  III.  418  to  end  of  vol.  IV;  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch. 
II.  1.  74  to  end  of  pt. ;  Attische  Politik  seit  Perikles  (Leipzig,  1884) ;  Busolt, 
Griech.  Gesch.  Ill  entire  ;  Cavaignac,  E.,  Histoire  de  Vantiquite,  II  (Paris,  1913). 
1-234;  Etudes  sur  V  histoire  financier  e  d'Athenes  au  Ve  siecle  (Paris,  1908). 

Whibley,  L.,  Political  Parties  at  Athens  in  the  Time  of  the  Peloponnesian 
War  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1889) ;  Croiset,  M.,  Aristophanes  and  the 
Political  Parties  at  Athens,  trans,  by  J.  Loeb  (Macmillan,  1909) ;  Stawell,  F.  M., 
" Pericles  and  Cleon  in  Thucydides,"  in  Class.  Quart.  II  (1908).  41-6 ;  Gilbert, 
G.,  Beitrdge  zur  inner  en  Geschichte  Athens  im  Zeitalter  des  Peloponnesischen 
Krieges  (Leipzig,  1877) ;  Nestle,  W.,  "  Politik  und  Aufklarungin  Griechenland 
im  Ausgang  des  V.  Jahrhunderts  v.  Chr."  in  N.  Jahrb.  XXIV  (1903).  1-22. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  CONFEDERACY  OF  DELOS  AND  THE  ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 

478-404  B.C. 

67.  The  First  Step  Toward  Confederation 

(Herodotus  ix.  106) 

In  479  a  land  force  of  Hellenes  won  the  great  battle  of  Plataea,  Bceotia. 
Meanwhile  their  fleet  crossed  to  Asia  Minor,  where  the  crews  landed  and  won 
an  equally  splendid  victory  over  the  Persians  intrenched  at  Mycale,  a  prom- 
ontory on  the  Ionian  coast.  The  subsequent  movement  of  the  victors  is 
well  told  by  Herodotus  in  the  following  passage. 

Having  set  fire  to  the  wall  and  the  ships,  they  sailed  away; 
and  when  they  came  to  Samos,  the  Hellenes  deliberated  about 
removing  the  inhabitants  of  Ionia,  and  considered  where  they 
ought  to  settle  them  in  those  parts  of  Hellas  of  which  they  had 
command,  leaving  Ionia  to  the  Barbarians :  for  they  considered  it 
impossible  for  them  to  be  always  stationed  as  guards  to  protect 
the  Ionians,  and  unless  they  did  protect  them  in  this  way,  they  had 
no  hope  that  the  Ionians  would  escape  with  impunity  from  the 
Persians.  It  seemed  good,  therefore,  to  those  of  the  Peloponne- 
sians  who  were  in  authority  that  they  should  remove  the  inhabitants 
of  the  trading  ports  which  belonged  to  those  peoples  of  Hellas  who 
had  taken  the  side  of  the  Medes,  and  give  that  land  to  the  Ionians 
to  dwell  in.  The  Athenians,  however,  did  not  think  it  good  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Ionia  should  be  removed  at  all,  nor  that  the 
Peloponnesians  should  consult  about  Athenian  colonies ;  and  as 
they  vehemently  resisted  the  proposal,  the  Peloponnesians  gave 
way.  The  result  was,  accordingly,  that  they  joined  as  allies  to 
their  league  the  Samians,  Chians,  Lesbians,  and  the  other  islanders 
who  chanced  to  be  serving  with  the  Hellenes,  binding  them  by 

255 


256 


DELIAN  CONFEDERACY 


pledge  and  by  oaths  to  remain  faithful  and  not  withdraw  from  the 
league. 

"Those  in  authority,"  here  mentioned,  were  King  Leotychidas  of  Lace- 
daemon  and  the  ephors  who  accompanied  him,  whereas  the  chief  admiral  of  the 
Athenians  was  Xanthippus,  father  of  Pericles.  The  arbitrary  transplanting 
of  an  entire  people  from  one  region  to  another  was  an  Oriental  custom  totally 
foreign  to  Hellenic  ideas.  In  repudiating  it  the  Athenians  were  actuated,  not 
only  by  their  feeling  of  kinship  with  the  Ionians,  but  also  by  their  ambition  to 
build  up  an  alliance  of  their  own.  While  mentioning  the  admission  of  the 
Samians  and  other  islanders  to  the  general  Hellenic  league,  Herodotus  leaves 
the  reader  to  infer  the  important  fact  that,  at  the  same  time,  the  Athenians 
entered  into  close  relations  of  friendship  and  alliance  with  the  Ionians,  perhaps 
also  with  other  Asiatic  Greeks.  This  was  the  slight  beginning  of  a  union  which 
afterward  developed  into  the  Confederacy  of  Delos. 

68.    Organization  of  the  Confederacy 

(Thucydides  i.  95-6) 

The  Lacedaemonians,  however,  might  long  have  retained  the  naval  com- 
mand, had  they  possessed  a  competent  admiral.  During  the  siege  of  Byzan- 
tium by  the  Hellenes  and  after  its  fall,  Pausanias,  the  Lacedaemonian  com- 
mander, treated  the  Ionians,  Lesbians,  and  other  newly  acquired  allies  with  such 
arrogance  and  brutality  as  to  drive  them  to  open  rebellion.  They  turned  for 
leadership  to  Aristeides,  Cimon,  and  the  other  generals  in  command  of  the 
Athenian  contingent.  Pausanias  was  recalled,  and  after  another  vain  attempt 
to  supply  the  Hellenes  with  an  admiral,  the  Lacedaemonians  yielded  the  naval 
leadership  to  Athens  (Thuc.  i.  95  ;  Arist.  Const.  Ath.  23  ;  Plut.  Arist.  23). 

Henceforth  the  Lacedaemonians  sent  out  no  more  commanders, 
for  they  were  afraid  that  those  whom  they  appointed  would  be 
corrupted,  as  they  had  found  to  be  the  case  with  Pausanias ;  they 
had  had  enough  of  the  Persian  war ;  and  they  thought  that  the 
Athenians  were  fully  able  to  lead,  and  at  that  time  believed  them 
to  be  their  friends. 

Thus  the  Athenians  by  the  good-will  of  the  allies,  who  detested 
Pausanias,  obtained  the  leadership.  They  immediately  fixed  which 
of  the  cities  should  supply  money  and  which  of  them  ships  for  the 
war  against  the  Barbarians,  the  avowed  object  being  to  compensate 
themselves  and  the  allies  for  their  losses  by  devastating  the  King's 
country.    Then  was  first  instituted  at  Athens  the  office  of  Hellenic 


THE  FIRST  ASSESSMENT  257 

Treasurers,1  who  received  the  tribute,  for  so  the  impost  was  termed. 
The  amount  was  originally  fixed  at  460  talents.  The  island  of 
Delos  was  the  treasury,  and  the  meetings  of  the  allies  were  held  in 
the  temple.2 


(Plutarch,  Aristeides,  23 ;    cf.  Aristotle,  Constitution  of  the  Athenians,  23 ; 
for  other  sources,  see  Hill,  Sources  for  Greek  History,  pp.  5-1 1) 

As  they  (the  allies)  wished  each  city  to  be  assessed  for  a  reason- 
able contribution,  they  asked  the  Athenians  to  appoint  Aristeides 
to  visit  each  city,  learn  the  extent  of  its  territory  and  revenues, 
and  fix  upon  the  amount  which  each  was  capable  of  contributing 
according  to  its  means.  Although  he  was  in  possession  of  such 
great  power  —  the  whole  of  Hellas 3  having,  as  it  were,  given  itself 
up  to  be  dealt  with  at  his  discretion  —  yet  he  laid  down  his  office 
a  poorer  man  than  when  he  accepted  it,  but  having  completed  his 
assessment  to  the  satisfaction  of  all.4  As  the  ancients  used  to  tell 
of  the  blessedness  of  the  golden  age,  even  so  did  the  states  of  Hellas 
honor  the  assessment  of  Aristeides,  calling  the  time  when  it  was 
made,  fortunate  and  blessed  for  Hellas. 

1  There  were  ten  Hellenic  Treasurers  ('E\\r]voTafxiai),  one  elected  from  each  of 
the  ten  Attic  tribes;  CIA.  i.  no.  259  sqq.;  cf.  188.  Naturally  while  the  treasury  re- 
mained in  Delos,  they  were  located  there.  The  president  of  the  federal  council  was 
also  an  Athenian,  while  Athenian  generals  served  as  commanders-in-chief  of  the  federal 
army  and  navy. 

2  The  temple  of  Apollo,  the  seat  of  an  Ionian  (so-called  Delian)  amphictyony,  which 
reached  the  height  of  its  splendor  in  the  eighth  and  seventh  centuries ;  see  the  Homeric 
Hymn  to  the  Delian  Apollo;  Thuc.  iii.  104.  In  the  winter  of  426-5  the  Athenians  puri- 
fied the  island,  and  revived  the  amphictyonic  festival;  Thuc.  loc.  cit.  While  the 
amphictyony  served  as  a  religious  basis  of  the  new  union,  the  political  and  military 
organization  of  the  latter  was  patterned,  with  important  modifications,  after  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian  league. 

3  This  is  a  greatly  exaggerated  statement ;  at  this  time  the  Confederacy  included 
but  a  part  of  the  island  and  coast  region  of  the  ^Egean  Sea. 

4  Craterus,  a  generally  trustworthy  historian,  stated  (Plut.  Arist.  26)  that  a  certain 
Athenian,  Diophantus  of  Amphitrope,  obtained  a  verdict  against  Aristeides  on  the 
charge  of  his  having  been  bribed  by  the  Ionians  to  make  their  assessment  less  than  their 
proportional  due,  and  that,  unable  to  pay  the  fine  of  fifty  talents,  the  condemned 
statesman  ended  his  days  in  exile.  Although  Aristeides  may  not  have  been  guilty  of 
the  crime,  there  is  considerable  evidence  that  in  his  own  lifetime  he  did  not  enjoy  the 
universal  reputation  for  absolute  probity  which  centuries  later  he  acquired  among 
moralists  and  rhetoricians. 


258  DELIAN  CONFEDERACY 

69.  Commercial  Treaty  with  Phaselis 
(Inscr.  grcec.  II.  no.  11 ;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  36.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Under  the  arrangements  above  described  Athens  proceeded  to  make 
treaties  with  individual  states  of  the  Confederacy  to  regulate  her  commercial 
relations  with  them.  Among  the  earliest  of  these  agreements  is  the  treaty  with 
Phaselis  preserved  in  an  inscription.  Phaselis  was  a  Dorian  colony  on  the 
Lycian  coast,  and  was  annexed  to  the  Delian  Confederacy  in  that  campaign  of 
Cimon  which  culminated  in  the  battle  of  the  Eurymedon,  468  (Thuc.  i.  100 ; 
Plut.  Cim.  12).  From  this  document  we  learn  that  a  similar  treaty  had 
already  been  concluded  with  Chios. 

1.  Be  it  resolved  by  the  Boule  and  the  Demus.  Acamantis 
was  the  prytanizing  tribe.  Onasippus  was  secretary.  ...des  was 
chairman.    Leon  moved  the  resolution  : 1  — 

2.  That  there  be  engraved  the  decree  for  the  Phaselitans,  to 
the  effect  that  if  there  shall  be  made  at  Athens  a  contract  with  any 
of  the  Phaselitans,  the  suits  arising  from  it  shall  be  tried  at  Athens 
before  the  polemarch  —  just  as  is  done  in  the  case  of  the  Chians  2  — 
and  nowhere  else. 

3.  That  suits  arising  from  other  kinds  of  contracts  under  treaty 
are  to  be  settled  with  the  Phaselitans  in  the  same  way  as  in  the 
treaty  with  the  Chians  ;  and  the  reference  of  such  cases  to  arbitra- 
tors is  hereby  abolished.3 

1  This  is  the  usual  heading  (prescript)  of  an  Athenian  decree  (\p^(pi<Tixa).  The 
Boule  is  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred;  the  Demus,  "commons,"  is  the  people  in  as- 
sembly (eKKXrjaia).  The  ten  tribal  delegations  took  their  turns  in  acting  as  an  ad- 
ministrative and  legislative  committee,  each  for  a  tenth  of  the  year.  The  fifty  dele- 
gates on  duty  for  the  time  being  were  termed  prytaneis,  "  foremen  "  (or  "the  prytanizing 
tribe,"  as  here),  and  the  period  of  their  duty  was,  accordingly,  termed  a  prytany.  The 
chairman  of  the  prytaneis  was  also  chairman  of  the  entire  boule  and  of  the  assembly. 
On  the  Five  Hundred  and  the  assembly,  see  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  265  sqq. 

2  Reference  to  the  Chians  is  due  not  only  to  the  fact  that  the  treaty  with  Chios 
was  earlier,  and  served  therefore  as  a  model  for  all  similar  treaties,  but  also  to  the  fact 
that  it  was  the  Chians  who  persuaded  Phaselis  to  enter  the  Confederacy  (Plut.  Cim.  12). 
Chios  was  not  only  free  but  among  the  most  favored  of  the  allies;  and  this  article 
of  the  treaty  accorded  with  general  Greek  usage. 

3  Unfortunately,  as  the  treaty  with  Chios  has  not  been  preserved,  we  do  not  know 
what  the  arrangements  were  for  this  class  of  suits.  Doubtless,  however,  they  were 
complex ;  a  contract  made  between  a  Phaselitan  and  an  Athenian  at  Phaselis  was  prob- 
ably actionable  in  that  city ;  if  the  Athenian  resided,  for  instance,  at  Chios  and  the 
contract  was  made  there,  it  may  have  been  actionable  at  Chios,  etc. 

The  clause  relating  to  arbitrators  is  a  conjectural  reading.  If  the  passage  is 
correctly  restored,  it  has  reference  to  the  choice  of  arbitrators  from  a  disinterested  state ; 
see  Hesychius,  €kk\t]tol  5/kcu  •  cu  irl  i-evys  Xey6/x€vai,  Kal  ovk  iv  T-y  rr6\ei. 


CHANGE  TO  EMPIRE 


259 


4.  That  if  the  magistrate 1  receive  against  any  of  the  Phaselitans 
one  of  the  cases  which  belong  elsewhere,  and  the  Phaselitan  be  con- 
demned in  the  suit  to  pay,  the  suit  shall  be  invalid. 

5.  That  if  the  magistrate  shall  be  shown  to  have  violated  this 
decree,  he  shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  1000  drachmas,  to  be  consecrated 
to  Athena. 

6.  That  the  secretary  of  the  boule  inscribe  this  decree  on  a 
stone  pillar  and  place  it  on  the  Acropolis  at  the  expense  of  the 
Phaselitans. 

70.  The  Transformation  of  the  Confederacy  into  an 
Athenian  Empire 

(Thucydides  i.  97-99) 

At  first  the  allies  were  independent  and  deliberated  in  a  common 
assembly  under  the  leadership  of  Athens.  But  in  the  interval  be- 
tween the  Persian  and  the  Peloponnesian  wars,  by  their  military 
success  and  by  policy  in  dealing  with  the  Barbarian,  with  their 
own  rebellious  allies,  and  with  the  Peloponnesians  who  from  time 
to  time  crossed  their  path,  the  Athenians  made  immense  strides  in 
power.  .  .  . 

The  Naxians  revolted,  and  the  Athenians  made  war  against 
them  and  reduced  them  by  blockade.  This  was  the  first  of  the 
allied  cities  which  was  enslaved  contrary  to  Hellenic  law ;  the  turn 
of  the  others  came  later. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  defection  of  the  allies  were  various, 
the  principal  being  their  neglect  to  pay  the  tribute  or  to  furnish 
ships,  and  in  some  cases,  failure  of  military  service.  For  the 
Athenians  were  exacting  and  oppressive,  using  coercive  measures 
toward  men  who  were  neither  willing  nor  accustomed  to  work 
hard.  For  various  reasons,  too,  they  soon  began  to  prove  less 
agreeable  leaders  than  at  first.  They  no  longer  fought  upon  an 
equality  with  the  rest  of  the  confederates,  and  they  had  no  difficulty 
in  reducing  them  when  they  revolted.  Now  the  allies  brought  all 
this  misfortune  upon  themselves  ;  for  the  majority  of  them  disliked 

1  The  magistrate  (&px<^v)  mentioned  here  and  in  the  following  article  is  necessarily 
the  polemarch. 


260 


ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 


military  service  and  absence  from  home ;  hence  they  agreed  to 
contribute  a  regular  sum  of  money  instead  of  ships.  In  this  way 
the  Athenian  navy  was  proportionally  increased,  while  the  allies 
themselves  were  always  untrained  and  unprepared  for  war  when 
they  revolted. 

71.  The  Constitution  of  Erythrae 

{Inscr.  GrcBC.  I.  9 ;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  32  ;  Ditt.  8 ;  trans,  by  C.  J.  O.) 

The  independence  of  a  Greek  city  consisted  essentially  of  two  rights:  (1)  to 
enter  freely  into  relations  of  war,  peace,  and  alliance  with  other  states,  (2)  to 
have  whatever  form  of  government  it  pleased.  Gradually  Athens  deprived  her 
allies  of  these  rights,  and  imposed  on  them  democratic  constitutions.  Under 
the  new  arrangements  they  varied  greatly  in  the  degree  of  their  subjection  to 
Athens;  particularly  these  constitutions,  or  charters,  limited  the  judicial 
power  of  the  respective  states  and  prescribed  what  cases  were  to  be  sent  to 
Athens  for  trial.  The  constitution  of  Erythrae,  issued  about  450,  was  found 
on  a  large  block  of  marble  near  the  Erechtheum,  on  the  Acropolis.  Unfor- 
tunately the  marble  has  been  lost,  but  a  somewhat  mutilated  copy  of  the 
inscription  is  extant.  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  235  sqq. ;  other  references, 
Hicks  and  Hill,  p.  46. 

1.  {A  few  letters  only  are  left  of  the  prescript.)  1 

2.  The  Erythraeans2  shall  bring  to  the  Greater  Panathenaea3 
offerings  worth  not  less  than  three  minas.  The  ten  Commissioners 
of  the  Sacrifices  shall  distribute  the  meat  among  those  of  the  Ery- 
thraeans who  are  present,  a  drachma's  worth  to  each.  If  the  sacri- 
ficial animals  are  acceptable,  but  are  not  worth  three  minas  as 
above  stated,  the  Cattle-Buyers  shall  purchase  oxen  for  sacrifice 
and  the  account  shall  be  charged  to  the  demus  of  the  Erythraeans ; 
and  anyone  so  desiring  may  feast  upon  the  meat. 

3.  There  shall  be  a  council  of  the  Erythraeans,  filled  by  lot,  and 

1  For  examples  of  the  opening  formula  (prescript),  see  nos.  69,  72. 

2  Erythrae,  an  Ionian  city  on  the  Asiatic  coast  opposite  Chios,  was  one  of  the  orig- 
inal members  of  the  Confederacy.  In  general  on  this  city,  see  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real- 
Encycl.  VI.  575  sqq. 

3  The  Panathenaea,  a  festival  of  all  the  Athenians  in  honor  of  their  guardian  goddess, 
was  held  annually  in  July.  From  the  time  of  Peisistratus  every  fourth-year  festival 
of  this  name  was  celebrated  with  especial  splendor,  and  was  known  accordingly  as  the 
Greater  Panathenaea.  It  is  significant  that  the  members  of  the  empire  were  sharers 
in  the  same  worship,  and  further  that  Athenian  imperialism  tended  to  substitute 
Athena  for  Apollo  as  the  protecting  deity  of  the  empire. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  ERYTHR^E 


261 


consisting  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  men.  A  man  so  appointed 
shall  undergo  scrutiny  1  before  the  council,  and  it  shall  not  be  law- 
ful for  anyone  under  thirty  years  of  age  to  be  a  councillor.  Those 
who  are  disqualified  shall  be  liable  to  prosecution  and  shall  not  be 
councillors  within  four  years.  The  council  shall  be  drawn  by  lot 
and  established  at  present  by  the  overseers 2  and  the  commandant 
of  the  garrison,3  in  future  by  the  council  (in  office)  and  the 
commandant. 

4.  Each  of  those  who  are  to  be  councillors  at  Erythrae  shall, 
before  entering  office,  swear  by  Zeus  and  Apollo  and  Demeter, 
imprecating  destruction  upon  himself  and  upon  his  children  if  he 
commits  perjury ;  and  he  shall  swear  the  oath  upon  the  burning 
sacrifices.  The  councillors  in  office  shall  compel  the  performance 
of  these  things ;  and  if  they  fail  to  do  so,  they  may  be  fined  1000 
drachmae  or  whatever  sum  the  Erythraean  people  may  decree  for 
them  to  pay.    The  councillors  shall  swear  in  the  following  terms : 

5.  I  will  be  councillor  as  well  and  truly  as  I  am  able  for  the 
people  of  the  Erythraeans  and  of  the  Athenians  and  of  the  Allies. 
And  I  will  not  revolt  against  the  commonwealth  of  the  Athenians, 
or  against  the  Allies  of  the  Athenians,  either  of  my  own  accord  or 
at  the  will  of  another.  Neither  will  I  desert  them,  either  of  my 
own  accord  or  at  the  will  of  another.  Neither  will  I  receive  back, 
either  of  my  own  accord  or  at  the  will  of  another,  any  one  of  those 
who  fled  to  the  Medes,  except  with  the  sanction  of  the  Athenians 
and  of  the  (Erythraean)  people.  Neither  will  I  drive  away  any 
who  are  remaining,  except  with  the  sanction  of  the  Athenians  and 
of  the  people. 

6.  If  any  Erythraean  shall  kill  another  Erythraean,  let  him  be 
put  to  death.  If  anyone  shall  be  condemned  to  perpetual  banish- 
ment, let  him  be  banished  [at  the  same  time  ?]  from  the  (territory 

1  Scrutiny  (8oKi/xa<rla),  an  examination  into  the  character  and  qualification  of 
officials,  at  Athens  and  elsewhere  in  Hellas,  before  entering  upon  their  public  duties. 

2  Overseers  (iTria-Koiroi)  were  a  board  of  civil  officials  sent  by  Athens  to  various 
dependent  states.  Along  with  the  commandant  of  the  garrison  they  took,  care  that 
the  state  pursued  a  policy  of  loyalty  toward  Athens.  On  this  magistracy,  see  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VI.  199. 

3  In  some  states,  as  at  Erythrae,  permanent  garrisons  were  established  (cf.  Isoc. 
Areop.  64),  and  in  such  a  case  the  commandant  exercised  civil  as  well  as  military  func- 
tions; cf.  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  226  and  notes. 


262  ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 

of  the)  Athenian  alliance,  and  let  his  property  be  confiscated  by 
the  Erythraeans.  If  anyone  is  convicted  of  attempting  to  betray 
the  city  of  the  Erythraeans  to  the  tyrants,1  let  him  be  put  to  death 
[with  impunity],  both  himself  (?)  and  his  children,  unless  his  children 
are  shown  to  be  [favorably]  disposed  towards  the  Erythraean 
people  and  that  of  the  Athenians.  The  children,  after  surrendering 
the  property  of  one  convicted,  shall  receive  one  half  of  it  back, 
and  the  other  half  shall  be  confiscated.  The  same  shall  be  the 
case  if  anyone  is  convicted  of  attempting  to  betray  the  Athenian 
people  or  the  garrison  at  Erythrae.2  (The  rest  of  the  inscription  is 
fragmentary.) 

72.  The  Constitution  of  Chalcis 

{Inscr.  grcBC.  I.  Supplem.  1.  no.  27  a;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  40;  Ditt.  no.  17  and 
Add.  vol.  ii.  p.  807  ;  for  other  references,  see  Hicks  and  Hill,  p.  63  ;  trans, 
by  C.  J.  O.) 

In  446  Eubcea  revolted  against  Athens  but  was  subdued  in  the  autumn  of 
the  same  year.  In  punishment  for  the  massacre  of  Athenian  prisoners  the 
people  of  Histiasa  were  expelled  and  their  territory  was  occupied  by  colonists 
from  Athens.  The  rest  of  the  island  submitted  under  an  agreement  (Thuc.  i. 
114)  which  fixed  the  general  status  of  the  cities.  This  convention  was  supple- 
mented by  decrees  which  in  greater  detail  regulated  the  constitutions  of  the 
several  states  and  their  relations  with  Athens.  The  document  given  below  is  a 
decree  of  the  kind  for  settling  the  affairs  of  Chalcis.  On  this  city  in  general, 
see  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  III.  2078  sqq. 

1.  Be  it  resolved  by  the  Boule  and  the  Demus.3  Antiochis 
was  the  prytanizing  tribe.  Dracontides  was  chairman.  Diogne- 
tus  moved  the  resolution  :  — 

That  the  council  and  the  jurors4  of  the  Athenians  shall  swear 
the  oath  in  the  following  terms :  "I  will  not  expel  the  Chalcidians 

1  This  reference  to  the  tyrants  is  obscure.  The  oligarchy  of  the  Basilidae  had  given 
way  to  democracy  in  far  earlier  time  (Arist.  Polit.  viii.  5.  4,  1305  b.  18),  which,  so  far 
as  we  know,  was  not  overthrown  by  a  tyrant. 

2  The  restoration  of  the  last  clause,  by  Dittenberger,  is  uncertain. 

3  Cf.  n.o.  69;  literally,  "It  seemed  good  to  the  Boule  and  the  Demus." 

4  The  council  here  meant  is  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred,  as  in  the  decree  concern- 
ing the  Erythraeans ;  no.  71.  There  were  in  Athens  6000  jurors  drawn  by  lot  from  the 
citizens  above  thirty  years  of  age,  and  serving  for  the  year;  Arist.  Const.  Ath.  24,  63 ; 
Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  391  sqq.  Interesting  is  their  participation,  as  here,  in  interstate 
affairs. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  CHALCIS 


263 


from  Chalcis  or  destroy  their  city ; 1  and  I  will  not  punish  any  pri- 
vate citizen  with  loss  of  civil  rights  or  with  exile  or  give  judgment 
of  arrest  or  of  death  or  of  confiscation  of  goods  against  him  without 
a  trial,  except  by  (authority  of)  the  Athenian  people  ; 2  and  I  will 
not  put  to  vote3  (a  motion)  against  either  the  community  or  any 
private  citizen  (of  Chalcis),  when  a  summons  has  not  been  issued 
against  them ;  and  if  an  embassy  comes,  I  will  introduce  it  to  the 
council  and  the  people  within  ten  days,  when  I  am  prytanis,  to  the 
best  of  my  ability ;  and  I  will  maintain  these  things  for  the  Chal- 
cidians,  if  they  are  obedient  to  the  Athenian  people." 

An  embassy  from  Chalcis  shall  administer  the  oath  to  the 
Athenians  with  the  help  of  the  Commissioners  of  Oaths,  and  shall 
register  (the  names  of)  those  who  swear  it.  Let  the  Generals  see 
to  it  that  all  swear. 

2.  The  Chalcidians  shall  swear  in  the  following  terms:4  "I 
will  not  revolt  against  the  Athenian  people  by  any  art  or  device, 
either  in  word  or  in  deed,  and  I  will  not  follow  one  who  undertakes 
to  revolt ;  and  if  anyone  incites  to  revolt,  I  will  denounce  him  to 
the  Athenians.  And  I  will  pay  the  tribute  to  the  Athenians,  as  I 
may  induce  them  (to  assess  it).5  And  I  will  be  to  them  as  good  and 
true  an  ally  as  I  can  ;  and  I  will  aid  and  succor  the  Athenian  people, 
if  anyone  wrongs  the  Athenian  people ;  and  I  will  be  obedient  to 
the  Athenian  people." 

3.  All  the  men  of  Chalcis  who  are  of  age  shall  swear;  and  if 
anyone  shall  not  swear,  he  shall  lose  his  civil  rights ;  his  property 
shall  be  confiscated,  and  a  tenth  of  it  shall  be  consecrated  to  Olym- 
pian Zeus.6  An  Athenian  embassy  shall  go  to  Chalcis  and  adminis- 
ter the  oath  with  the  help  of  the  Commissioners  of  Oaths  in  Chalcis, 
and  shall  register  (the  names  of)  the  Chalcidians  who  swear. 

4.  Anticles  moved  (the  further  resolution)  :  — 

With  good  fortune  to  the  Athenians,  —  the  Athenians  and  the 

1  After  the  expulsion  of  the  Histiaeans  the  remaining  inhabitants  of  Eubcea  must 
have  appreciated  this  guarantee. 

2  Demus  of  the  Athenians,  —  the  people  in  assembly. 

3  This  reference  is  to  the  prytaneis  and  their  president;  no.  69,  n.  1. 

4  Cf.  the  oath  of  the  Erythraean  councillors  in  the  decree  above  given ;  no.  69. 

5  In  relation  to  the  assessment  of  the  tribute  the  allies  had  merely  the  right  of 
petition,  as  here  indicated. 

6  Worshiped  at  Chalcis ;  see  infra. 


264 


ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 


Chalcidians  shall  take  the  oath  on  the  same  terms  as  the  Athenian 
people  decreed  for  the  Eretrians.1  Let  the  Generals  see  to  it  that 
this  be  done  as  soon  as  possible.  The  people  shall  choose  immedi- 
ately five  men  to  go  to  Chalcis  and  administer  the  oath.  Concern- 
ing the  hostages  the  reply  shall  be  made  to  the  Chalcidians  that  for 
the  present  the  Athenians  are  pleased  to  abide  by  what  they  have 
decreed,  but  when  it  shall  please  them,  they  will  take  counsel  and 
will  make  an  arrangement  as  may  seem  proper  for  the  Athenians 
and  the  Chalcidians.  The  aliens  resident  in  Chalcis,  except  those 
who  are  taxed  in  Athens  and  any  to  whom  exemption  has  been 
granted  by  the  Athenian  people,  shall  be  taxed  in  Chalcis  like  the 
Chalcidians  themselves. 

5.  The  Secretary  of  the  council  shall  record  this  decree  and  the 
oath  on  a  stone  stele  and  shall  place  them  on  the  Acropolis  at 
Athens,2  at  the  expense  of  the  Chalcidians ;  and  the  council  of  the 
Chalcidians  shall  record  and  place  them  in  the  temple  of  Olympian 
Zeus  at  Chalcis.  —  Such  shall  be  the  decree  regarding  the  Chal- 
cidians ;  but  furthermore  three  men,  whom  the  council  shall  choose 
from  its  members,  shall,  in  company  with  Hierocles,3  offer  as  soon 
as  possible  the  sacrifices  (demanded)  by  the  oracles  concerning 
Eubcea.  Let  the  Generals  assist  in  seeing  that  the  sacrifices  are 
offered  as  soon  as  possible,  and  let  them  furnish  the  money  therefor. 

6.  Archestratus  moved  as  an  amendment  to  (the  motion  of) 
Anticles :  — 

The  Chalcidians  may  inflict  punishments  upon  their  own 
citizens  at  Chalcis  just  as  the  Athenians  (do  on  theirs)  at  Athens, 
excepting  exile,  death,  or  loss  of  civil  rights,  concerning  which  there 
shall  be  an  appeal  to  Athens  to  the  court  of  the  Thesmothetae4  ac- 

1  Neighbors  of  the  Chalcidians  in  Eubcea.  The  decree  containing  this  oath  is  not 
extant. 

2  Reference  is  necessarily  to  the  inscription  here  translated.  It  was  found  on  the 
Acropolis  in  1876. 

3  Hierocles  was  evidently  the  seer  who  accompanied  the  Athenian  army  to  Eubcea, 
according  to  Hellenic  custom.  He  was  afterward  ridiculed  by  Aristophanes,  Peace, 
1046  sq. 

4  Thesmothetae,  the  six  so-called  junior  archons.  They  had  the  public  documents 
in  their  keeping,  and  in  their  judicial  capacity  they  enjoyed  especially  cognizance  of 
cases  affecting  the  integrity  of  the  laws  and  of  agreements  with  other  states;  Arist. 
Const.  Ath.  3,  48,  59.  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  230  and  n.  1,  interprets  this  passage  to 
signify,  not  an  appeal  to  the  court  of  the  Thesmothetae,  but  a  reference  of  the  case  to  it 
in  the  first  instance. 


DECREE  FOR  FOUNDING  A  COLONY  265 


cording  to  the  decree  of  the  people.  Concerning  the  guarding  of 
Euboea  the  Generals  shall  see  to  the  best  of  their  ability  that  it  be 
for  the  greatest  advantage  of  the  Athenians. 

73.  Athenian  Decree  for  the  Colonization  of  Brea, 

in  Thrace 

(Inscr.  grcec.  I.  no.  31 ;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  41 ;  Ditt.  no.  19 ;  trans,  by  C.  J.  O.) 

Pericles  followed  systematically  the  policy  of  founding  colonies  of  Athenians 
chiefly  within  the  empire.  "He  sent  out  1000  settlers  to  the  Chersonese,  500 
to  Naxos,  half  as  many  to  Andros,  1000  to  dwell  among  the  Thracian  tribe  of 
the  Bisaltae,  and  others  to  the  new  colony  in  Italy  .  .  .  named  Thurii.  By 
these  means  he  relieved  the  state  of  numerous  idle  agitators,  assisted  the  needy, 
and  overawed  the  allies  of  Athens  by  placing  his  colonies  near  them  to  watch 
their  behavior  "  ;  Plut.  Per.  1 1 .  His  objects  are  well  stated  by  Plutarch.  This 
passage  may  contain  a  reference  to  Brea,  founded  by  Pericles  in  Thrace.  The 
date  of  the  decree  of  founding  must  be  446  or  not  materially  later;  Busolt 
Griech.  Gesch.  III.  417.  This  inscription  is  valuable  as  the  only  one  extant 
which  treats  of  the  founding  of  a  Greek  colony. 

A.  {The  beginning  is  lost.) 

7.  .  .  .  If  he  does  import,1  the  person  who  has  brought  the 
information  or  the  indictment  shall  take  [the  goods(?)]  in  pledge. 
The  [leaders  of  the  colonists]  shall  provide  [flocks  of  goats],  as  many 
as  they  shall  deem  sufficient,  for  the  offering  of  auspicious  sacrifices 
on  behalf  of  the  colony.  [Ten  men]  shall  be  chosen  as  surveyors, 
one  from  each  tribe,  and  these  shall  assign  [the  land].  Democlides 
shall  have  full  power  to  establish  the  colony  according  to  the  best 
of  his  ability. 

2.  The  sacred  demesnes  that  have  been  set  apart2  shall  be  left 
as  they  are,  and  no  others  shall  be  consecrated.  (The  colonists) 
shall  contribute  an  ox 3  and  [a  suit  of  armor]  for  the  Greater  Pana- 
thenaea  and  a  phallus  for  the  Dionysia.4  If  anyone  shall  attack 
the  land  of  the  colonists,  the  cities 5  shall  render  aid  as  [vigorously]  as 

1  Evidently  a  prohibition  of  smuggling  has  preceded. 

2  The  sanctuaries  of  the  former  Thracian  inhabitants  are  meant. 

3  This  contribution  to  the  great  quadrennial  festival  was  obligatory  upon  all  the 
Athenian  colonies,  cf.  the  scholiast  on  Aristophanes,  Clouds,  386. 

4  The  Greater,  or  City,  Dionysia,  held  every  year  in  March. 

5  I.e.,  the  Athenian  confederacy. 


266 


ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 


possible,  according  to  the  statute  that  was  passed  in  the  secretary- 
ship of  .  .  .  regarding  the  [cities]  of  Thrace. 

3.  These  provisions  shall  be  inscribed  upon  a  stele  and  placed 
on  the  Acropolis,  and  the  colonists  shall  [furnish]  the  stele  at  their 
own  [expense].  If  anyone  shall  put  to  vote  a  motion  contrary  to 
(the  provisions  of)  the  stele,  or  shall  speak  (against  them)  as  a 
public  orator,  or  shall  [attempt]  to  incite  (others)  to  rescind  or 
annul  any  portion  of  the  decree,  he  shall  [lose  his  civil  rights]  both 
he  himself  and  his  children,  and  his  property  shall  be  confiscated, 
one  tenth  of  it  to  the  Goddess  (Athena) ;  except  that  the  colonists 
themselves  may  make  [requests  in  their  own  behalf]. 

4.  Those  of  the  soldiers 1  who  shall  enroll  themselves  [as  pro- 
spective colonists],  shall  be  at  Brea  [as  colonists]  within  thirty  days 
after  they  have  reached  [Athens].  The  colony  shall  be  led  forth 
within  thirty  days.  vEschines  shall  follow  and  pay  over  the 
money.2 

B.  Phantocles  moved  as  an  amendment  to  the  motion  of 
Democlides  regarding  the  colony  to  Brea :  — 

5.  The  prytaneis  of  (the  tribe)  Erechtheis3  shall  introduce 
Phantocles  to  the  council  at  the  first  session.  The  colonists  to  go 
to  Brea  shall  be  from  the  thetes 4  and  the  zeugitae. 

1  Perhaps  those  who  were  campaigning  in  Eubcea  in  446  B.C. 

2  For  the  expenses  of  the  journey. 

3  Evidently  the  tribe  that  was  to  hold  the  following  prytany. 

4  The  thetes  were  the  lowest  of  the  four  classes  into  which  the  Athenians  were 
divided  according  to  the  amount  of  their  property.  The  zeugitae,  who  were  the  class 
next  to  the  lowest,  comprised  those  who  were  liable  to  service  in  the  heavy  infantry. 
Originally  the  estimate  was  made  on  the  basis  of  produce  from  rural  estates  free  from 
encumbrance  (Arist.  Const.  Ath.  7),  but  before  the  age  of  Pericles  an  assessment  in 
money  had  been  substituted. 


TRIBUTES 


267 


74.  Two  Tribute  Lists 

(The  extant  tribute  lists  will  be  found  in  Inscr.  grcec.  I.  nos.  226-72.  Cf.  also 
Supplem.  1 ;  as  far  as  432  B.C.,  in  Hill,  Sources  for  Greek  History  (Oxford, 
1897),  ch.  ii.  (A)  is  from  Inscr.  grcec.  I.  no.  244 ;  Hill,  op.  cit.  ch.  ii.  no.  19  ; 
Hicks  and  Hill,  Greek  Hist.  Inscr.  no.  48.  It  is  taken  from  the  list  for  436- 
5  B.C.  (B)  is  from  the  list  of  the  year  425,  "put  together  out  of  thirty  frag- 
ments found  at  various  times  on  the  Acropolis."  It  is  given  also  by  Hill, 
op.  cit.  p.  14,  no.  72  ;  Hicks  and  Hill,  op.  cit.  no.  64.  In  this  inscription 
the  island  list  alone  is  sufficiently  complete  to  warrant  reproduction. 
Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

The  sum  total  of  the  contributions  —  generally  termed  tributes  —  to  be 
paid  by  the  members  of  the  Delian  Confederacy  was  originally  fixed,  478  B.C., 
by  Aristeides  at  460  talents  (Thuc.  i.  96 ;  Arist.  Const.  Ath.  23.  5  ;  Plut.  Arist.  24). 
The  cities  were  re-assessed  every  four  years ;  but  for  a  long  time  little  variation 
was  made  from  this  norm,  even  after  the  Confederacy  had  been  enlarged  by  the 
addition  of  many  new  members.  Probably  in  454-3,  certainly  not  later  than 
that  date,  the  treasury  was  transferred  from  Delos  to  Athens.  This  event 
marks,  better  than  any  other,  the  completion  of  the  gradual  process  of  trans- 
forming the  Confederacy  into  an  Athenian  empire.  From  this  date  begins  a 
series  of  quota  lists,  imperfectly  preserved  in  inscriptions,  detailing,  not  as  a 
rule  the  actual  contributions  paid  by  the  several  allies,  but  the  offerings  to  Athena 
made  from  these  respective  sums.  As  the  goddess  received  a  sixtieth  part  of 
the  tribute,  a  mina  from  every  talent,  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  compute  from 
these  lists  the  contributions  of  the  individual  states.  In  the  following  extracts 
from  these  inscriptions  (A)  is  an  example  of  such  a  list  of  offerings,  the  amounts 
of  tribute,  given  in  the  third  column,  being  calculated  by  multiplying  the  num- 
bers in  the  second  column  by  sixty.  The  extract  designated  as  (B)  is  from  the 
only  extant  inscription  which  gives  directly  the  amount  of  assessment. 

In  447-6  began  an  effort  to  arrange  the  states  in  local  groups,  and  four 
years  afterward  the  empire  was  definitely  organized  in  the  following  tribute 
districts,  Ionian,  Hellespontine,  Thracian,  Carian,  and  Island.  After  439  B.C. 
the  Ionian  and  Carian  tributes  were  combined  under  one  heading,  and  the 
number  of  districts  was  thus  reduced  to  four.  Before  the  Peloponnesian  war 
the  Island  district,  to  which  alone  the  following  extracts  have  reference,  com- 
prised the  Cyclades,  Eubcea,  Lemnos,  Imbros,  and  .^Egina,  the  number  of 
tribute-paying  states  being  twenty-three  or  twenty-four.  In  the  assessment 
of  425-4  the  names  of  the  Lemnian  cities  and  of  Imbros  must  have  stood  in  the 
portion  of  the  inscription  now  lost ;  and  i3Egina,  which  was  occupied  by  Athe- 
nian colonists  in  431  (Thuc.  ii.  27),  is  omitted.  The  islands  of  Melos  and  Thera, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  added ;  and  a  number  of  small  towns,  which  had  pre- 
viously been  taxed  with  their  larger  neighbors,  were  made  distinct  tributaries. 
It  will  be  seen,  too,  from  a  comparison  of  the  figures  in  (A)  and  (B),  that  on  the 


268 


ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 


average  the  several  assessments  were  more  than  doubled.  This  increase  is 
generally  credited  by  scholars  to  the  ambitious  war  policy  of  Cleon.  While 
granting  this  interpretation  in  part,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  wealth  of  the 
states  had  vastly  increased  since  the  assessment  of  Aristeides  (cf.  Isoc.  Paneg. 
103  ;  Plut.  Cim.  n),  that  money  was  now  far  more  plentiful,  and  that  its  pur- 
chasing power  had  correspondingly  declined.  It  was  just,  therefore,  that  the 
contributions  should  be  increased,  though  perhaps  not  doubled.  The  author 
of  the  decree  —  if/r/faa/xa  —  which  brought  about  this  change  was  Cleonymus. 
On  the  increase,  see  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  1117  sqq.  ;  Philologus,  XLI 
(1882).  688-92. 

THE  LISTS 
(A)  From  the  quota  list  of  436-5  B.C. 

In  the  term  of  the  nineteenth  board,1  of  which  Philetaerus,  son  of  Theodectus, 
.  .  .  was  secretary,  Dionysius  being  (chief)  Hellenotamias.  .  .  . 
(Here  follows  the  quota  of  the  Ionian  tribute.) 


Island  Tribute 


The  People  Of 

Quota  Paid 

Calculated  Amount 

to  Athena3 

Tribute 

Seriphos 

Chalcis  2 

[3)00  drachmae 

(3  talents) 

Ceos 

400  drachmae 

(4  talents) 

Tenos 

300  drachmae 

(3  talents) 

Naxos 

666f  drachmae 

(6f  talents) 

Myconos 

Andros 

600  drachmae 

(6  talents) 

Siphnos 

300  drachmae 

(3  talents) 

Syros 

25  drachmae 

(i  talent) 

Styra 2 

Eretria 2 

[3)00  drachmae 

(3  talents) 

Grynchae 2 

(1000  drachmae) 

10  talents 

Rhenaea 

(300  drachmae) 

3  talents 

Athenae 2 

(2000  drachmae) 

20  talents 

Dium  of  Cenaeum 2 

(2000  drachmae) 

20  talents 

Ios 

(3000  drachmae) 

(30)  talents 

^Egina  [more 

than]  300  talents 

(more  than  3  talents) 

1  The  board  of  Hellenic  treasurers  is  probably  here  meant,  not  that  of  the  auditors, 
who  reckoned  the  offering  of  the  sixtieth  part. 

2  Concerning  the  places  in  Eubcea  mentioned  in  these  lists  see  Geyer.  Topographie 
und  Geschichte  der  Insel  Euboia,  Part  I  (Berlin,  1903),  passim. 

3  These  figures  are  restored  from  a  fragment  of  another  tribute  list,  probably  for 
the  year  439-438,  published  by  Kohler  in  Hermes,  XXXI  (1896),  142  sq. 


TRIBUTES 


269 


{Ten  lines  are  wanting.  Then  follow  the  quotas  of  the  Hellespontine  and  of  the 
Thracian  tribute,  then  a  heading  11  Self -assessing  cities,"1  with  eleven  quotas, 
then  another  heading,  "Cities  which  were  enrolled  to  pay  tribute  on  the  motion 
of  private  citizens,"  2  with  six  quotas  among  which  is  that  of  the  Diacrians  of 
Chalcis,  13^  drachmae  (800  dr.).) 

(B)  From  the  assessment  of  tribute  in  425-4  B.C. 

The  tribute  was  assessed  as  follows  upon  the  cities  by  the  council  of  which 
Pleistias  was  the  first  secretary,  [and  by  the  court  (?)]  in  the  archonship  of 
Stratocles  3  and  in  the  term  of  the  introducers  4  whose  [secretary  was  .  .  .] 


1  Cf.  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  207,  n.  4. 

2  Cf.  Ibid.,  210,  n.  1. 

3  In  425-424  B.C. 

4  Officials  who  presided  at  the  trial  of  cases  that  had  to  be  decided  within  a  month. 

5  Though  the  Melians  were  assessed  as  tributaries,  they  never  acknowledged  the 
supremacy  of  Athens  until  they  were  overcome  and  destroyed  in  416-415;  cf.  Thu~ 
cydides,  iii.  91 ;  v.  84,  116. 

6  Concerning  the  places  in  Eubcea  mentioned  in  these  lists  see  Geyer,  Topographic 
und  Geschichte  der  Insel  Euboia,  Part  I  (Berlin,  1903).  passim. 

7  Thera  was  not  subject  to  Athens  at  the  beginning  of  the  Peloponnesian  war ;  cf. 
Thuc.  ii.  2. 


Island  Tribute 


The  People  Of 
Paros 
Naxos 
Andros 
Melos  5 
Siphnos 
Eretria  6 
Thera  7 
Ceos 

Carystus  6 
Chalcis  6 
Cythnos 
Tenos 
Styra  6 
Myconos 
Seriphos 
Ios 

Dium  6 
Athenae  6 
Syros 
Grynchae  6 
Rhenaea 

Diacrians  of  Chalcis  6 


1  talent 
1  talent 
2000  drachmae 
1000  drachmae 
2000  drachmae 


Assessment 
30  talents 
15  talents 
15  talents 
15  talents 

9  talents 
1 5  talents 

5  talents 
10  talents 

5  talents 
10  talents 

6  talents 
10  talents 

2  talents 


270 


ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 


The  People  Of 
Anaphe 


Assessment 


1000  drachmae 


Ceria,  10^  dr.1 
Pholegandros 


2000  drachmae 
300  drachmae 
1000  drachmae 
1000  drachmae 
100  drachmae 


Belbina  2 
Cimolos 
Sicinos 
Posideum 

Diacrians  in  Eubcea  3 
[Hephaestia  (?)]  in  Eubcea 


1 1  talents 


4  talents 


{The  remainder  of  the  assessment  of  the  Island  tribute  is  lost  in  (B).  Then 
follow  fragments  of  the  assessments  of  the  Ionian,  the  H  elles  pontine,  and  the  Thracian 
tribute  respectively.  At  the  bottom  of  the  inscription  is  the  line  "Sum  total,  [500  +] 
460  +  .  .  .  Talents."  4) 

75.  Athenian  Decrees  in  Honor  of  the  Democrats  of 

Samos 

(Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  81 ;  Ditt.  nos.  56,  57;  Michel,  Recueil,  no.  80;  Szanto, 
Griech.  Burgerrecht,  95  sq.    Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

The  Athenians  rarely  granted  citizenship  to  aliens.  In  427,  however,  after 
the  destruction  of  Plataea  they  conferred  the  citizenship  on  all  the  survivors 
who  could  prove  that  they  were  Plataeans  and  friendly  to  the  Athenian  state 
(Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  1038).  This  was  thus  far  the  most  striking  example 
of  their  liberality.  After  the  Sicilian  disaster  there  was  talk  of  admitting  to 
the  state  all  loyal  metics  and  all  the  allies  of  Ionian  speech  (Aristoph.  Lysist. 
571  sqq.)  but  such  discussion  bore  no  fruit,  and  in  fact  it  was  then  too  late  to 
save  the  empire  by  concessions  of  that  nature  (cf.  Thuc.  viii.  48.  5).  When  the 
allies  heard  of  the  Athenian  defeat  at  iEgospotami  (405),  all  revolted  excepting 
the  Samians,  who  remained  loyal  chiefly  through  fear  of  the  oligarchs  whom 
they  had  banished.  Putting  to  death,  therefore,  a  number  of  oligarchs  who 
still  remained  in  the  island,  the  Samians  sent  two  embassies  to  Athens  to  report 
what  they  had  done  and  to  assure  her  of  their  continued  loyalty  (Xen.  Hell.  ii. 
2.  6).    Thereupon  the  Athenians  passed  the  first  of  the  following  decrees. 

1  Possibly  the  small  island  now  called  Karos  near  Naxos.  The  peculiar  position  of 
the  figures  may  indicate  that  the  town  paid  merely  Athena's  sixtieth  in  lieu  of  the  full 
assessment. 

2  An  islet  at  the  entrance  of  the  Saronic  Gulf,  now  Hagios  Georgios. 

3  Concerning  the  places  in  Eubcea  mentioned  in  these  lists  see  Geyer,  Topographie 
und  Geschichte  der  Inset  Euboia,  Part  I  (Berlin,  1903),  passim. 

4  If  this  figure  is  correct,  and  the  tributaries  paid  in  full,  the  annual  revenue  under 
the  increased  assessment  was  over  $1,000,000. 


THE  SAMIANS  BECOME  ATHENIANS  271 


A.  FIRST  DECREE 

Cephisophon  of  Paeania  was  secretary.1  For  the  Samians  who 
sided  with  the  Athenian  people. 

1.  Be  it  resolved  by  the  Boule  and  the  Demus.  Cecropis  was 
the  prytanizing  tribe.  Polymnis  of  Euonymon  was  secretary. 
Alexias  was  archon.2  Nicophon  of  Athmonon  was  chairman. 
Cleisophus  and  his  fellow-prytaneis  moved  the  resolution : 

To  commend  both  the  former  and  the  present  embassy  of  the 
Samians  as  well  as  the  council,  the  generals,  and  the  rest  of  the 
Samians,  inasmuch  as  they  are  good  and  true  men  and  are  ready 
to  do  whatsoever  good  they  can ;  furthermore  (to  approve)  their 
acts,3  because  they  seem  to  have  done  right  by  the  Athenians  and 
the  Samians. 

2.  Whereas  also  they  have  benefited  the  Athenians  and  are  now 
making  much  of  them  and  are  proposing  good  measures,  be  it 
resolved  by  the  Boule  and  the  Demus  :  — 

That  the  Samians  shall  be  Athenians,  using  such  form  of  govern- 
ment as  they  themselves  may  desire ;  and  according  to  their  own 
suggestion,  a  joint  consultation  concerning  the  remaining  points, 
with  a  view  to  making  this  arrangement  most  satisfactory  to  both 
parties,  shall  be  held  upon  the  conclusion  of  peace.4  They  shall 
use  their  own  laws  and  be  autonomous ;  and  in  other  respects  they 
shall  act  according  to  the  oaths  and  the  agreements  entered  into 
by  the  Athenians  and  the  Samians;  and  with  regard  to  the  mis- 
understandings that  may  arise  between  them,  both  parties  shall 
grant  and  receive  legal  recourse  according  to  the  existing  compacts.5 

3.  If  by  reason  of  the  war,  any  pressing  question  concerning  the 
right  of  citizenship  shall  arise  sooner,  then,  according  to  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  embassy,  they  shall  consult  and  act  as  may  seem  to  be 
best  in  view  of  the  circumstances.    If  peace  is  concluded,  the  pres- 

1  When,  as  here,  decrees  passed  at  different  times  were  engraved  together,  the  name 
of  the  latest  secretary  appears  in  the  title. 

2  405-404  B.C. 

3  Reference  is  doubtless  to  their  massacre  of  oligarchs ;  see  introduction  to  the  decree. 

4  With  the  Peloponnesians.  It  was  made  in  404,  but  the  Samians  were  not 
included. 

5  ZvfjLfioXds  —  treaties,  generally  regulating  commercial  and  other  relations,  and 
providing  for  the  settlement  of  cases  at  law  arising  from  such  relations. 


272 


ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 


ent 1  inhabitants  of  Samos  shall  share  in  it  upon  the  same  terms  as 
the  Athenians;  but  if  it  is  necessary  to  carry  on  the  war,  they 
shall  make  preparations  in  concert  with  the  generals  to  the  best  of 
their  ability.  If  the  Athenians  send  an  embassy  to  any  quarter, 
those  who  are  present  from  Samos  may  join  in  it  by  sending  some- 
one if  they  wish,  and  they  may  offer  whatever  good  advice  they  can. 

4.  The  triremes  that  are  at  Samos  2  shall  be  given  to  the  Samians 
to  repair  and  to  use  as  they  please.  The  names  of  the  captains 
(trierarchs) 3  to  whom  these  ships  belonged  shall  be  reported  by  the 
ambassadors  to  the  secretary  of  the  boule  and  to  the  generals; 
and  if  the  trierarchs  are  charged  in  the  records  of  the  treasury 
[with  any  indebtedness]  on  account  of  their  receipt  of  the  triremes, 
the  dock  wardens  shall  [cancel  it  all]  wheresoever  found,  and  shall 
reclaim  the  tackle  for  the  treasury  [as  soon  as  possible  and]  compel 
those  who  have  any  of  it  to  return  [it  in  full]. 

5.  [Proposal  of  Cleisophus  and  his]  fellow-pry taneis  as  an 
amendment  to  that  of  the  boule ;  —  [The  grant  shall  be  made  to 
those  of  the  Samians]  who  have  come,  as  they  themselves  request, 
and  they  shall  be  assigned  [immediately  to  demes  and  to]  tribes4 
in  ten  divisions.  Passage  shall  be  provided  [for  the  ambassadors 
by  the  generals]  as  soon  as  possible.  Eumachus  and  [all  the  other 
Samians  who  have  come  with  Eumachus]  shall  be  commended  for 
being  [good  and  true  toward  the  Athenians] ,  and  Eumachus  shall  be 
invited  to  dine  in  the  Prytaneum  5  on  the  morrow.  The  secretary 
of  the  boule  together  with  the  generals  shall  record  the  decree  upon 
a  stone  pillar  and  shall  place  it  on  the  Acropolis,  and  the  Hellenic 
Treasurers  6  shall  give  the  money  therefor.  It  shall  be  recorded  at 
Samos  in  the  same  way  at  the  expense  of  the  Samians. 

1  Provision  was  hereby  made  to  exclude  the  oligarchs  then  in  exile. 

2  Twenty  Athenian  triremes  had  been  left  at  Samos  (Diod.  xiii.  104.  2). 

3  The  trierarch  (captain  of  a  trireme)  was  responsible  to  the  state  for  his  ship  during 
his  year  of  command,  and  was  obliged  to  return  it,  or  deliver  it  to  his  successor,  unim- 
paired; hence  the  need  of  this  provision  to  exonerate  the  captains  when  their  ships 
were  turned  over  to  the  Samians. 

4  Compare  the  language  of  the  decree  admitting  the  Plataeans  to  citizenship  in  427 ; 
Pseudo-Demosth.  lix.  104 :  "The  Plataeans  shall  be  assigned  to  demes  and  to  tribes." 

5  The  City  Hall,  containing  the  sacred  hearth  of  the  community,  and  the  tables 
at  which  certain  officials,  together  with  guests  honored  by  the  state,  dined  at  public 
expense. 

6  This  board,  mentioned  here  for  the  last  time,  was  abolished  at  the  close  of  the 
war. 


FAVORS  TO  THE  SAMIANS 


273 


Unfortunately  the  terms  of  the  agreement  could  not  be  carried  out ;  for 
in  the  spring  of  404  Athens  was  compelled  to  surrender  to  the  Peloponnesians ; 
and  soon  afterward  Lysander  conquered  Samos  (Xen.  Hell.  ii.  3.  6).  Expelled 
from  their  homes,  the  Samian  democrats  found  refuge  in  the  Ionian  cities  on 
the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  The  next  year,  403,  when  on  the  point  of  sending  a 
petition  to  Sparta,  these  exiles  invoked  the  good  offices  of  the  Athenians,  who 
by  the  terms  of  a  second  decree,  given  below,  complied  with  the  request  and 
also  confirmed  the  favors  granted  in  the  earlier  decree. 

B.  SECOND  DECREE 

1.  Be  it  resolved  by  the  boule  and  the  demus.  Pandionis 
was  the  prytanizing  tribe.  Agyrrhius  of  Collytus  was  secretary. 
Eucleides  was  archon.1  Callias  of  Oa  was  chairman.  Cephisophon 
moved  the  resolution  :  — 

To  commend  the  Samians  inasmuch  as  they  are  good  and  true 
men  toward  the  Athenians,  and  to  ratify  all  that  the  Athenian 
people  have  previously  decreed  for  the  Samian  people. 

2.  [The  Samians  may  send]  to  Lacedaemon,  as  they  themselves 
urge,  whomsoever  [they  wish  ;  and  since]  they  entreat  the  Athenians 
to  join  in  the  negotiations,  there  shall  be  chosen  additional  [ambas- 
sadors, and  these  shall  join]  with  the  Samians  in  effecting  whatever 
good  they  can,  [and  shall  consult  in  common  with]  them.2  Further- 
more, the  Athenians  commend  the  people  of  Ephesus  and  Notium 3 
[inasmuch  as  they  readily  received]  the  Samians  who  were  in  exile. 
The  Samian  embassy  shall  be  introduced  to  (the  assembly  of)  the 
people  to  transact  business,  if  they  shall  have  need  of  anything, 
and  the  embassy  shall  be  invited  to  dine  in  the  Prytaneum  on  the 
morrow. 

3.  Cephisophon  moved  as  an  amendment  to  the  proposal  of 
the  boule :  —  Be  it  decreed  by  the  Athenian  people  that  the  pre- 
vious decree  concerning  the  Samians  be  ratified,  as  the  boule  re- 
ported to  the  demus  in  its  proposal,  and  that  the  Samian  embassy 
be  invited  to  dine  in  the  Prytaneum  on  the  morrow. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

This  subject  is  included  in  all  histories  of  Greece  (cf.  p.  61  supra)  and  in  all 
works  on  the  constitutional  history  and  the  public  antiquities  of  the  Greeks. 

1 403-402  B.C. 

2  The  restoration  of  this  passage  by  Hicks  is  conjectural  but  gives  the  general  sense. 

3  A  town  on  the  coast  a  few  miles  north  of  Ephesus. 


274 


ATHENIAN  EMPIRE 


See  also  Ilerzog,  E.,  Zur  Verwaltungsgeschichte  des  attischen  Staats  (Tubingen, 
1897).  On  the  tribute,  see  Bannier,  W.,  "Die  Tributeinnahmeordnung  des 
attischen  Staates,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LIV  (1899).  544-54;  Pedroli,  "I  tributi 
degli  alleati  d'Atene,"  in  Beloch,  Studi  di  Storia  antica,  I  (1891).  101-207; 
Busolt,  G.,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  192-222.  On  the  coinage,  Gardner,  P.,  "Coinage 
of  the  Athenian  Empire,"  in  J  own.  Hell.  St.  XXXIII  (1913).  147-88.  On 
jurisdiction,  see  Goodwin,  W.  W.,  At/cat  oltto  avfx^oXwv  kcu  At/cat  o-u/x^oAatai 
in  Am.  J  own.  Philol.  I  (1880).  4-16 ;  Stahl,  De  sociorum  atheniensium  iudiciis 
(Miinster,  1881) ;  Morris,  C.  D.,  "Jurisdiction  of  Athenians  over  their  Allies," 
in  Am.  Journ.  Philol.  V  (1884).  298  sqq. ;  Meyer  and  Schomann,  Der  attische 
Process  (2d  ed.,  Berlin,  1883-1887),  994-1006;  Gilbert,  G.,  Const.  Antiq.  429- 
34;  Phillipson,  C.,  International  Law  and  Custom  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome* 
I.  198-209;  Meyer,  E.,  Gesch.  des  Alt.  III.  496-500;  Busolt,  G.,  Griech.  Gesch. 
III.  230-36;  Weber,  H.,  "Attisches  Processrecht  in  den  attischen  Seebundes- 
staaten,"  in  Stud,  zur  Gesch.  und  Kultur  des  Alt.  I.  5  (1908). 


CHAPTER  VIII 


PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 

In  the  Period  479-404 

In  this  chapter  the  private  law  of  the  fifth  century  is  represented  by  the 
Laws  of  Gortyn,  and  criminal  law  by  the  Draconian  Law  concerning  Homicide, 
as  republished  in  409. 

76.  The  Laws  of  Gortyn 

In  Greek  tradition  Crete  was  an  early  home  of  law.  The  scanty  notices  of 
Cretan  law  preserved  in  literature  refer  mainly  to  public  law;  and  the  dis- 
covery in  the  nineteenth  century  of  a  Gortynian  code,  in  the  form  of  a  mural 
inscription,  has  given  us  for  the  first  time  a  clear  view  of  some  portions  at  least 
of  Cretan  private  law.  This  code  deals  fully  with  family  relations  and  with 
inheritance ;  less  fully  with  tools ;  slightly  with  property  outside  of  the  house- 
hold relations ;  slightly,  too,  with  contracts  ;  but  it  contains  no  criminal  law  or 
criminal  procedure.  This  inscription  is  the  largest  document  of  Greek  law 
in  existence.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  many  fragments  of  other  Gorty- 
nian laws  have  been  found,  some  of  which  are  edited  and  translated  in  Kohler 
und  Ziebarth,  Stadlrechtvon  Gortyn  (Gottingen,  191 2),  now  the  best  treatment  of 
the  subject  in  general.  From  these  fragments  we  may  justly  infer  that  the 
inscription  now  under  consideration  formed  but  a  small  fraction  of  a  great 
Gortynian  code. 

This  document  itself  recognizes  the  existence  of  earlier  law,  not  repeated  but 
still  in  force,  —  particularly  in  the  phrase,  "as  has  been  written,"  or  "as  is  the 
established  statute."  In  the  opinion  of  Burchner,  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real- 
Encycl.  VII  (191 2).  1669,  the  oldest  extant  legislation  of  Gortyn  belongs  to  the 
sixth  century,  followed  by  a  period  of  revision  or  reformation  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, to  which  the  present  document  belongs.  References  to  "  kettles  "  and 
"tripods"  as  standards  of  value  led  the  earlier  commentators  to  the  conclusion 
that  these  laws  preceded  the  period  of  coinage.  More  recently  Svoronos, 
Journal  internal,  d'archeol.  numismal.  IX  (1906).  217  sq.,  has  made  it  clear  that 
the  figures  of  these  articles  were  stamped  upon  silver  coins  of  Gortyn  and  other 
Cretan  cities,  and  that  accordingly  without  doubt  the  laws  refer  to  the  coins 
rather  than  to  the  articles.  See  also  De  Sanctis,  Monumenti  Anlichi,  XVIII. 
303  sq.    From  various  considerations  it  appears  highly  probably  that  these 

275 


276  PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


laws  were  enacted  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century;  cf.  Kohler  and 
Ziebarth,  op.  cit.  p.  vi  sq. 

The  most  salient  tendencies  of  the  reformation  represented  by  the  docu- 
ment are  the  restriction  of  self-help  and  the  betterment  of  the  legal  position  of 
women.  "They  receive  rights  of  inheritance,  which  they  probably  had  not 
before ;  and  because  they  now  have  these  rights,  gifts  to  them  and  dowries  are 
limited.  The  power  to  dispose  of  women's  property  is  restricted,  in  their 
favor,  as  against  husbands,  fathers,  sons  and  uncles;  and  here  for  the  first 
time,  perhaps,  a  way  is  opened  to  heiresses  to  escape,  by  a  sacrifice  of  a  part  of 
their  property,  from  the  burdensome  compulsion  to  marry  near  kinsmen." 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  at  a  time  when  the  Athenians  were  repressing  the  social 
freedom  of  women,  the  Cretans  were  giving  them  larger  liberties  and  rights. 
Interesting,  too,  is  the  admirable  status  of  the  class  of  persons  described  as 
"  serfs."  Various  features  of  the  statute  make  it  akin  to  Indo-European  rather 
than  to  Oriental  usage. 

A  new  importance  has  been  given  to  Hellenic  law  by  the  discovery  of  papyri 
which  prove  its  continued  existence  in  parts  of  the  Roman  empire.  Briefly, 
Hellenic  law  is  of  vast  importance  to  the  student,  not  merely  of  jurisprudence, 
but  also  of  ancient  culture. 

The  translation  which  follows  was  originally  made  by  Professor  Augustus 
C.  Merriam  of  Columbia  University,  published  in  the  American  Journal  of 
Archceology,  II.  (1886).  24-45  (c/.  I-  35°  SQQ-)-  Professor  Munroe  Smith  has 
compared  it  with  the  German  versions  of  Bucheler  (Bucheler  und  Zitelmann, 
Das  Recht  von  Gortyn  (1885),  and  Lewy,  H.,  Altes  Stadtrecht  von  Gortyn  (1885), 
and  has  contributed  annotations.  Finally  the  translation  has  been  revised,  on 
the  basis  of  the  improved  text  of  Kohler  and  Ziebarth,  op.  cit.,  by  E.  G.  S. 

THE  GODS!1 

I.  Suit  for  the  ownership  of  a  slave  or  of  one  so  claimed.2  —  Who- 
ever intends  to  bring  suit  in  relation  to  a  free  man  or  a  slave,  shall 
not  take  action  by  seizure  before  trial ; 3  but  if  he  do  seize  him,  let 
the  judge  fine  him  10  staters  for  the  free  man,  5  for  the  slave,  be- 
cause he  seizes  him,  and  let  him  adjudge  that  he  shall  release  him 
within  three  days.  But  if  he  do  not  release  him,  let  the  judge 
sentence  him  to  a  stater  for  a  free  man,  a  drachma 4  for  a  slave,  each 

1  By  this  formula  the  gods  are  invoked  to  protect  and  bless  the  enactment.  It  is 
often  prefixed  to  documents. 

2  The  divisions  and  headings  here  given  are  the  translator's.  Of  the  abbreviations 
used  below,  B  refers  to  the  edition  of  Bucheler  and  Zitelmann;  L  to  that  of  Lewy; 
M.S.  to  Professor  Munroe  Smith. 

3  "Before  judgment"  (L). 

4  As  the  iEginetan  standard  prevailed  (Head,  Historia  numorum,  457)  the  drachma 
approximately  equaled  25  cents.    A  stater  was  two  drachmas. 


SLAVES 


277 


day  until  he  shall  have  released  him ;  and  according  to  the  time  (of 
non-payment) 1  the  judge  shall  decide,  confirming  it  by  oath.  But 
if  he  should  deny  that  he  made  the  seizure,  the  judge  shall  render 
decision  with  confirmatory  oath,  unless  a  witness  testify. 

But  if  one  party  contend  that  he  is  a  free  man,  the  other  that  he 
is  a  slave,  those  who  testify  that  he  is  free  shall  be  preferred.  And 
if  they  contend  about  a  slave,  each  declaring  that  he  is  his,  if  a 
witness  testify,  the  judge  shall  decide  according  to  the  witness ; 
but  if  they  testify  either  for  both  parties  or  for  neither  of  the  two, 
the  judge  shall  render  his  decision  by  oath. 

If  the  one  who  holds  (the  person  in  question)  lose  the  suit,  he 
shall  set  the  free  man  at  liberty  within  5  days,  and  the  slave  he 
shall  deliver  in  hand ;  and  if  he  do  not  set  at  liberty  or  deliver  in 
hand,  let  the  judge  pronounce  that  (the  successful  party)  shall  have 
judgment  against  him  in  50  staters  for  the  free  man  and  a  stater 
each  day  till  he  sets  him  free,  and  for  the  slave  10  staters  and  a 
drachma  each  day  till  he  delivers  him  in  hand.  But  if  the  judge 
shall  have  sentenced  him  to  a  fine,  within  a  year  thrice  the  amount 
or  less  shall  be  exacted,  but  not  more ;  and  according  to  the  time 2 
the  judge  shall  decide,  confirming  it  by  oath. 

But  if  the  slave  on  account  of  whom  (the  defendant)  was  de- 
feated take  refuge  in  a  temple  (the  defendant),  summoning  (the 
plaintiff)  in  the  presence  of  two  witnesses  of  age  and  free,  shall 
point  out  (the  slave)  at  the  temple,  wherever  he  may  be  a  suppliant, 
either  himself  or  another  in  his  behalf ;  but  if  he  do  not  issue  the 
summons  or  do  not  point  out,  he  shall  pay  what  is  written.  And 
if  he  do  not  return  him,  even  within  the  year,  he  shall  pay  in  addi- 
tion the  sums  one-fold.  But  if  he  die  while  the  suit  is  progressing, 
he  shall  pay  his  value  one-fold. 

And  if  one,  while  cosmos,3  (so)  seize  a  man,  or  another  for  him 
while  he  is  cosmos,  when  he  has  retired  from  office  the  case  shall  be 
tried,  and  if  (the  delinquent)  be  convicted  he  shall  pay  what  is 
written  from  the  day  he  made  the  seizure. 

1  "And  as  regards  the  time,"  i.e.,  the  period  of  disobedience  (B). 

2  "As  regards  the  time"  (see  note  above). 

3 The  chief  magistrates  were  ten  cosmi,  "Keepers  of  Order,"  who  commanded  in 
war,  exercised  judicial  and  general  administrative  functions,  and  enforced  discipline 
among  the  citizens;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vi.  §  1. 


278 


PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


For  one  seizing  the  person  in  the  possession  of  the  defeated  party, 
and  the  (slave)  that  has  been  mortgaged,  there  shall  be  no  penalty. 

II.  Rape  and  assault.  —  If  one  commit  rape  on  a  free  man  or 
woman,  he  shall  pay  100  staters,  and  if  on  (the  son  or  daughter)  of 
an  apetairos 1  10,  and  if  a  slave  on  a  free  man  or  woman  he  shall  pay 
double,  and  if  a  free  man  on  a  male  or  female  serf 2  5  drachmas,  and 
if  a  serf  on  a  male  or  female  serf,  5  staters.  If  one  debauch  a  female 
house-slave  by  force  he  shall  pay  2  staters,  but  if  one  already  de- 
bauched, in  the  daytime  an*obol,  but  if  at  night  2  obols ;  and  the 
slave  shall  have  preference  in  taking  the  oath. 

If  one  tries  to  seduce  a  free  woman,  under  the  tutelage  of  her 
relative,  he  shall  pay  10  staters,  if  a  witness  testify. 

III.  Adultery.  —  If  one  be  taken  in  adultery  with  a  free  woman 
in  her  father's,  or  in  her  brother's,  or  in  her  husband's  house,  he 
shall  pay  100  staters,  but  if  in  another's  house,  50 ;  and  with  the 
wife  of  an  apetairos,  10  ;  but  if  a  slave  with  a  free  woman,  he  shall 
pay  double,  but  if  a  slave  with  a  slave's  wife,  5. 

And  let  (the  captor)  give  notice  in  the  presence  of  three  witnesses 
to  the  relatives  of  the  man  taken,  that  they  shall  ransom  him  within 
5  days,  and  to  the  master  of  the  slave  in  the  presence  of  two  wit- 
nesses. But  if  one  do  not  ransom  him,  it  shall  be  in  the  power  of 
the  captors  to  do  with  him  as  they  will.  But  if  he  assert  that  the 
other  has  enslaved  him,  in  the  case  of  50  staters  or  more,  the  captor 
himself  with  four  others  shall  swear,  each  calling  down  curses  on 
himself,  and  in  the  case  of  the  apetairos,  (the  captor)  himself  with 
two  others,  and  in  case  of  the  domestic,  the  master  himself  and 
another,  that  he  took  him  in  adultery,  and  did  not  enslave  him. 

IV.  Divorce.  —  If  a  husband  and  wife  be  divorced,  she  shall 
have  her  own  property  that  she  came  with  to  her  husband,  and  the 
half  of  the  income  if  it  be  from  her  own  property,  and  whatever  she 
has  woven,  the  half,  whatever  it  may  be,  and  5  staters,  if  her  hus- 

1  Apetairos,  one  who  did  not  belong  to  a  hetaeria,  or  association  of  fully  privileged 
citizens.  The  apetairos  seems  to  have  been  personally  free  but  politically  dependent, 
somewhat  like  the  Lacedaemonian  pericecus. 

2  The  serf  (01/cetfs,  German  Hdusler)  was  somewhat  like  the  Laconian  helot,  but 
enjoyed  a  far  better  legal  position.  With  his  family  he  tilled  a  piece  of  ground  belong- 
ing to  his  lord,  occupying  a  farm  house,  whence  the  name  of  the  class.  The  serf  is  often 
contrasted  with  the  slave,  who  lived  in  the  house  of  the  lord  in  the  city,  and  performed 
domestic  service. 


DIVORCE,  WIDOWS,  AND  CHILDREN 


band  be  the  cause  of  her  dismissal ;  but  if  the  husband  deny  that 
he  was  the  cause,  the  judge  shall  decide,  confirming  his  decision  by 
oath.  But  if  she  carry  away  anything  else  belonging  to  her  hus- 
band, she  shall  pay  5  staters  and  the  thing  itself,  whatever  she  car- 
ries, and  whatever  she  has  purloined  she  shall  return  the  thing  it- 
self ;  but  of  whatsoever  she  makes  denial  the  judge  shall  decide : 
the  woman  shall  take  her  oath  of  denial  by  Artemis,  who  stands 
next  to  the  Amyclaean  (Apollo),1  the  archer-goddess.  And  what- 
ever anyone  may  take  away  from  her  after  she  has  made  her  oath  of 
denial,  he  shall  pay  5  staters  and  the  thing  itself.  If  an  unrelated 
person  assist  in  removing  (the  effects)  he  shall  pay  10  staters 
and  the  amount  two  fold  of  whatever  the  judge  swears  that  he 
assisted  in  removing. 

V.  Rights  of  the  widow.  —  If  a  man  die,  leaving  children,  if 
his  wife  wish  she  may  marry,  taking  her  own  property  and  further 
whatever  her  husband  may  have  given  her,  according  to  what  is 
written,  in  the  presence  of  3  witnesses  of  age  and  free.  But  if  she 
carry  away  anything  belonging  to  her  children  she  shall  be  answer- 
able. And  if  he  leave  her  childless,  she  shall  have  her  own  property 
and  whatever  she  has  woven,  the  half,  and  of  the  produce  on  hand 
in  possession  of  the  heirs,  a  portion,  and  whatever  her  husband 
has  given  her  as  is  written.  But  if  she  should  carry  away  anything 
else  she  shall  be  answerable. 

If  a  wife  should  die  childless,  (the  husband)  shall  return  to  her 
heirs  her  property,  and  whatever  she  has  woven  within,  the  half, 
and  of  the  produce,  if  it  be  from  her  own  property,  the  half. 

If  a  husband  or  wife  wish  to  give  komistra,2  (it  shall  be)  either 
clothing  or  12  staters,  or  something  worth  12  staters,  but  not  more. 

If  a  female  serf  be  separated  from  a  male  serf  while  alive  or  in 
case  of  his  death,  she  shall  have  her  own  property,  but  if  she  carry 
away  anything  else  she  shall  be  answerable. 

VI.  Children  born  after  divorce.  —  If  a  woman  bear  a  child 
while  living  apart  from  her  husband  (after  divorce),  she  shall  have 
it  conveyed  to  the  husband  at  his  house,  in  the  presence  of  3  wit- 
nesses ;  and  if  he  do  not  receive  the  child,  it  shall  be  in  the  power 
of  the  mother  either  to  bring  up  or  expose,3  and  the  relatives  and  the 

1  The  reading  is  that  of  B.  2  Komistra,  gifts  (of  regard  or  affection). 

3  ' Kirod^jxev. 


28o  PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


witnesses  shall  have  preference  in  taking  the  oath  as  to  whether 
they  carried  it.  And  if  a  female  serf  bear  a  child  while  living  apart, 
she  shall  carry  it  to  the  master  of  the  man  who  married  her,  in  the 
presence  of  2  witnesses.  And  if  he  do  not  receive  it,  the  child 
shall  be  in  the  power  of  the  master  of  the  female  serf.  But  if  she 
should  marry  the  same  man  again  before  the  end  of  the  year,  the 
child  shall  be  in  the  power  of  the  master  of  the  male  serf  and 
the  one  who  carried  it  and  the  witnesses  shall  have  preference 
in  taking  the  oath.  If  a  woman  living  apart  should  cast  away 
her  child  before  she  has  presented  it  as  written,  she  shall  pay, 
for  a  free  child,  50  staters,  for  a  slave,  25,  if  she  be  convicted. 
But  if  the  man  have  no  house  to  which  she  may  carry  it,  or  she 
do  not  see  him,  if  she  expose  her  child,  there  shall  be  no 
penalty.  If  a  female  serf  should  conceive  and  bear  without 
being  married,  the  child  shall  be  in  the  power  of  the  master  of 
the  father;  but  if  the  father  be  not  living,  it  shall  be  in  the 
power  of  the  masters  of  the  brothers. 

VII.  Division  of  property  among  children.  —  The  father  shall 
have  power  over  his  children  and  the  division  of  the  property,  and 
the  mother  over  her  property.  As  long  as  they  live,  it  shall  not  be 
necessary  to  make  a  division.  But  if  any  one  (of  the  children) 
should  be  condemned  to  pay  a  fine,  his  portion  may  be  divided  off 
to  him  who  has  been  condemned  to  pay  a  fine,  as  is  written.  But 
if  a  (father)  die,  the  houses  in  the  city  and  whatever  there  is  in  the 
houses  in  which  a  serf  residing  in  the  country  does  not  live,  and  the 
sheep  and  larger  animals  which  do  not  belong  to  the  serf,  shall  belong 
to  the  sons ;  but  all  the  rest  of  the  property  shall  be  divided  fairly, 
and  the  sons,  how  many  soever  there  be,  shall  receive  two  parts  each, 
and  the  daughters,  how  many  soever  there  be,  one  part  each.  The 
mother's  property  also  shall  be  divided,  in  case  she  dies,  as  is  written 
for  the  father's.  And  if  there  should  be  no  property  but  a  house, 
the  daughters  shall  receive  their  share  as  is  written.  And  if  a 
father  while  living  may  wish  to  give  to  his  married  daughter,  let 
him  give  according  to  what  is  written,  but  not  more.  But  to 
which  daughter  he  gave  before  or  promised,  she  shall  have  this, 
but  shall  not  receive  anything  further  in  the  distribution.  If  a 
woman  have  no  property,  either  by  gift  from  father  or  brother,  or 
by  promise,  or  received  by  inheritance  as  (was  written)  when  the 


INHERITANCE 


281 


iEthalean  startos 1  —  Cyllus  and  his  colleagues  —  ruled  as  cosmi, 
such  shall  receive  their  portion ;  but,  against  those  (who  received) 
before,  there  shall  not  be  ground  for  action. 

VIII.  Heirs  at  law.  —  If  a  man  or  woman  die,  if  there  be  chil- 
dren, or  grandchildren  or  great-grandchildren,  they  shall  have  the 
property ;  but  if  there  be  none  of  these  and  there  be  brothers  of 
the  deceased  and  children  or  grandchildren  from  the  brothers,  they 
shall  have  the  property ;  but  if  there  be  none  of  these,  but  sisters 
of  the  deceased,  and  children  from  these,  or  children  from  the 
children,  they  shall  have  the  property ;  but  if  there  be  none  of 
these,  to  whomsover  it  belongs  where  there  may  be  property, 
these  shall  receive  it.  But  if  there  should  be  no  relations  of 
the  klaros,2  whoever  be  the  body  designated  by  lot,  these  shall 
have  the  property. 

IX.  Partition  of  property.  —  And  if  (of)  the  relatives  some  may 
wish  to  divide  the  property  and  others  not,  the  judge  shall  decide ; 
and  all  the  property  shall  be  in  the  power  of  those  who  wish  to 
divide,  until  they  make  the  division.  And  if  after  the  judge  has 
rendered  his  decision,  anyone  enter  by  force,  or  drive  or  carry  off 
anything,  he  shall  pay  10  staters  and  double  the  thing  in  question. 
And  of  perishable  objects  and  crops  and  clothing  and  ornaments  and 
furniture,  if  the  sons  do  not  wish  to  make  a  division,  the  judge  under 
oath  shall  decide  with  a  view  to  matters  in  litigation.  If  further 
when  dividing  the  property,  they  cannot  agree  about  the  division, 
they  shall  offer  the  property  for  sale,  and  having  sold  it  to  him  who 
offers  most,  let  them  share  each  his  just  due  of  the  values  received. 
And  while  they  are  dividing  the  property  witnesses  shall  be  present, 
of  age  and  freemen,  three  or  more.  If  a  father  give  to  a  daughter, 
(let  the  procedure  be)  the  same. 

X.  Property  rights  of  the  family.  —  As  long  as  a  father  lives,  no 
one  shall  purchase  any  of  his  property  from  a  son,  or  take  it  on 

1  The  startos  is  one  of  the  puzzles  of  Cretan  public  life.  Evidence  is  furnished  by 
Kohler  and  Ziebarth,  op.  cit.  47  sq.,  that  it  was  closely  related  to  the  hetaeria,  that  it  had 
a  military  character,  and  was  perhaps  a  military  company  drawn  from  the  hetaeria. 
Its  relation  with  the  cosmi  is  not  clear.  The  text  here  seems  to  indicate  that  the  cosmi 
were  drawn  from  the  starti  in  rotation. 

2  Klaros  is  evidently  a  group  of  kinsmen  wider  than  the  family  and  the  near  kin 
above  enumerated ;  it  is  substantially  the  genos,  gens,  whose  members  have  a  right  to 
inherit  in  failure  of  the  near  kin. 


282  PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


mortgage;  but  whatever  the  son  himself  may  have  acquired  or 
obtained  by  inheritance,  he  may  sell  if  he  will ;  nor  shall  the  father 
sell  or  promise  the  property  of  his  children,  whatever  they  have 
themselves  acquired  or  succeeded  to,1  nor  the  husband  that  of  his 
wife,  nor  the  son  that  of  the  mother.  And  if  any  one  should  pur- 
chase, or  take  on  mortgage,  or  accept  a  promise,  otherwise  than  as 
written  in  these  writings,  the  property  shall  still  belong  to  the 
mother  and  the  wife,  and  the  one  who  sold  or  mortgaged  or  promised 
shall  pay  to  the  one  who  bought,  or  accepted  the  mortgage  or 
promise,  two-fold,  and  if  he  shall  have  caused  any  other  loss,  he 
shall  pay  one-fold  in  addition ;  but  as  regards  transactions  under 
earlier  laws,  there  shall  be  no  ground  for  action.  If  however  the 
defendant  shall  contend  in  court,  in  relation  to  the  matter  about 
which  they  are  disputing,  that  it  does  not  belong  to  the  mother  or 
the  wife,  the  case  shall  be  adjudicated  as  is  proper  before  the  judge, 
as  each  thing  is  written. 

If  a  mother  die  leaving  children,  the  father  shall  be  trustee  of 
the  mother's  property,2  but  he  shall  not  sell  or  mortgage  unless 
the  children  assent,  being  of  age ;  and  if  any  one  should  otherwise 
purchase  or  take  on  mortgage,  the  property  shall  (still)  belong  to 
the  children;  and  to  the  purchaser  or  mortgagee  the  seller  or 
mortgagor  shall  pay  two-fold  the  value,  and  if  he  shall  have  caused 
any  other  loss,  one-fold.  But  if  he  wed  another  wife,  the  children 
shall  have  control  of  the  mother's  property. 

XI.  Ransomed  prisoners.  —  If  any  one  be  brought  out  of  mis- 
fortune from  sojourn  abroad  (where  he  has  been)  held  by  force,3  and 
one  have  released  him  at  his  desire,  he  shall  be  in  the  power  of  the 
one  who  released  him  until  he  pay  what  is  proper ;  but  if  they  do 
not  agree  upon  the  amount,  or  he  did  not  himself  request  (the  other) 
to  release  him,  the  judge  shall  decide  with  a  view  to  the  matters  in 
controversy. 

XII.  Miscegenation.  —  [If  a  slave  (?)]  going  to  a  free  woman 
shall  wed  her,  the  children  shall  be  free ;  but  if  the  free  woman  to 
a  slave,  the  children  shall  be  slaves ;  and  if  from  the  same  mother 

1  The  Cretan  father  accordingly  had  less  right  to  the  peculium  of  children  than  had 
the  Roman  father. 

2  "The  father  shall  have  control  of  the  mother's  property"  (B  and  L). 

3  "If  anyone  has  been  brought  out  of  duress  abroad  by  reason  of  alienage"  (B). 


THE  HEIRESS 


283 


free  and  slave  children  be  born,  if  the  mother  die  and  there  be 
property,  the  free  children  shall  have  it ;  but  if  free  children  should 
not  be  born  of  her,  her  relatives  shall  succeed  to  the  property. 

XIII.  Responsibility  for  the  acts  of  a  slave.  —  If  a  person  should 
purchase  a  slave  from  the  market-place,  and  should  not  complete 
the  transaction  within  60  days,  in  case  he  shall  have  done  any 
wrong  before  (the  60  days  have  expired)  or  after,  there  shall  be 
ground  for  action  against  the  one  who  has  acquired  him. 

XIV.  Rights  and  obligations  of  heiresses.  —  The  heiress  shall 
marry  the  brother  of  her  father,  the  eldest  of  those  living ;  and  if 
there  hz  more  heiresses  and  brothers  of  the  father,  they  shall 
marry  the  eldest  in  succession.1  But  if  there  be  no  brothers  of 
the  father,  but  sons  from  his  brothers,  she  shall  marry  the  first 
one  from  the  eldest  (brother)  ;2  and  if  there  be  more  heiresses 
and  sons  from  brothers,  they  shall  marry  the  sons  of  the  eldest 
in  succession.  The  pertinent  relative  shall  have  one  heiress,  but 
not  more. 

As  long  as  the  pertinent  relative  or  the  heiress  is  too  young  to 
marry,  the  heiress  shall  have  the  house,  if  there  be  one,  but  the 
pertinent  relative  shall  receive  half  of  the  income  of  all  the  property. 
And  if  the  pertinent  relative  be  still  under  age  (under  17)  but  above 
puberty,  and  the  heiress  also,  but  he  do  not  wish  to  marry  her,  all 
the  property  and  the  income  shall  belong  to  the  heiress,  until  he 
marry  her.  But  if  he,  being  of  age  (above  17),  do  not  wish  to 
marry  the  heiress,  now  of  proper  age  and  willing  to  marry  him, 
the  relatives  of  the  heiress  shall  bring  the  matter  to  trial,  and 
the  judge  shall  order  him  to  marry  her  within  two  months ;  and 
if  he  do  not  marry  as  is  written,  she  with  all  the  property  shall 
wed  the  next  in  succession,  if  there  be  another :  but  if  there  be 
none,  she  may  marry  any  one  of  the  tribe  whom  she  wishes,  who 
may  demand  her  hand. 

And  if  she,  being  of  age  to  marry,  do  not  wish  to  marry  the 
pertinent  relative,  or  the  pertinent  relative  be  too  young  and  the 
heiress  do  not  wish  to  wait,  the  heiress  shall  have  the  house,  if 
there  be  one  in  the  city,  and  whatever  there  is  in  the  house,  but 
sharing  half  of  the  remaining  property,  she  may  marry  another, 

1  That  is,  each  heiress  in  succession  shall  marry  the  next  eldest  uncle  (M.S.) . 

2  She  is  to  marry  the  eldest  son  of  the  eldest  brother  of  her  father. 


284  PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


whomsoever  she  wish  of  her  tribe  demanding  her  hand ;  and  they 
shall  portion  off  (the  half)  of  the  property  to  the  first  one. 

If  the  heiress  should  have  no  kinsmen  within  the  limits  pre- 
scribed, holding  all  the  property  she  may  marry  any  one  of  the 
tribe  she  wishes.  But  if  no  one  of  the  tribe  desire  to  marry  her, 
the  relatives  of  the  heiress  shall  proclaim  throughout  the  tribe, 
' 'Does  no  one  wish  to  marry  her?"  and  if  any  one  will  marry  her, 
(it  shall  be)  within  the  30  days,  as  they  shall  have  declared ;  and 
if  not,  she  shall  wed  another,  whomsoever  she  may  be  able  to. 

If  she  become  an  heiress  after  her  father  or  brother  shall  have 
given  her  in  marriage,  in  case  she  do  not  wish  to  marry  the  one  to 
whom  they  gave  her,  though  he  be  willing,  if  she  have  borne  children, 
partitioning  (with  him)  the  property  as  is  written,  she  shall  wed 
another  of  the  tribe;  but  if  she  have  no  children,  with  all  the 
property  she  shall  marry  the  pertinent  relative  if  there  be  one,  but 
if  not,  as  is  written. 

In  case  a  husband  should  die  leaving  children  to  an  heiress, 
if  she  wish,  let  her  wed  any  one  of  the  tribe  she  may  be  able  to, 
but  it  is  not  compulsory.  If  the  deceased  should  leave  no  children, 
she  shall  marry  the  pertinent  relative  as  is  written.  If  the  one  to 
whom  it  falls  to  marry  the  heiress  should  not  be  in  the  country, 
and  the  heiress  be  of  age  to  marry,  she  shall  wed  the  (next)  in  suc- 
cession as  is  written.  She  shall  be  an  heiress  if  she  have  no  father, 
or  brother  from  the  same  father;  and  the  father's  relatives  shall 
have  control  of  the  income  of  the  property,  and  share  half  the 
proceeds,  as  long  as  she  is  unmarriageable.  In  case  there  be  no 
pertinent  relative  while  she  is  unmarriageable,  the  heiress  shall 
have  possession  of  the  property  and  the  income,  and  as  long  as  she 
is  unmarriageable  she  shall  be  brought  up  among  her  mother's 
relatives.  And  if  any  one  should  marry  an  heiress,  while  it  is 
written  otherwise,  the  pertinent  relatives  shall  institute  an  investi- 
gation before  the  cosmi. 

If  any  one  dying  leave  an  heiress,  either  she  herself  or  in  her 
behalf  the  father's  or  mother's  relatives  may  mortgage  or  sell  some 
of  the  estate  and  the  sale  and  mortgage  shall  be  legal,  —  but  if 
in  another  way  some  one  were  to  purchase  the  estate  or  secure  a 
mortgage  of  the  heiress's  estate,1  the  property  shall  (still)  belong 
1  This  reading  is  based  on  the  restored  text  of  Kohler  and  Ziebarth. 


SPECIAL  CASES 


2?S 


to  the  heiress,  and  the  seller  or  mortgagor  if  he  be  convicted,1  shall 
pay  double  to  the  buyer  or  mortgagee ;  and  if  there  be  any  further 
loss,  he  shall  pay  an  equivalent  besides,  as  these  writings  are 
written ;  but  in  case  of  previous 2  transactions,  there  shall  not  be 
ground  for  action.  But,  if  the  defendant  should  contend,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  thing  about  which  they  are  disputing,  that  it  does  not 
belong  to  the  heiress,  let  the  judge  under  oath  decide  ;  and  if  he 
should  gain  his  case,  to  the  effect  that  it  does  not  belong  to  the 
heiress,  suit  (for  ownership)  shall  be  tried,  where  it  is  pertinent, 
according  as  each  thing  is  written. 

XV.  Actions  in  special  cases.  —  If  a  person  should  die  who  has 
become  a  surety,  or  lost  a  suit,  or  owes  a  loan,  or  has  defrauded  any 
one,  or  has  entered  into  an  agreement,  or  another  (hold  like  rela- 
tions) toward  him,  the  case  shall  be  reviewed  before  the  close  of 
the  year,  and  the  judge  shall  decide  according  to  the  testimony;  if 
indeed  the  case  be  renewed  in  relation  to  a  judgment,  the  judge  and 
the  clerk  of  the  court,3  if  he  be  alive  and  a  citizen,  and  the  wit- 
nesses who  are  the  pertinent  ones  (shall  testify) ;  while  in  a  case  of 
surety,  and  loans,  and  fraud,  and  agreement,  the  heirs  shall  testify 
as  witnesses;  but  if  they  refuse,  let  the  judge  under  oath  pass  upon 
their  case  and  declare  that  (their  opponents)  have  judgment  against 
the  witnesses  in  the  amount  in  question.  If  a  son  should  become 
surety  while  his  father  is  living,  he  shall  be  held,  himself  and  the 
property  which  he  owns. 

If  any  one  have  a  dispute  about  a  venture  abroad,  or  do  not 
reimburse  one  who  has  contributed  to  such  a  venture,  should  wit- 
nesses of  age  testify,  —  3  in  a  case  of  100  staters  or  more,  2  in  a 
case  of  less  down  to  10  staters,  1  for  still  less,  —  let  the  judge  de- 
cide according  to  the  testimony ;  but  if  witnesses  do  not  depose, 
in  case  the  contracting  party  comes,  whichever  of  the  two  courses 
the  complainant  may  choose,  either  to  make  oath  of  denial,  or  .  .  . 
(nine  lines  lacking). 

XVI.  Legality  of  gifts.  —  A  son  may  give  to  a  mother  or  a 

1  Better  "if  decision  is  rendered  against  him."  The  buyer  or  mortgagee  has  com- 
mitted no  crime ;  the  decision  simply  takes  the  property  from  him,  leaving  him  redress 
against  the  seller  or  mortgagor  (M.S.). 

2  That  is,  previous  to  the  establishment  of  this  rule  (M.S.). 

3  Mnamon,  recorder. 


2£6  PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


husband  to  a  wife  100  staters  or  less,  but  not  more  ;  if  he  should 
give  more,  the  pertinent  relatives  shall  have  the  property,  (only) 
paying  the  money  if  they  wish. 

If  any  one  owing  money,  or  under  obligation  for  damages,1  or 
during  the  progress  of  a  suit,  should  give  away  anything,  unless  the 
rest  of  his  property  be  equal  to  the  obligation,  the  gift  shall  be  null 
and  void. 

One  shall  not  buy  a  man  while  mortgaged  until  the  mortgagor 
release  him,  nor  one  in  dispute,  nor  accept  him  (as  a  gift),  nor 
accept  a  promise  or  mortgage  upon  him;  and  if  one  should  do  any 
one  of  these  things,  it  shall  be  void  if  2  witnesses  should  testify. 

XVII.  Adoption.  —  Adoption  may  take  place  whence  one  will ; 
and  the  declaration  shall  be  made  in  the  market-place,  when  the 
citizens  are  gathered,2  from  the  stone  from  which  proclamations 
are  made.  And  let  the  adopter  give  to  his  hetaeria3  a  roast  sacrifice 
and  a  can  of  wine.  And  if  he  (the  adopted)  receive  all  the  property 
and  there  be  no  legitimate  children,  he  shall  fulfil  all  the  divine  and 
human  obligations  of  his  adoptive  father,  and  receive  as  is  written 
for  legitimate  children  ;  but  if  he  be  not  willing  to  do  as  is  written, 
the  kinsmen  shall  have  the  property.  If  there  be  legitimate  chil- 
dren of  the  adoptive  father,  the  adopted  son  shall  receive  with  the 
males  just  as  the  females  receive  from  the  brothers.  If  however 
there  be  no  males,  but  females,  the  adopted  son  shall  have  an  equal 
share,  and  it  shall  not  be  compulsory  upon  him  to  pay  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  adopter  and  accept  the  property  which  the  adopter 
leaves,  for  the  adopted  son  shall  succeed  to  no  more  (than  an  equal 
share  with  the  daughters)  .4  If  the  adopted  son  should  die  without 
leaving  legitimate  children,  the  property  shall  return  to  the  pertinent 
relatives  of  the  adopter.  If  the  adopter  wish,  he  may  renounce 
him  (the  adopted  son)  in  the  market-place,  from  the  stone  from 
which  proclamations  are  made,  when  the  citizens  are  gathered. 

luOr  adjudged  a  debtor"  (B  and  L).  The  meaning  of  this  passage  seems  to 
be  that  if  one  owes  money  on  a  judgment,  or  if  a  suit  for  money  has  been  brought  against 
him,  any  gift  in  fraud  of  the  judgment  creditor  or  of  the  plaintiff  is  voidable  (M.S.). 

2  Cf.  the  adrogatio  in  older  Roman  law. 

3  An  association  of  citizens  corresponding  somewhat  to  the  phratry,  brotherhood, 
of  other  Greek  states. 

4  "To  more  (than  his  share  of  property  and  obligations)  the  adopted  son  shall  not 
succeed"  (B  and  L). 


SUPPLEMENTAL  PROVISIONS 


287 


And  he  shall  deposit  ten  staters  with  the  court,  and  the  clerk  of 
the  court  shall  pay  it  to  the  person  renounced  as  a  parting  gift  of 
hospitality.  A  woman  shall  not  adopt,  nor  a  person  under  puberty. 
These  things  shall  (now)  be  transacted  as  he  (the  legislator)  has 
written  these  writings ;  but  in  previous  cases,  however  one  hold 
(property),  whether  by  adoption  or  from  an  adopted  son,  it  shall 
not  be  further  subject  to  a  legal  claim. 

XVIII.  Supplemental  provisions.  —  If  one  take  action  by  seizure 
against  a  man  before  trial,  (the  defendant)  shall  always  receive 
him  under  his  surety.1 

Whatever  is  written  for  the  judge  to  decide  according  to  wit- 
nesses or  by  oath  of  denial,  he  shall  decide  as  is  written,2  but 
touching  other  matters  shall  decide  under  oath  according  to  matters 
in  controversy. 

If  a  person  die  owing  money  or  having  a  judgment  against  him, 
if  those  who  are  next  of  right  to  receive  the  property  desire,  they 
can  pay  the  damages  in  behalf  of  the  deceased,  and  the  money 
to  whom  it  is  owing,  and  then  have  the  property ;  but  if  they  do 
not  wish  to  do  so,  the  property  shall  belong  to  those  who  have  won 
the  suit  or  to  those  to  whom  the  money  is  owing,  and  there  shall  be 
no  other  loss  to  the  heirs-at-law.  The  property  of  the  father  may  be 
seized  in  behalf  of  the  father,  as  also  the  mother's  in  behalf  of  the 
mother. 

If  a  wife  be  separated  from  her  husband,  in  case  the  judge  de- 
cide upon  the  oath,3  let  her  take  the  oath  of  denial  within  20  days 
in  the  presence  of  the  judge.  Whatever  he  charges  let  the  be- 
ginner of  the  suit  announce  to  the  woman  and  the  judge  and  the 
clerk  of  the  court,  4  days  before  in  the  presence  of  witnesses.  .  .  . 
{Sixteen  lines  are  lacking.) 

If  a  son  have  given  property  to  his  mother,  or  a  husband  to  his 
wife,  as  was  written  before  these  writings,  it  shall  not  be  illegal; 
but  hereafter  gifts  shall  be  made  as  here  written. 

If  heiresses  have  no  orphan  judges  while  they  are  not  of  full 
maturity,  they  shall  be  treated  as  is  written.    And  where,  in  de- 

1  "  (The  man  seized)  is  always  to  be  protected"  (B).  "Against  the  person  making 
the  seizure  opposition  is  to  be  raised  whenever  possible"  (Zitelmann). 

2  "In  other  cases  he  shall  decide  the  points  in  controversy  upon  his  oath"  (B  and 

L). 

3  That  is,  if  the  judge  decides  that  she  is  to  take  an  oath  (M.S.). 


288  PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


fault  of  a  pertinent  relative  or  orphan  judges  (public  guardians)  an 
heiress  is  brought  up  in  her  mother's  house,  the  father's  and  mother's 
relatives  that  have  been  described  shall  manage  the  property  and 
the  income  as  they  can  best  increase  them  until  she  marry.  And 
she  shall  marry  at  12  years  or  older. 

• 

77.  Athenian  Decree  Ordering  the  Publication  of  Draco's 
Law  of  Homicide 

{Inscr.  grcec.  I.  no.  61 ;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  78 ;  Dareste,  Haussoullier  et  Rei- 
nach,  Recueil  des  inscriptions  juridiques  grecques,  II.  1-24  (fullest  restora- 
tions and  commentary) ;  Ditt.  I.  no.  52 ;  Roberts  and  Gardner,  Greek 
Epigraphy,  II.  no.  25.    Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

To  the  oligarchy  of  the  Four  Hundred  succeeded  the  government,  theoreti- 
cally of  the  Five  Thousand,  practically  of  those  who  were  able  to  equip  them- 
selves for  service  in  the  heavy  infantry  (411  B.C. ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History, 
ch.  xix).  In  the  following  year,  however,  the  brilliant  victory  of  Alcibiades  off 
Cyzicus  encouraged  Athens  to  reestablish  the  democracy.  This  movement  was 
accompanied  by  unusual  legislative  activity.  The  Athenians  appointed  (410) 
a  board  of  Anagrapheis  (Avaypacpels),  Recorders  of  Law,  whose  duty  was  to 
eliminate  inconsistencies  from  the  code  and  to  engrave  anew  the  individual 
statutes.  From  Lysias,  xxx,  it  appears  that  they  continued  in  office  six  years 
and  that  they  abused  their  power  in  their  own  financial  interest.  A  part  of  the 
legislative  activity  of  these  years  was  the  enactment  of  a  decree  for  limiting 
the  power  of  the  council  of  Five  Hundred  and  for  determining  its  relation  to  the 
Assembly  and  probably  to  the  Heliastic  courts.  The  inscription  (Inscr.  grcec. 
I.  57)  is  badly  mutilated,  but  additional  information  may  be  gathered  from 
Aristotle,  Const.  Ath.  45. 

The  decree,  however,  with  which  we  are  here  concerned  is  an  order  of  the 
Five  Hundred  and  the  Assembly  to  the  anagrapheis  above  mentioned  to  receive 
from  the  basileus  ("king,"  or  as  modern  writers  generally  say,  "king  archon"), 
and  to  engrave  anew  on  a  stone,  the  law  of  Draco  concerning  homicide.  It  had 
originally  been  published  in  621,  and  probably  contained  provisions  applying 
to  wilful  murder  as  well  as  to  other  degrees  of  homicide.  The  present  docu- 
ment, however,  does  not  contain  the  article  on  murder  in  the  first  degree.  The 
problem  involved  is  exceedingly  difficult ;  but  the  most  satisfactory  solution 
seems  to  be  the  assumption  that  Solon  abolished  that  article  and  substituted  a 
provision  of  his  own.  This  supposition  best  accounts  for  the  fact  that  nowhere 
in  his  legislation  did  Draco  mention  the  Areopagites,  who  had  cognizance  in 
cases  of  wilful  murder,  but  throughout  his  law  of  homicide  referred  only  to  the 
ephetas  (Plutarch,  Solon,  19).  In  other  words,  the  antiquarians,  from  whom 
Plutarch  directly  or  indirectly  drew  his  knowledge  of  this  subject,  had  not  seen 


LAW  OF  HOMICIDE 


289 


the  original  law  of  Draco  but  only  the  revision  —  perhaps  the  document  given 
below. 

The  text  of  the  inscription  is  fragmentary,  and  can  only  be  restored  in 
part  with  the  aid  of  Demosthenes  xxiii  (Against  Aristocrates)  and  xliii  (Con- 
cerning Macartatus),  our  most  valuable  sources  for  the  general  subject.  See 
also  Arist.  Const.  Ath.  57.  On  the  laws  of  Draco  and  the  revision  of  409-8,  see 
Meyer,  Gesch.  des  Alt.  II.  573-9;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  II.  225-43  ;  III.  1538, 
n.  3  ;  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  379  sqq.;  "Beitrage  zur  Entwicklungsgeschichte 
des  griechischen  Gerichtsverfahrens,"  in  Jahrbiicher  fiir  class.  Philologie, 
Supplb.  XXIII  (1897).  443-536;  Botsford,  Development  of  the  Athenian  Con- 
stitution, 146  sqq. 

DIOGNETUS  OF  PHREARRHOE  WAS  SECRETARY:    DIOCLES  WAS 

ARCHON1 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Boule  and  the  Demus.  (The  tribe  of) 
Acamantis  held  the  prytany ;  Diognetus  was  secretary ;  Euthydi- 
cus  was  chairman  ;  Xenophanes  offered  the  resolution  :  — 

That  the  Anagrapheis2  (Recorders  of  the  Laws)  shall  receive 
from  the  basileus 3  the  law  of  Draco  concerning  murder,  and  shall 
record  it,  with  the  help  of  the  secretary  of  the  council,  upon  a  stone 
stele  and  shall  place  it  [in  front  of]  the  King's  Porch.4  The  poletae 5 
shall  let  the  contract  according  to  law,  and  the  hellenotamiae 6 
shall  give  the  money. 

First  Table.7    And8  if.  anyone  shall  kill  another  without  pre- 

1  409-8  B.C. 

2  Anagrapheis,  see  introduction  to  this  document. 

3  Basileus  (BcuriXetfs),  "king,"  or  "king  archon,"  originally  the  monarch  of  Athens 
but  now  a  member  of  the  board  of  nine  archons;  Arist.  Const.  Ath.  3. 

4  On  the  King's  Porch,  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xiii.  The  laws  of  Solon 
were  likewise  set  up  in  this  building;  Aristotle,  Const.  Ath.  7. 

5  Poletae,  commissioners  attending  to  the  sale  of  public  goods,  the  letting  of  public 
contracts,  etc. 

6  No.  68,  n.  1. 

7 The  word  here  translated  by  "table"  is  axon,  a  revolving  pillar  faced  with  four 
rectangular  tablets,  on  which  the  law  was  originally  written.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
the  law  is  quoted  directly  from  the  "first  table"  of  Draco  or  was  incorporated  into  the 
first  table  of  Solon's  code. 

8  This  word  shows  that  the  opening  provisions  of  the  original  law  of  Draco  are  not 
quoted  —  a  fact  which  helps  substantiate  the  view  that  the  original  law  contained  an 
article  on  wilful  murder.  Below  are  collected  some  of  the  principal  passages  relating 
to  murder  in  the  first  degree  :  — 

1.  Demosthenes  xxiii.  24 :  "It  is  written  in  the  law  that  the  Council  has  cognizance 
u 


2qo  PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


meditation,  [he  shall  be  exiled.]  The  kings 1  shall  administer  justice 
on  a  charge  of  murder  or  [if  anyone  charges  another  with  contriving 
it  ( ?)]  and  the  ephetce 2  shall  decide.  If  there  is  a  father  or  a  brother 
or  sons,  all  shall  forgive,3  or  else  the  opposition  of  one  shall  prevail ; 
[if  there  are  no]  such  persons,  the  relatives  as  far  as  the  degree  of 
first  cousin  [may  forgive,  if  all  of  them]  are  willing,  after  swearing 
the  oath.  If  there  is  not  any  one  of  these  persons  and  the  homicide 
was  involuntary  and  the  fifty-one  ephetae  decide  that  it  was  involun- 
tary, the  slayer  shall  be  admitted  (to  the  country)  by  ten  members  of 
the  phratry,4  if  they  are  willing.    These  persons  shall  be  chosen  by 

of  murder  and  wounding  with  premeditation  and  arson  and  poisoning  if  anyone  by 
administering  it  kills  (another)." 

2.  Aristotle,  Const.  Ath.  57.  3:  "Prosecutions  for  homicide  and  wounding,  if 
anyone  wilfully  kills  or  wounds,  are  tried  on  the  Areopagus,  and  for  poisoning,  if  anyone 
kills  by  administering  it,  and  for  arson.    These  cases  alone  the  boule  tries." 

3.  Dem.  xxiii.  67  sq. :  "You  all  know  surely  that  on  the  Areopagus,  where  the  law 
grants  and  commands  that  there  shall  be  trials  for  murder,  in  the  first  place  the  one  who 
charges  another  with  having  committed  such  a  crime  must  take  an  oath,  imprecating 
destruction  upon  himself  and  his  kin  (genos)  and  family;  and  it  is  no  ordinary  oath 
which  he  will  take  but  one  that  no  person  swears  in  any  other  matter :  he  must  stand 
on  the  vitals  of  a  boar  and  ram  and  bull  slain  by  fitting  persons  and  at  fitting  times, 
so  that  with  regard  both  to  the  time  and  the  officiating  persons  the  requirements  of 
religious  law  have  been  met.  Afterward  the  one  who  has  sworn  such  an  oath  is  not 
yet  believed ;  but  if  he  shall  be  convicted  of  falsehood,  he  will  fasten  the  guilt  of  perjury 
on  his  children  and  his  kin,  and  will  gain  no  advantage  by  it.  But  if  it  shall  appear 
that  his  accusation  is  just,  and  he  shall  convict  the  other  of  having  perpetrated  the 
murder,  not  even  thus  will  he  become  the  master  of  the  convicted  person,  but  the  laws 
and  the  authorities  concerned  shall  have  power  over  the  latter ;  he  has  it  in  his  power 
to  see  the  guilty  person  suffer  the  penalty  imposed  by  the  law  and  nothing  more. 
These  are  the  things  that  fall  to  the  prosecutor ;  the  accused,  on  the  other  hand,  must 
take  the  oath  in  like  manner ;  and  after  making  the  first  pleading  may  retire  into  exile, 
and  neither  the  prosecutor  nor  the  judges  nor  any  one  else  can  prevent  it."  Cf.  also 
Pollux  viii.  117  ;  Pausanias  i.  28.  5  ;  Lysias  iii.  46.  If  the  accused  decides  to  take  his 
trial,  the  punishment  in  case  of  conviction  is  death  with  the  confiscation  of  property ; 
Antiphon  v  (On  the  Murder  of  Herodes),  10;  Lysias  iii.  38. 

1  The  question  as  to  who  these  kings  were  is  under  controversy.  The  most  likely 
view  is  that  the  four  tribe  kings  assisted  the  "king  archon"  in  the  presidency  of  the 
court. 

2  A  court  of  fifty-one  jurors  who  were  chosen  from  the  nobility  and  were  above 
fifty  years  of  age.  Before  the  fourth  century  they  had  cognizance  of  all  cases  of  homi- 
cide excepting  wilful  murder,  which  came  before  the  Areopagites.  The  origin  of  the 
court  and  the  reason  for  the  number  are  unknown. 

3  This  formal  act  of  reconciliation  permitted  the  slayer,  who  was  in  exile,  to  re- 
turn to  his  country. 

4  An  association  of  citizens  with  their  wives  and  children  which  was  both  religious 
and  civic.    The  chief  public  function  of  the  association  was  to  maintain  the  racial 


LAW  OF  HOMICIDE 


291 


the  fifty-one  from  those  of  noble  birth.1  This  ordinance  shall  be 
applicable  also  to  those  who  have  committed  homicide  previously.2 
The  warning 3  to  the  slayer  shall  be  given,  in  the  market-place,  by 
the  relatives  nearer  than  the  degree  of  first  cousin,  but  first  cousins 
and  sons  of  first  cousins  and  sons-in-law4  and  fathers-in-law  and 
members  of  the  phratry  shall  aid  in  the  prosecution. 

{Then  follow  several  lines  which  cannot  be  restored.) 

If  anyone  shall  kill  the  murderer  5  or  cause  him  to  be  slain  while 
he  is  keeping  away  from  the  market-place  on  the  frontier,  from 
(public)  games,  and  from  amphictyonic  sanctuaries,6  such  a  person 
shall  be  subject  to  the  same  penalties  as  one  who  has  killed  an 
Athenian,  and  the  decision  shall  rest  with  the  ephetae.  It  shall  be 
allowable  to  kill  or  arrest  murderers  in  our  own  country,  but  not 
to  mistreat  them  or  to  take  a  ransom,  under  penalty  of  paying 
double  the  amount  of  the  damage.    {The  next  line  is  lost.) 

If  anyone  shall  kill  another  in  self-defence 7  ...  if  the  homicide 
is  involuntary,  the  kings  shall  try  the  case  on  a  charge  of  murder, 
and  the  ephetae  shall  decide.  [One  who  has  killed  a  slave  shall  be 
subject  to  trial  for  murder  in  the  same  way  as  one  who  has  killed] 
a  free  man.  If  anyone  in  his  own  defence  shall  kill  on  the  spot  one 
who  is  forcibly  and  unlawfully  plundering,  the  homicide  shall  not 
be  punished.    {The  remaining  ten  lines  cannot  be  restored.) 

purity  of  the  citizens  by  excluding  all  of  alien  blood,  and  to  care  for  the  civic  interests 
of  the  children  of  citizens  from  the  time  of  their  introduction  into  the  association  to 
the  enrolment  of  youths  in  the  deme  registers  and  the  marriage  of  girls. 

1  This  undoubtedly  is  the  original  meaning  of  the  word  apco-Thdrjp;  it  is  evident 
that  at  least  from  the  time  of  Draco  the  phratries  comprised  both  nobles  and  commons. 
In  the  fifth  century,  however,  it  probably  had  reference  to  precedence  in  respectability 
as  determined  by  the  ephetae. 

2  As  the  present  document  was  not  a  new  law,  there  was  no  injustice  in  this  pro- 
vision. 

3  As  a  polluted  person  the  slayer  was  formally  interdicted  from  the  market-place, 
the  sanctuaries,  and  religious  ceremonies. 

4  The  Greek  word  (gambros,  ya/xftp6s)  may  also  include  brothers-in-law. 

5  This  section  refers  to  the  case  of  one  who  has  been  convicted  of  accidental  homi- 
cide and  has  gone  into  exile;  cf.  Demosthenes  xxiii.  37-41. 

6  In  the  fifth  century  the  principal  amphictyony  was  that  of  Delphi.  The  Delian 
amphictyony,  which  had  flourished  in  the  eighth  and  seventh  centuries,  had  declined ; 
but  an  effort  was  made  by  the  Athenians  in  the  fifth  century  to  revive  it. 

7  Literally,  "kill  one  who  has  made  a  beginning  of  unjust  hands." 


PRIVATE  AND  CRIMINAL  LAW 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

On  the  Gortynian  laws,  in  addition  to  the  works  mentioned  in  the  introduc- 
tion, see  Bernhoft,  Fr.,  "Das  Gesetz  von  Gortyn,"  in  Zeitschr.  f.  vergleichende 
Rechtswissenschaft,  VI.  281-304,  430-40;  Lipsius,  H.,  Zum  Recht  von  Gortyn 
(Teubner) ;  Burchner,  "Gortyn,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VII  (1912) 
1665-71  (with  references  to  recent  studies  in  the  subject). 

On  Greek  law,  and  particularly  Attic  law,  see  Telfy,  I.  B.,  Corpus  iuris 
attici  (Leipzig,  1868),  a  collection  of  laws;  Meier,  M.  H.  E.,  and  Schomann, 
G.  F.,  Der  attische  Process,  revised  by  Lipsius,  J.  H.,  2  vols.  (Berlin:  Calvary, 
1883-1887) ;  Lipsius,  Das  attische  Recht  una1  Rechtsverfahren  mit  Benutzung 
des  ' Attischen  Process'  von  Meier  und  Schomann,  2  vols.  (Leipzig:  Reissland, 
1905-1908) ;  Beauchet,  L.,  VHistoire  du  droit  prive  de  la  republique  athenienne, 
4  vols.  (Paris,  1897),  the  most  useful  work  for  the  student  of  general  Greek  his- 
tory ;  Gilbert,  G.,  "  Beitrage  zur  Entwicklungsgeschichte  des  griechischen  Ge- 
richtsverfahrens,"  in  Jahrb.  fur  CI.  Philol.  Supplb.  XXIII  (1897).  445-536; 
Constitutional  Antiquities  of  Sparta  and  Athens,  3 7 6-416 ;  Swoboda,  H.,  "Bei- 
trage zur  griechischen  Rechtsgeschichte,"  in  Zeitschrift  der  Savigny-Stiftungfur 
Rechtsgeschichte,  XXVI  (1905).  149-280;  Szanto,  E.,  Ausgewahlte  Abhand- 
lungen  (Tubingen:  Mohr,  1906),  including  various  studies  in  Greek  law; 
Bonner,  R.  J.,  Evidence  in  Athenian  Courts  (Chicago,  1905),  dissertation. 

Minor  studies  are  Allen,  J.  T.,  "  On  Secrecy  in  Voting  in  the  Athenian  Courts 
in  the  Fifth  Century  B.C.,"  in  Class.  Rev.'  XVIII  (1904).  456-8;  Arvanito- 
poullos,  A.,  ZrjT-qfjLaTa  tov  'Attikov  Slkollov  II.  Hepl  tcoi/  evOvvwv  (Athens,  1900)  ; 
Brehier,  L.',  De  grcecorum  iudiciorum  origine  (Paris,  1899) ;  Bonner,  R.  J., 
"Did  Women  testify  in  Homicide  Cases  in  Athens,"  in  Class.  Philol.  I  (1906). 
127-32;  Caillemer,  E.,  "Etudes  sur  les  antiquites  juridiques  d'Athenes," 
etc.,  in  Ass.  pour  .  .  .  Etudes  grecques,  XII  (1878).  184-200;  Dareste,  R., 
"Le  droit  criminel  athenien,"  ib.  XII.  29-47;  Francotte,  H.,  "L'antidosis," 
etc.,  Mtm.  acad.  roy.  des  sciences,  etc.,  LI  (Brussels,  1895) ;  Goldstaub,  M., 
De  dSetas  notione  et  usu  in  iure  attico  (Breslauer  Philol.  Abhdl.,  1889) ;  Goligher, 
W.  A.,  "Isaeus  and  Attic  Law,"  in  Hermathena  XIV  (1907).  183-204 ;  "  Antido- 
sis,"  ib.  481-515;  Headlam,  J.  W.,  "On  the  HpoKXrjais  eh  fidaavov  in  Attic 
Law,"  in  Class.  Rev.  VII  (1893).  1-5,  slave  torture;  Hille,  G.  E.  van,  De  testa- 
mentis  in  iure  attico  (Amsterdam,  1898),  dissert.;  Korte,  A.,  "Zum  attischen 
Erbrecht,"  in  Philol.  LXV  (1906).  388-96;  Logberg,  L.  E.,  Animadversiones 
de  actione  Trapavofxoiv  (Upsala,  1898),  dissert.;  Thalheim,  Th.,  Zu  den  Rechts- 
altertumern  (Hirschberg,  1894),  program;  Partsch,  J.,  Griechisches  Burg- 
schaftsrecht  (Teubner,  1909) ;  Welsing,  C,  De  inquilinorum  et  peregrinorum  apud 
Athenienses  iudiciis  (Monast.  Guestf.,  1887);  program;  Ziebarth,  E.,  De 
iureiurando  in  iure  grceco  qucestiones  (Gottingen,  1892),  dissert.;  "Der  Fluch 
im  griechischen  Recht,"  in  Hermes,  XXX  (1895).  609-28;  Hirzel,  R.,  Themis, 
Dike  und  Verwandtes  (Leipzig,  1907). 


CHAPTER  IX 


MEDICAL  SCIENCE 
In  the  Fifth  Century  B.C. 

A.  Superstition 

The  progress  of  the  healing  art  is  here  illustrated  by  a  selection  from  Aris- 
tophanes, Plutus,  describing  incubation  as  it  was  practised  from  early  times 
through  the  fifth  century  and  long  afterward,  and  by  a  few  selections  from 
Hippocrates,  the  most  famous  physician  of  the  ancient  world. 

78.  Incubation 

(Aristophanes,  Plutus,  659  sqq.) 

Liberty  is  here  taken  in  inserting  a  passage  from  an  early  fourth-century 
comedy  to  illustrate  fifth-century  conditions.  The  fact  is,  however,  that  in  a 
custom  of  this  kind  little  change  was  made  from  one  century  to  another. 
Plutus,  god  of  wealth,  is  blind ;  consequently  he  distributes  his  gifts  with  little 
discrimination,  often  bestowing  much  upon  the  unworthy,  leaving  little  or 
nothing  for  the  good.  Vexed  at  this  state  of  affairs,  a  certain  Athenian  of 
moderate  means  resolves  to  take  Plutus  to  a  temple  of  Asclepius  to  have  him 
cured  of  his  blindness.  In  this  visit  the  Athenian  is  accompanied  by  his  slave 
Cario,  who  afterward  tells  the  story  of  the  incubation  to  his  master's  wife. 
The  selection  is  not  only  amusing  but  highly  instructive. 

Cario.  Then  to  the  precincts  of  the  God  we  went. 
There  on  the  altar  honey-cakes  and  bakemeats 
Were  offered,  food  for  the  Hephaestian  flame. 
There  laid  we  Wealth 1  as  custom  bids ;  and  we 
Each  for  himself  stitched  up  a  pallet  near. 

Wife.  Were  there  no  others  waiting  to  be  healed? 

Car.  Neoclides  was,  for  one ;  the  purblind  man, 
Who  in  his  thefts  out-shoots  the  keenest-eyed.2 

1  That  is,  Plutus,  god  of  wealth. 

2  It  was  a  part  of  his  profession  to  pretend  that  he  was  purblind. 

293 


294 


MEDICAL  SCIENCE 


And  many  others,  sick  with  every  form 
Of  ailment.    Soon  the  temple  servitor 
Put  out  the  lights  and  bade  us  fall  asleep,1 
Nor  stir  nor  speak,  whatever  noise  we  heard. 
So  down  we  lay  in  orderly  repose. 
And  I  could  catch  no  slumber,  not  one  wink, 
Struck  by  a  nice  tureen  of  broth  which  stood 
A  little  distance  from  an  old  wife's  head, 
Whereto  I  marvellously  longed  to  creep. 
Then,  glancing  upward,  I  behold  the  priest 
Whipping  the  cheese-cakes  and  the  figs  from  off 
The  holy  table ;  thence  he  coasted  round 
To  every  altar,  spying  what  was  left. 
And  everything  he  found  he  consecrated 
Into  a  sort  of  sack ;  so  I,  concluding 
This  was  the  right  and  proper  thing  to  do, 
Arose  at  once  to  tackle  that  tureen. 

Wife.  Unhappy  man  !  Did  you  not  fear  the  God? 

Car.  Indeed,  I  did,  lest  he  should  cut  in  first, 
Garlands  and  all,  and  capture  my  tureen. 
For  so  the  priest  forewarned  me  he  might  do. 
Then  the  old  lady,  when  my  steps  she  heard, 
Reached  out  a  stealthy  hand ;  I  gave  a  hiss, 
And  mouthed  it  gently  like  a  sacred  snake. 
Back  flies  her  hand ;  she  draws  her  coverlets 
More  tightly  round  her,  and  beneath  them  lies 
In  deadly  terror  like  a  frightened  cat. 
Then  of  the  broth  I  gobbled  down  a  lot 
Till  I  could  eat  no  more,  and  then  I  stopped. 

Wife.  Did  not  the  God  approach  you  ?    Car.  Not  till  later. 
******* 
So  then  alarmed,  I  muffled  up  my  head, 
Whilst  he 2  went  round  with  calm  and  quiet  tread, 

1  The  idea  was  that  the  god  would  approach  the  patient  and  heal  him  while  asleep 
in  the  temple  —  hence  the  word  incubation. 

2  Cario  naturally  supposes  that  the  god  went  about  among  the  patients  to  adminis- 
ter to  their  maladies.  In  fact  there  were  connected  with  every  temple  of  Asclepius 
physicians,  who  attended  to  this  function,  while  giving  the  god  credit.  It  was  in  these 
places  that  medical  science  developed. 


PLUTUS  CURED  OF  BLINDNESS 


To  every  patient,  scanning  each  disease. 
Then  by  his  side  a  servant  placed  a  stone 
Pestle  and  mortar,  and  a  medicine  chest. 

Wife.  A  stone  one?    Car.  Hang  it,  not  the  medicine  chest. 

Wife.  How  saw  you  this,  you  villain,  when  your  head, 
You  said  just  now,  was  muffled  ?    Car.  Through  my  cloak. 
Full  many  a  peep-hole  has  that  cloak,  I  trow. 

******* 
Then  after  this,  he  sat  him  down  by  Wealth, 
And  first  he  felt  the  patient's  head  and  next 
Taking  a  linen  napkin,  clean  and  white, 
Wiped  both  his  lids,  and  all  round  them,  dry ; 
Then  Panaceia,  with  a  scarlet  cloth 
Covered  his  face  and  head ;  then  the  God  clucked, 
And  out  there  issued  from  the  holy  shrine 
Two  great  enormous  serpents.    Wife.  Good  heavens  ! 

Car.  And  underneath  the  scarlet  cloth  they  crept 
And  licked  his  eyelids,  as  it  seemed  to  me ; 
And  mistress  dear,  before  you  could  have  drunk 
Of  wine  ten  goblets,  Wealth  arose  and  saw. 

B.  The  Condition  of  the  Medical  Science  and  Profession 

(Selections  from  the  works  of  Hippocrates ;  from  the  edition  by  E.  Littre  in 
10  vols.,  Paris,  1 839-1 862.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

While  in  the  fifth  century  the  masses  still  believed  in  expelling  diseases  by 
charms  and  prayer,  or  by  visits  to  the  shrines  of  Asclepius,  the  medical  profes- 
sion had  eliminated  magic  and  every  form  of  superstition  from  theory  and  prac- 
tice, and  stood  on  the  solid  ground  of  scientific  observation  and  experiment. 
As  stated  above,  medical  science  developed  in  these  temples.  The  physicians 
in  the  Asclepieion  of  Cos  were  reputed  the  most  skilful  in  Greece ;  and  among 
them  by  far  the  most  famous  was  Hippocrates  (460-377).  In  fact  he  was  the 
first  to  abandon  for  good  and  all  the  mysticism  and  superstition  of  the  shrines 
and  to  make  his  profession  scientific.  With  keen  and  sober  faculties  trained 
by  careful  observation  and  experience  he  connected  the  gift  of  didactic  exposi- 
tion. Plato  {Protagoras  311  b)  represents  him  as  sojourning  at  Athens  and 
giving  instruction  in  his  profession.  Like  his  compatriot  Herodotus,  he 
traveled  widely  and  closely  observed  everything  which  had  a  bearing  on  his 
department  of  knowledge.  Like  Herodotus  he  adopted  the  Ionic  dialect  for 
his  writings,  probably,  too,  for  the  lectures  given  by  him  in  various  parts  of  the 


296  MEDICAL  SCIENCE 


Hellenic  world.  His  style,  particularly  the  quaint  simplicity  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  clauses,  reminds  us  of  Herodotus.  The  brevity  of  his  Aphorisms  ap- 
proaches the  margin  of  harshness. 

This  physician  has  created  many  abiding  terms,  such  as  chronic,  acute, 
crisis.  A  great  part  of  the  works  of  Galen  consists  of  a  commentary  on  the 
master.  Although  his  life  and  services  must  have  broken  into  the  old  As- 
clepiad  habits,  such  places  as  the  great  Asclepieion  at  Epidaurus  do  not  seem  to 
have  felt  through  his  influence  any  diminution  of  credit  or  of  popular  support. 
The  most  eminent  modern  editor  of  his  works  is  Littre  mentioned  above.  In 
this  splendid  edition  a  combination  of  rigid  philological  precision  with  generous 
and  comprehensive  interest  in  the  technical  and  professional  significance  of 
every  theme  impresses  even  the  cursory  reader.  See  also  Ilberg,  J.,  "Die 
Erforschung  der  griechischen  Heilkunde,"  in  N.  Jahrbiicher,  I  (1908).  585  sqq. 

Hippocrates  laid  great  stress  on  physical  environment,  on  wind,  water, 
climate,  temperature,  soil,  and  sea.  His  contrast  between  Asiatics  and  Euro- 
peans, based  upon  physical  as  well  as  political  conditions,  is  valuable  to  the 
student  of  ancient  civilization.  The  Oath  discloses  the  manner  in  which  the 
science  and  art  of  medicine  were  guarded  and  handed  down  within  a  guild, 
and  expresses  the  high  moral  ideal  of  the  profession. 

79.  Aphorisms  of  Hippocrates 

1.  1.  Life  is  brief,  but  art  is  long,  the  emergency  swift,  the  test 
deceptive,  and  judgment  difficult.  It  is  necessary  not  only  to  be 
in  readiness  oneself  to  do  what  is  needful,  but  the  patient  too  must 
be  in  such  readiness  and  the  attendants  and  outward  circumstances 
all  must  concur. 

2.  In  the  disturbances  of  the  bowels  and  vomitings,  namely 
those  which  are  spontaneous,  if  those  organs  which  ought  to  be 
purged,  are  purged,  the  former  are  useful  and  (the  patients)  bear 
them  easily ;  but  if  not,  the  opposite  is  the  result.  One  must  take 
into  consideration  also  the  given  country,  season,  time  of  life,  and 
diseases  in  which  evacuations  are  indicated  or  not  indicated. 

3.  In  professional  athletes  the  excellence  of  physical  fitness 
carried  to  the  extreme  is  dangerous,  if  such  athletes  be  in  the  latter 
stage  of  their  career ;  for  they  cannot  remain  at  the  same  point  nor 
keep  at  rest ;  and  not  being  at  rest,  they  cannot  advance  to  any 
further  improvement :  it  remains  therefore  that  any  change  must 
be  for  the  worse.  On  this  account  it  is  advantageous  to  reduce  the 
high  point  of  athletic  form  without  delay,  in  order  that  the  body 
may  gain  a  beginning  of  reparation  through  more  generous  diet; 


APHORISMS 


297 


nor  should  the  reduction  of  weight  be  carried  to  the  uttermost 
point,  for  it  is  dangerous,  but  this  reduction  must  be  adjusted  to 
the  constitution  of  the  given  person  about  to  undergo  it.  Likewise 
evacuations  carried  to  excess  are  dangerous,  and  in  turn  the  process 
of  reparations  by  a  generous  diet  (when  the  given  body  has  been  at 
that  low  stage)  is  dangerous. 

II.  1 .  A  disease,  in  which  sleep  causes  pain,  is  fatal ;  but  if 
sleep  is  helpful  (that  disease)  is  not  fatal. 

2.  Where  sleep  terminates  delirium,  it  is  beneficial. 

3.  Both  sleep  and  waking,  when  they  exceed  measure,  are 
harmful. 

4.  Not  free  eating,  nor  fasting,  nor  anything  else  is  good  pro- 
vided it  exceeds  the  limits  of  Nature. 

5.  Fits  of  exhaustion  that  come  of  themselves  indicate  some 
disease. 

6.  All  those  who  while  suffering  in  some  part  of  their  body  are 
in  the  main  not  conscious  of  the  pain,  these  are  in  a  state  of  mental 
alienation. 

7.  Bodies  which  have  been  running  down  a  long  time  one  must 
but  slowly  restore  by  nourishing  them  again,  and  consume  but  little 
time  in  restoring  those  whose  reduction  has  consumed  but  little 
time. 

8.  If  a  patient,  after  a  disease,  does  not  gain  any  strength 
through  taking  nourishment,  it  is  a  sign  that  he  eats  more  than  he 
should ;  but  if  he  remains  weak  because  he  takes  no  nourishment, 
then  one  must  know  that  a  purging  is  required.  .  .  . 

11.  It  is  easier  to  (restore  health)  with  liquid  nourishment  than 
with  solid. 

12.  Those  elements  in  diseases  which  are  left  after  the  crisis, 
are  wont  to  cause  relapses.  .  .  . 

19.  In  the  case  of  acute  diseases  prediction,  neither  of  a  fatal 
termination  nor  of  recovery,  is  entirely  safe.  .  .  . 

23.  Acute  diseases  reach  a  crisis  in  fourteen  days. 

24.  The  fourth  day  is  that  which  gives  indication  of  the  first 
seven ;  the  eighth  is  the  beginning  of  the  second  week,  the  eleventh 
is  the  day  which  permits  judgment,  for  this  is  the  fourth  of  the 
second  week ;  and  again  the  seventeenth  is  a  day  permitting  vision, 
for  this  is  fourth  from  the  fourteenth  and  seventh  from  the  eleventh. 


298 


MEDICAL  SCIENCE 


III.  i .  It  is  particularly  the  changes  of  the  seasons  which  beget 
diseases  and  within  the  seasons  the  drastic  changes  either  of  cold 
or  heat,  and  the  rest  thus  by  the  same  principle. 

2.  Some  constitutions  are  well  or  ill  adapted  for  summer,  others 
for  winter. 

3.  Some  diseases  in  their  essence  have  a  favorable  bearing  on 
other  diseases ;  others  an  evil,  and  some  ages  have  such  a  relation 
as  to  seasons,  places,  or  diets. 

4.  Whenever  in  the  seasons  within  the  same  day  at  one  time 
heat,  at  another  cold  arises,  one  must  expect  autumnal  diseases. 

5.  Winds  from  the  south  cause  obstruction  to  hearing,  a  mist 
over  the  eyes,  headache,  torpor,  prostration ;  whenever  this  wind 
prevails  they  (the  sick)  suffer  such  things  in  their  various  diseases. 
But  when  the  wind  is  from  the  north,  (there  occur)  cough,  sore 
throat,  constipation,  difficulty  of  water  coupled  with  ague,  pain  in 
the  sides  and  in  the  chest ;  whenever  this  (wind)  prevails,  such  things 
one  must  expect  in  the  diseases. 

6.  Whenever  summer  resembles  spring,  one  must  expect  many 
perspirations  in  the  fevers.  .  .  . 

8.  In  settled  periods,  seasonable  products  are  produced  in  a 
seasonable  way,  while  -  diseases  are  normal  and  easy  of  diagnosis ; 
but  in  the  unsettled  (seasons)  (diseases)  are  abnormal  and  difficult 
of  diagnosis. 

9.  In  autumn  diseases  are  most  acute  and  most  fatal  on  the 
whole ;  spring  is  the  most  salubrious  and  least  fatal. 

80.  The  Oath  of  Hippocrates 
(Littre,  iv.  628) 

I  swear  by  Apollo  the  Healer  and  Asclepius  and  Hygeia  (Health) 
and  Panaceia  (all-healing)  and  all  the  gods  and  goddesses,  making 
them  witnesses,  that  I  will  fulfil  this  oath  of  mine  and  written 
agreement  to  the  best  of  my  power  and  judgment ;  that  I  will 
esteem  him  who  taught  me  this  art  equal  with  my  own  parents, 
and  let  him  share  in  my  substance,  and  contribute  to  him  when  he 
is  in  debt,  and  judge  his  sons  as  my  brothers  and  teach  them  this 
art  if  they  wish  to  learn  it,  without  pay  and  written  contract,  to 
let  them  share  in  delivery  and  lecture  and  all  the  remaining  doc- 
trine both  to  mine  own  sons  and  those  of  him  who  taught  me  and 


THE  OATH 


299 


to  the  pupils  who  have  been  enrolled  by  contract  and  sworn  by  the 
physicians'  oath,  and  to  none  other.  And  the  forms  of  diet  I 
shall  select  for  the  benefit  of  the  patients  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
and  judgment,  and  refrain  from  injury  and  injustice.  I  shall  give 
to  no  one  any  deadly  drug  on  request,  nor  give  such  counsel,  nor 
shall  I  give  to  any  woman  a  pessary  to  bring  on  a  miscarriage. 

In  a  chaste  and  a  spotless  fashion  shall  I  maintain  my  life  and 
my  art.  I  shall  not  perform  any  surgical  operation  on  those  suffer- 
ing from  the  stone,  nor  shall  I  give  place  to  men  who  make  a  practice 
thereof.  Into  all  the  houses  which  I  shall  enter  I  shall  enter  for 
the  benefit  of  the  sufferers,  being  beyond  all  wrongdoing  voluntary 
and  destructive.  .  .  .  Whatever  in  my  practice  I  either  see  or  hear, 
—  or  even  outside  of  my  practice  in  connection  with  the  life  of 
human  beings,  which  should  never  be  uttered  outside,  I  shall  hold 
my  peace  thereon,  convinced  that  such  things  ought  not  to  be 
spoken.  As  for  me,  if  I  keep  this  oath  and  not  break  it,  may  it 
be  my  lot  to  profit  both  in  life  and  art  in  my  reputation  with  all 
men  for  always,  and  if  I  transgress  and  commit  perjury,  may  (I 
suffer)  the  opposite  of  these  things. 

81.  Airs,  Waters,  and  Places 

1.  Whoever  desires  rightly  to  inquire  into  the  medical  art, 
must  do  this :  first  he  must  consider  the  seasons  of  the  year,  what 
each  can  accomplish,  for  they  have  no  resemblance,  but  they  differ 
much  themselves  from  themselves  and  in  their  mutations,  and  then 
the  hot  and  cold  winds ;  most  of  all,  what  is  common  to  all  men, 
and  what  is  local  to  each  land.  It  is  necessary  also  to  consider  the 
properties  of  the  waters,  for  just  as  these  differ  in  their  body  and 
weight,  so  also  the  influence  of  each  differs  much.  So  that,  when 
one  arrives  in  a  city  of  which  one  has  no  experience,  he  must  reflect 
upon  its  situation,  how  it  lies  both  as  to  winds  and  as  to  the  rising 
of  the  sun.  For  the  same  influence  is  not  potent  in  that  which 
lies  toward  the  north  and  that  which  lies  toward  the  south,  nor 
in  that  which  lies  toward  the  west  (has  a  western  exposure). 
These  things  he  must  consider  as  nicely  as  possible,  and  concerning 
the  waters  how  they  are  and  whether  (the  people  of  a  given  commu- 
nity) use  marshy  and  soft  or  hard  water  that  comes  from  high  and 


300 


MEDICAL  SCIENCE 


rocky  sources,  or  salty  and  bitter ;  and  as  for  the  soil,  whether  it  is 
bare  and  unwatered,  or  wooded  and  well-watered,  or  whether  it 
lies  in  a  hollow  and  exposed  to  the  winds,  or  whether  high  and  cold  ; 
and  as  to  the  diet  which  they  like,  whether  they  are  fond  of  drinking 
and  take  breakfasts  and  are  incapable  of  bearing  fatigue,  or  fond  of 
exercise  and  hardships,  and  are  hearty  eaters  and  sparing  in  drink. 

12.  I  desire  to  point  out  concerning  Asia  and  Europe,  how  far 
they  differ  from  one  another,  both  as  a  whole  and  as  to  the  forms 
of  the  races,  because  they  do  differ,  and  do  not  resemble  one 
another  at  all.  About  the  whole  of  it  there  would  be  an  extensive 
discourse,  but  about  the  greatest  points  and  those  involving  the 
greatest  difference,  I  shall  say  how  it  seems  to  me.  Asia  I 
claim  differs  very  much  from  Europe  as  to  the  physical  properties 
of  all  —  both  plants  and  human  beings ;  for  everything  grows 
much  fairer  and  larger  in  Asia ;  one  country  (Asia)  is  milder  than 
the  other,  the  customs  of  the  men  are  milder  and  better- tempered. 
The  reason  is  the  blending  of  the  seasons,  situated  in  the  central 
point  between  the  risings  of  the  sun,  toward  the  East,  and  further 
away  from  the  cold  :  it  permits  (or  furnishes)  growth  and  mildness 
most  of  all  whenever  nothing  dominates  in  a  drastic  manner,  but 
equal  distribution  holds  sway  over  everything.  In  Asia  however  it 
is  so  not  everywhere  equally,  but  in  all  that  territory  which  lies 
midway  between  the  hot  and  the  cold,  this  is  the  most  fruitful  and 
has  the  finest  growth  of  trees ;  it  has  the  clearest  atmosphere  and 
enjoys  the  finest  waters  both  from  the  sky  and  from  the  earth.  For 
neither  has  it  been  excessively  burned  out  by  the  heat,  nor  is  it 
parched  by  droughts  and  rainlessness  nor  roughly  dealt  with  by 
cold ;  and  since  it  is  moistened  also  by  many  rains  and  snow,  it  is 
likely  that  many  things  there  gain  their  full  maturity  of  growth,  both 
whatever  spring  from  seeds  and  whatever  plant  the  earth  itself  gives 
forth  of  itself  :  the  fruits  which  men  use,  cultivating  out  of  the  wild 
growth  and  transplanting  in  a  suitable  fashion.  The  animals  raised 
there  are  likely  to  be  of  generous  stature  and  particularly  to  bear 
offspring  very  frequently  and  to  rear  very  handsomely.  And  as  for 
men,  they  are  easily  reared  and  very  handsome  in  appearance,  and 
very  large  of  size,  and  differ  very  little  from  one  another  as  to  form 
and  stature ;  and  it  is  likely  that  this  country  is  nearest  to  the 
vernal  type  in  its  nature  and  the  moderation  of  the  seasons.  But 


ASIATICS  AND  EUROPEANS 


301 


fortitude  and  endurance  and  hardiness  and  courage  could  not  well 
be  produced  in  such  a  nature  —  whether  of  the  same  race  or  of 
others  —  but  pleasure  must  needs  hold  sway. 

16.  As  regards  the  lack  of  courage  of  the  men  and  lack  of  virility, 
that  the  Asiatics  are  more  unwarlike  than  the  Europeans  and  milder 
of  character,  —  of  this  the  seasons  are  chiefly  the  cause,  making 
not  any  great  mutations,  either  in  the  direction  of  hot  and  cold,  but 
so  as  to  resemble  each  other. 

For  there  occur  no  shocks  of  intelligence,  nor  any  drastic  shift 
in  the  physical  body  from  which  it  is  likely  that  anger  might  be 
roused,  and  (these)  should  have  a  greater  share  of  thoughtlessness 
and  spirited  disposition  than  those  remaining  always  in  the  same 
(frame) .  For  it  is  the  universal  changes  which  rouse  the  mentality 
of  men  and  do  not  permit  them  to  remain  quiet.  For  these  reasons 
the  Asiatic  race  seems  to  me  to  be  lacking  in  vigor,  and  furthermore 
on  account  of  the  laws.  For  the  most  parts  of  Asia  are  ruled  by 
kings.  Now  where  men  have  not  power  over  themselves,  nor  are 
autonomous,  but  are  under  absolute  rulers,  their  concern  is  not 
to  train  themselves  for  war,  but  how  not  to  seem  to  be  fitted  for 
fighting.  For  the  dangers  are  not  similar.  It  is  likely  that  some 
through  necessity  should  go  to  war  and  suffer  hardships  and  die  on 
behalf  of  their  masters,  being  away  from  children  and  wife  and  the 
rest  of  their  friends,  and  whatever  useful  and  courageous  deeds  they 
do,  it  is  their  sovereigns  that  grow  and  increase  from  them.  As  for 
dangers  and  death,  that  is  what  they  reap  themselves ;  and  the  land 
must  needs  be  made  desolate  both  by  the  enemy  and  through  the 
cessation  of  work.  So  that  even  if  one  is  manly  and  spirited  by 
nature,  his  mental  trend  is  bound  to  be  diverted  by  the  political 
character  of  things.  A  great  proof  of  this  is  the  following  :  all  the 
Greeks  and  Barbarians  in  Asia  who  are  not  under  absolute  sway 
but  self-governing,  and  endure  hardships  for  their  own  advantage, 
these  are  the  most  warlike  of  all,  for  it  is  for  themselves  that  they 
encounter  dangers,  and  of  their  valor  they  carry  off  the  prizes 
themselves,  and  of  cowardice  the  penalty  likewise.  And  you  will 
find  also  that  the  Asiatics  differ  from  one  another,  some  being 
braver,  and  others  more  inferior :  the  reasons  for  these  things  are 
the  changes  of  the  seasons,  as  I  have  said  before.  And  about  those 
in  Asia  it  is  so. 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Complete  works  of  Hippocrates  with  translation  and  medical  commentary, 
in  French,  by  Littre,  E.,  10  vols.;  by  Kuhlewein,  H.,  2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1894, 
1902) ;  Be  natura  hominis,  ed.  by  Mewaldt,  J.,  Helmreich,  G.,  and  Westenr 
berger,  J.  (Teubner,  19 14) ;  The  Genuine  Works,  translated  by  Adams,  F.,  2 
vols.  (New  York:  Wood,  1891).  For  studies  in  Hippocrates,  see  Kiihlewein, 
H.,  "Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  und  Beurteilung  der  hippokratischen  Schriften," 
in  Philol.  XLII  (1884).  119-33;  Gomperz,  Th.,  "Die  hippokratische  Frage," 
etc.,  ib.  LXX  (1911).  213-41;  Diels,  H.,  "Hippokratische  Forschungen,"  in 
Hermes,  XLV  (1910).  125-50;  XL VI.  269-85;  XL VIII.  378-407;  Ilberg,  J., 
"Die  Erforschung  der  griech.  Heilkunde,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  XI  (1908).  585-602; 
"Aus  Galens  Praxis,"  etc.,  ib.  VIII.  276-312  ;  Wellmann,  M.,  "Zur  Geschichte 
der  Medicin  im  Altertum,"  in  Hermes,  XL VII  (1912).  1-17;  Smith,  F.  R., 
"The  Oath  of  Hippocrates,"  in  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital  Bull.  III.  no.  21.  A 
Corpus  medicorum  grcecorum  (Teubner)  has  been  under  way  for  some  years ; 
cf.  Diels,  H.,  "Ueber  das  neue  Corpus  medicorum,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  X  (1907). 
722-6.    For  other  recent  literature  on  medicine,  see  Jahresb.  191 2. 

See  also  Hamilton,  M.,  Incubation  or  the  Cure  of  Diseases  in  Pagan  Temples 
and  Christian  Churches  (London,  1906) ;  Lefort,  Th.,  "Notes  sur  le  culte 
d'Asklepios :  Nature  de  l'incubation  dans  ce  culte,"  in  Musee  Beige,  X  (1906). 
21-37  5  Jones,  W.  H.  S.,  Malaria  and  Greek  History,  etc.  (Manchester,  1909) ; 
Rid,  H.,  Klimalehre  der  alien  Griechen  nach  den  Geographica  Strabos  (Kaisers- 
lautern,  1904) ;  Schellenberg,  O.,  Studien  zur  Klimatologie  Griechenlands : 
Temperatur,  Niederschlage,  Bewdlkung  (Leipzig,  1908). 


CHAPTER  X 


ASPECTS  OF  HELLENIC  SOCIETY 
In  the  Period  479-404  B.C. 

82.  Through  Tribulation  to  Glory 

(Pindar,  Second  Olympian) 

Although  the  happy  outcome  of  the  war  with  Persia  gave  a  great  impetus 
to  democracy  (Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xii),  the  aristocratic  spirit  was 
still  strong.  Its  best  literary  representative  was  Pindar  (p.  32).  The  passages 
from  his  poems  given  below  have  been  chosen,  not  so  much  for  their  literary 
excellence,  as  for  their  general  intelligibility  and  for  their  usefulness  in  illustrat- 
ing the  social  ideas  and  conditions  of  the  age.  The  second  Olympian  was 
composed  for  the  celebration  of  the  chariot  race  won  by  Theron,  tyrant  of 
Acragas,  in  476.  The  pedigree  and  the  myth  contained  in  the  poem  begin 
with  Cadmus,  founder  and  first  king  of  Thebes.  Among  his  children  were  a 
son,  Polydorus,  and  the  daughters,  Semele  and  Ino.  Semele  and  Zeus  were 
the  parents  of  the  man-god  Dionysus.  Utterly  consumed  by  a  thunderbolt  of 
Zeus  as  jealous  Hera  had  contrived,-  the  mother  was  nevertheless  granted  im- 
mortality and  a  life  of  blessedness  among  the  gods.  Ino,  after  manifold  suffer- 
ings brought  upon  her  by  Hera's  a.nger,  leaped  into  the  sea  and  became  a  water 
goddess.  A  miserable  fate  befel  the  male  line.  Laius,  grandson  of  Polydorus, 
was  unwittingly  slain  by  his  own  son,  (Edipus.  In  time  the  Erinys  (Fury) 
of  Laius  brought  (Edipus  to  ruin,  and  incited  his  sons,  Eteocles  and  Polyneices, 
to  civil  war,  in  which  each  died  by  the  other's  hand.  The  fate  of  this  family  is 
the  subject  of  many  a  tragedy.  A  son  of  Polyneices  and  his  wife  Argeia,  daugh- 
ter of  Adrastus,  king  of  Argos,  was  Thersander,  whose  descendants  "went  suc- 
cessively to  Sparta,  to  Thera,  to  Rhodes,  and  finally  to  Acragas  —  evidently  a 
roving,  and  doubtless  a  quarrelsome  race"  (Gildersleeve) .  One  of  them, 
Emmenes,  or  Emmenides,  was  father  of  ^Enesidamus  and  grandfather  of 
Theron  and  Xenocrates,  hence  these  two  brothers  are  called  Emmenidae. 
Usurping  the  government  of  Acragas,  Theron  ruled  magnificently  and  on  the 
whole  wisely. 

"In  the  opening  of  the  second  Olympian,  Pindar  himself  points  out  the 
threefold  chord  that  runs  through  the  ode.  .  .  .  When  he  asks,  'What  god, 
what  hero,  what  man  shall  we  celebrate  ? '  he  means  to  celebrate  all  three,  and 

303 


304 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


god,  hero,  and  man  recur  throughout :  the  god  helping,  the  hero  toiling,  the 
man  achieving.  God  is  the  disposer,  the  hero  the  leader,  and  the  man  the  fol- 
lower. The  man,  the  Olympian  victor,  must  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
greater  victor,  must  endure  hardness  as  the  hero  endured  hardness,  in  order 
that  he  may  have  a  reward,  as  the  hero  had  his  reward,  by  the  favor  of  God. 
This  is  a  poem  for  one  who  stands  on  the  solemn  verge  beyond  which  lies 
immortal,  heroic  life.  But  we  must  not  read  a  funeral  sermon  into  it,  and  we 
must  notice  how  the  poet  counteracts  the  grave  tone  of  the  poem  by  the  final 
herald  cry,  in  which  he  magnifies  his  own  office  and  champions  the  old  king." 
(Gildersleeve,  Pindar,  41  sq.) 

Lords  of  the  Lute,  my  Songs,  what  god,  what  hero,  or  what  man 
are  we  to  celebrate  ?  Verily  of  Zeus  is  Pisa  the  abode,  of  Heracles 
the  Olympian  feast  was  founded  from  the  chief  spoils  of  war,  and 
Theron's  name 1  must  we  proclaim  for  his  victory  with  the  four- 
horse  car,  a  righteous  and  god-fearing  host,  the  stay  of  Acragas, 
of  famous  sires  the  flower,  a  savior  of  the  state. 

They  after  long  toils  bravely  borne  took  by  the  river's  side 2  a 
sacred  dwelling  place,  and  became  the  eye  of  Sicily,  and  a  life  of 
good  luck  clave  to  them,  bringing  them  wealth  and  honor  to  crown 
their  inborn  worth. 

0  son  of  Cronos  and  Rhea,  lord  of  Olympus'  seat,  and  of  the  chief 
of  games  and  of  Alpheus' 3  ford,  for  joy  in  these  my  songs  guard  ever 
graciously  their  native  fields  for  their  sons  that  shall  come  after 
them. 

Now  of  deeds  done  whether  they  be  right  or  wrong,  not  even 
Time  the  father  of  all  can  make  undone  the  accomplishment,  yet 
with  happy  fortune  forgetfulness  may  come.  For  by  high  delights 
an  alien  pain  is  quelled  and  dieth,  when  the  decree  of  God  sendeth 
happiness  to  grow  aloft  and  widely.4 

This  word  is  true,  too,  concerning  Cadmus'  fair-throned  daugh- 
ters, whose  misfortunes  were  great,  yet  their  sore  grief  fell  before 
greater  good.  Amid  the  Olympians  long-haired  Semele  still  liveth, 
albeit  she  perished  in  the  thunder's  roar,  and  Pallas  cherisheth  her 

1  I.e.,  the  god,  hero,  and  man  whom  he  has  in  mind  are  Zeus,  Heracles,  and  Theron, 
respectively. 

2  The  river  Acragas,  on  which  the  city  of  the  same  name  was  founded. 

3  The  river  on  which  Olympia  is  situated. 

4  Pindar  here  presents  the  doctrine  that  misfortune  bravely  borne  is  rewarded  by 
happiness ;  he  illustrates  this  principle  with  the  following  myths. 


BALANCE  OF  GOOD  AND  EVIL 


ever,  and  father  Zeus  exceedingly,  and  her  son,  the  ivy-bearing  god.1 
Into  the  sea,  too,  they  say  that  to  Ino,  among  the  sea-maids  of 
Nereus,  life  incorruptible  hath  been  ordained  for  evermore. 

Ay  but  to  mortals  the  day  of  death  is  certain  never,  neither  at 
what  time  we  shall  see  in  calm  the  end  of  one  of  the  Sun's  children, 
the  Days,  with  good  thitherto  unfailing  ;  now  this  way  and  now  that 
run  currents  bringing  joys  or  toils  to  men.2 

Thus  Destiny,  which  from  their  fathers  holdeth  the  happy 
fortune  of  this  race,  together  with  prosperity  heaven-sent,  bringeth 
ever  at  some  other  time  bitter  reverse :  from  the  day  when  Lams 
was  slain  by  his  destined  son3  who  met  him  on  the  road  and  made 
fulfilment  of  the  oracle  spoken  of  old  at  Pytho.  Then  swift 
Erinys,  when  she  saw  it,  slew  by  each  other's  hand  his  warlike  sons  ; 
yet  after  Polyneices  fell,  Thersander  lived  after  him  and  won  honor 
in  the  Second  Strife 4  and  in  the  fights  of  war,  a  savior  scion  to  the 
Adrastid  house. 

From  him  they  have  beginning  of  their  race :  meet  it  is  that 
yEnesidamus  receive  our  hymn  of  triumph  on  the  lyre.  For  at 
Olympia  he  himself  received  a  prize  and  at  Pytho,  and  at  the 
Isthmus  to  his  brother  of  no  less  a  lot  did  kindred  Graces  bring 
crowns  for  the  twelve  rounds  of  the  four-horse  chariot-race.5 

Victory  setteth  free  the  essayer  from  the  struggle's  griefs,  yea 
and  the  wealth  that  a  noble  nature  hath  made  glorious  bringeth 
power  for  this  and  that,  putting  into  the  heart  of  man  a  deep  and 
eager  mood,  a  star  far  seen,  a  light  wherein  a  man  shall  trust,6 
if  but  the  holder  thereof  knoweth  the  things  that  shall  be,  how  that 
of  all  who  die  the  guilty  souls  pay  penalty,  for  all  the  sins  sinned  in 

1  For  this  and  the  following  myths,  see  Introduction.  The  ivy-bearing  god  is 
Dionysus. 

2  Cf.  the  Third  Pythian:  "The  immortals  deal  to  men  two  ill  things  for  one  good. 
The  foolish  cannot  bear  them  with  steadfastness  but  the  good  only,  putting  the  fair 
side  forward." 

3  CEdipus,  see  Introduction. 

4  A  later  attack  made  upon  Thebes  under  Argive  leadership. 

5  In  these  odes  it  was  customary  to  celebrate  not  only  the  present  victor,  but  also 
others  of  his  family  who  had  won  similar  fame. 

6  The  inspiration  to  noble  deeds  that  comes  from  wealth  combined  with  excellent 
character  is  here  indicated.  As  great  wealth  and  unwonted  success,  however,  tend  to 
insolence  and  lawlessness,  one  who  possesses  these  gifts  should  be  guided  to  moderation 
through  fear  of  punishment  and  hope  of  reward  after  death.  The  view  of  future  life 
which  follows  originated  with  the  Orphists;  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  ix. 


306 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


this  realm  of  Zeus  One  judgeth  under  earth,  pronouncing  sentence 
by  unloved  constraint. 

But  evenly  ever  in  sunlight  night  and  day  an  unlaborious  life  the 
good  receive,  neither  with  violent  hand  vex  they  the  earth  nor  the 
waters  of  the  sea,  in  that  new  world ;  but  with  the  honored  of  the 
gods,  whosoever  had  pleasure  in  keeping  of  oaths,  they  possess  a  tear- 
less life ;  but  the  other  part  suffer  pain  too  dire  to  look  upon. 

Then  whosoever  have  been  of  good  courage  to  the  abiding  stead- 
fast thrice  on  either  side  of  death  and  have  refrained  their  souls 
from  all  iniquity,  travel  the  road  of  Zeus  unto  the  tower  of  Cronos  : 
there  round  the  islands  of  the  blest  the  Ocean-breezes  blow,  and 
golden  flowers  are  glowing,  some  from  the  land  on  trees  of  splendor, 
and  some  the  water  feedeth,  with  wreaths  whereof  they  entwine 
their  hands :  so  ordereth  Rhadamanthus'  just  decree,  whom  at 
his  right  hand  hath  ever  the  father  Cronos,  husband  of  Rhea, 
throned  above  all  worlds. 

Peleus  and  Cadmus  are  counted  of  that  company ;  and  the 
mother  of  Achilles,  when  her  prayer  had  moved  the  heart  of  Zeus, 
bare  thither  her  son,  even  him  who  overthrew  Hector,  Troy's  un- 
bending invincible  pillar,  even  him  who  gave  Cycnus 1  to  death  and 
the  Ethiop  son  of  the  Morning.2 

Many  swift  arrows  have  I  beneath  my  bended  arm  within  my 
quiver,  arrows  that  have  a  voice  for  the  wise,  but  for  the  multitude 
they  need  interpreters.  His  art  is  true  who  of  his  nature  hath 
knowledge ;  they  who  have  but  learnt,  strong  in  the  multitude  of 
words,  are  but  as  crows  that  chatter  vain  things  in  strife  against 
the  divine  bird  of  Zeus.3 

Come  bend  thy  bow  on  the  mark,  O  my  soul  —  at  whom  again 
are  we  to  launch  our  shafts  of  honor  from  a  friendly  mind?  At 
Acragas  will  I  take  aim,  and  will  proclaim  and  swear  it  with  a  mind 
of  truth,  that  for  a  hundred  years  no  city  hath  brought  forth  a 
man  of  mind  more  prone  to  well-doing  toward  friends  or  of  more 
liberal  mood  than  Theron. 

1  Cycnus,  though  born  invulnerable,  was  strangled  to  death  by  Achilles. 

2Memnon,  son  of  Tithonus,  king  of  the  Ethiopians,  and  of  Eos,  "Morning,"  was 
also  slain  at  Troy  by  Achilles. 

3  Pindar,  the  poet  of  inborn  genius,  is  the  eagle,  whereas  his  rivals,  including  per- 
haps Bacchylides,  men  of  training  merely,  are  as  crows. 


A  THESSALIAN  ATHLETE  307 

Yet  praise  is  overtaken  of  distaste,  wherewith  is  no  justice,  but 
from  covetous  men  it  cometh,  and  is  fain  to  babble  against  and 
darken  the  good  man's  noble  deeds.1 

The  sea-sand  none  hath  numbered ;  and  the  joys  that  Theron 
hath  given  to  others  —  who  shall  declare  the  tale  thereof  ? 


83.  God  and  Blood 

(Pindar,  Tenth  Pythian) 

This  poem  is  in  honor  of  Hippocleas  of  Pelinnaeum  (or  Petinna),  Thessaly, 
winner  in  the  double-stadium  foot  race  of  boys.  The  Aleuadae,  ruling  family 
of  Larisa,  to  whom  possibly  the  winner  belonged,  engaged  Pindar  to  compose 
the  poem.  The  Aleuadae  were  descendants  of  Perseus  through  Heracles ; 
hence  the  pedigree  and  the  myth  which  occupy  so  large  a  place  in  the  Ode.  It 
is  said  that  the  poet  was  at  this  time  (502)  but  twenty  years  of  age.  In  this 
early  manhood  he  was  perhaps  even  more  thoroughly  aristocratic  than  later  in 
life ;  the  language  is  relatively  simple ;  but  the  genius  of  the  poet  is  evident. 

Happy  is  Lacedaemon,  blessed  is  Thessaly  :  in  both  there  reigneth 
a  race  sprung  from  one  sire,  from  Heracles  bravest  in  the  fight.2 
What  vaunt  is  this  unseasonable?  Nay,  now,  but  Pytho  calleth 
me,  and  Pelinnaeum,  and  the  sons  of  Aleuas  3  who  would  fain  lead 
forth  the  loud  voices  of  a  choir  of  men  in  honor  of  Hippocleas. 

For  now  hath  he  tasted  the  joy  of  games,  and  to  the  host  of  the 
dwellers  round  about  hath  the  valley  beneath  Parnassus  proclaimed 
him  best  among  the  boys  who  ran  the  double  race. 

0  Apollo,  sweet  is  the  end  when  men  attain  thereto,  and  the 
beginning  availeth  more  when  it  is  speeded  of  a  god.  Surely  of 
thy  devising  were  his  deeds  :  and  this  his  inborn  valor  hath  trodden 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  father  twice  victor  at  Olympia  in  panoply 
of  war-affronting  arms ; 4  moreover  the  games  in  the  deep  meadow 
beneath  Cirrha's  cliff  gave  victory  to  the  fleet  feet  of  Phricias.5 

May  good  luck  follow  them,  so  that  even  in  after  days  the 

1  Undoubtedly  there  was  great  popular  discontent  in  Acragas  and  Syracuse,  during 
the  later  years  of  Theron  and  Hieron,  against  both  rulers.  Their  successors  were 
speedily  overthrown,  whereupon  both  states  established  republics. 

2  Both  were  ruled  by  Heracleidae. 

3  The  Aleuadae :  see  Introduction. 

4  See  p.  305,  note  5  supra. 

5  Apparently  his  father's  horse  which  gained  a  victory  at  Pytho. 


3o8 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


splendor  of  their  wealth  shall  bloom.  Of  the  pleasant  things  of 
Hellas  they  have  no  scanty  portion  to  their  lot ;  may  they  happen 
on  no  envious  repentings  of  the  gods.1  A  god's  heart,  it  may  be, 
is  painless  ever;  but  happy  and  a  theme  of  poet's  song  is  that 
man  who  for  his  valiance  of  hands  or  feet  the  chiefest  prizes  hath  by 
strength  and  courage  won,  and  in  his  lifetime  seen  his  young  son 
by  good  hap  attaining  to  the  Pythian  crown.  Never  indeed  shall 
he  climb  the  brazen  heaven,  but  whatsoever  splendors  we  of  mortal 
race  may  reach,  through  such  he  hath  free  course  even  to  the  ut- 
most harborage.  But  neither  by  taking  ship,  neither  by  any  travel 
on  foot,  to  the  Hyperborean  folk  shalt  thou  find  the  wondrous  way.2 

Yet  of  old  the  chieftain  Perseus  entered  into  their  houses  and 
feasted  among  them,  when  that  he  had  lighted  on  them  as  they  were 
sacrificing  ample  hecatombs  of  asses  to  their  gods.  For  ever  in 
their  feasts  and  hymns  hath  Apollo  especial  joy,  and  laugheth  to 
see  the  braying  ramp  of  the  strange  beasts.  Nor  is  the  Muse  a 
stranger  to  their  lives,  but  everywhere  are  stirring  to  and  fro 
dances  of  maidens  and  shrill  noise  of  pipes :  and  binding  golden 
bay-leaves  in  their  hair,  they  make  them  merry  cheer.  Nor  pesti- 
lence nor  wasting  eld  approaches  that  hallowed  race  :  they  toil  not 
neither  do  they  fight,  and  dwell  unharmed  of  cruel  Nemesis. 

In  the  eagerness  of  his  valiant  heart  went  of  old  the  son  of 
Danae,3  for  that  Athena  led  him  on  his  way,  unto  the  company  of 
that  blessed  folk.  Also  he  slew  the  Gorgon  and  bare  home  her  head 
with  serpent  tresses  decked,  to  the  island  folk  a  stony  death.  I  ween 
there  is  no  marvel  impossible  if  gods  have  wrought  thereto. 

Let  go  the  oar,  and  quickly  let  drive  into  the  earth  an  anchor 
from  the  prow,  to  save  us  from  the  rocky  reef,  for  the  glory  of  my 
song  of  praise  rlitteth  like  a  honey-bee  from  tale  to  tale. 

I  have  hope  that  when  the  folk  of  Ephyra 4  pour  forth  my  sweet 
strains  by  Peneus' 5  side,  yet  more  glorious  shall  I  make  their  Hip- 
pocleas  for  his  crowns  and  by  my  songs  among  his  fellows  and  his 
elders,  and  I  will  make  him  possess  the  minds  of  the  young  maidens. 

1  The  common  Greek  idea  that  the  gods  were  envious  of  good  fortune  is  here  implied. 

2  A  reflection,  often  repeated  in  manifold  form,  on  the  limitations  of  man. 

3  Perseus,  whose  journey  to  the  Hyperboreans  is  here  detailed. 

4  Ephyra,  afterward  Crannon,  a  city  of  Thessaly. 

6  Peneus,  the  chief  river  of  Thessaly,  on  which  the  victor's  city  was  situated. 


A  DOCTRINE  OF  HEREDITY 


For  various  longings  stir  secretly  the  minds  of  various  men ; 
yet  each  if  he  attain  to  the  thing  he  striveth  for  will  hold  his  eager 
desire  for  the  time  present  to  him,  but  what  a  year  shall  bring 
forth,  none  shall  foreknow  by  any  sign. 

My  trust  is  in  the  kindly  courtesy  of  my  host  Thorax,1  of  him 
who  to  speed  my  fortune  hath  yoked  this  four-horse  car  of  the 
Pierides,  as  friend  for  friend,  and  willing  guide  for  guide. 

As  gold  to  him  that  trieth  it  by  a  touch-stone,  so  is  a  true  soul 
known. 

His  noble  brethren  also  will  we  praise,  for  that  they  exalt  and 
make  great  the  Thessalians'  commonwealth.2  For  in  the  hands 
of  good  men  lieth  the  good  piloting  of  the  cities  wherein  their 
fathers  ruled. 

84.  Victory  and  Fame  by  the  Grace  of  God 

(Pindar,  Sixth  Nemean) 

This  ode  is  in  honor  of  Alcimidas  of  iEgina,  winner  in  the  boys'  wrestling 
match.  The  pedigree  of  the  victor  was  as  follows :  Agesimachus,  Socleides, 
Praxidamas,  Theon,  Alcimidas  ;  they  belonged  to  the  Bassid  clan,  descendants 
of  ^Eacus,  the  hero-founder  of  iEgina. 

One  race  there  is  of  men  and  one  of  gods,  but  from  one  mother 
draw  we  both  our  breath,3  yet  is  the  strength  of  us  diverse  alto- 
gether, for  the  race  of  man  is  as  naught,  but  the  brazen  heaven 
abideth,  a  habitation  steadfast  unto  everlasting. 

Yet  withal  have  we  somewhat  in  us  like  unto  the  immortals* 
bodily  shape  or  mighty  mind,  albeit  we  know  not  what  course  hath 
Destiny  marked  out  for  us  to  run,  neither  in  the  daytime,  neither 
in  the  night. 

And  now  doth  Alcimidas  give  proof  that  it  is  with  his  kindred 
as  with  fruitful  fields ;  for  they  in  turn  now  yield  to  man  his  yearly 
bread  upon  the  plains,  and  now  again  they  pause,  and  gather  back 
their  strength.4 

1  The  Aleuad  magnate  who  had  engaged  Pindar  to  write  the  ode. 

2  The  kinsmen  of  the  young  athlete  belonged  to  the  ruling  class. 

3  A  more  democratic  idea  than  we  should  expect  of  Pindar.  In  his  usual  opinion 
the  aristocratic  families  are  sprung  on  one  side  from  the  gods,  and  hence  are  of  a  race 
superior  to  common  men. 

4  The  doctrine  of  heredity  here  set  forth,  that  the  preeminent  virtue  of  a  great 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


From  the  pleasant  meeting-places  of  Nemea  hath  the  athlete 
boy  come  back,  who  following  the  ordinance  of  Zeus  hath  now 
approved  him  no  baffled  hunter  in  his  wrestling-quest,  and  hath 
guided  his  feet  by  the  footprints  of  Praximadas,  his  father's  father, 
of  whose  blood  he  sprang. 

For  Praximadas  also  by  his  Olympian  victory  first  won  the  olive 
wreath  from  Alpheus  for  the  ^Eacidae,  and  five  times  being  crowned 
at  Isthmus,  and  at  Nemea  thrice,  he  took  away  thereby  the  obscur- 
ity of  Socleides,  who  was  the  eldest  of  the  sons  of  Agesimachus. 

For  these  three  warriors  attained  unto  the  topmost  height 
of  prowess,  of  all  who  essayed  the  games,  and  by  grace  of  God  to 
no  other  house  hath  the  boxing-match  given  keeping  of  so  many 
crowns  in  this  inmost  place  of  all  Hellas.  I  deem  that  though 
my  speech  be  of  high  sound,  I  yet  shall  hit  the  mark,  as  it  were 
an  archer  shooting  from  a  bow. 

Come,  Muse,  direct  thou  upon  this  house  a  gale  of  glorious 
song;  for  after  that  men  are  vanished  away,  the  minstrel's  story 
taketh  up  their  noble  acts,  whereof  is  no  lack  to  the  Bassid  clan ; 
old  in  story  is  the  race  and  they  carry  cargo  of  home-made  renown, 
able  to  deliver  unto  the  Muses'  husbandmen  rich  matter  of  song  in 
honor  of  their  lofty  deeds. 

For  at  sacred  Pytho  in  like  wise  did  a  scion  of  the  same  stock 
overcome,  with  the  thong  of  the  boxer  bound  about  his  hand, 
even  Callias  in  whom  were  well-pleased  the  children  of  Leto  1  of 
the  golden  distaff,  and  beside  Castaly  in  the  evening  his  name  burnt 
bright  when  the  glad  sounds  of  the  Graces  rose. 

Also  the  Bridge  2  of  the  untiring  sea  did  honor  unto  Creontidas 
at  the  triennal  sacrifice  of  bulls  by-  the  neighbor  states  in  the  holy 
place  of  Poseidon;  and  once  did  the  herb  of  the  lion  shadow  his 
brows  for  a  victory  won  beneath  the  shadeless  primal  hills  of 
Phlius. 

Wide  avenues  of  glory  are  there  on  every  side  for  chroniclers 
to  draw  nigh  to  do  honor  unto  this  isle  :  for  supreme  occasion  have 

family  is  repeated  in  alternate  generations,  Pindar  illustrates  by  the  circumstance  that 
the  Greeks  allowed  their  arable  land  to  lie  fallow  in  alternate  years.  The  athletic 
history  of  the  victor's  family  which  follows  is  evidence  of  the  principle.  For  the 
pedigree,  see  introductory  note. 

1  Apollo  and  Artemis. 

2  I.e.,  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth,  where  games  were  held  in  honor  of  Poseidon. 


AN  ATHLETIC  STOCK 


the  children  of  ^Eacus  given  them  by  the  showing  forth  of  mighty 
feats. 

Over  land  and  beyond  the  sea  is  their  name  flown  forth  from 
afar :  even  unto  the  Ethiopians  it  sprang  forth,  for  that  Memnon 
came  not  home  :  for  bitter  was  the  battle  that  Achilles  made  against 
him,  having  descended  from  his  chariot  upon  the  earth,  what  time 
by  his  fierce  spear's  point  he  slew  the  son  of  the  bright  Morn. 

And  herein  found  they  of  old  time  a  way  wherein  to  drive  their 
car;  and  I  too  follow  with  my  burden  of  song:  and  all  men's 
minds,  they  say,  are  stirred  the  most  by  whatsoever  wave  at  the 
instant  rolleth  nearest  to  the  mainsheet  of  the  ship. 

On  willing  shoulders  bear  I  this  double  load,  and  am  come  a 
messenger  to  proclaim  this  honor  won  in  the  games  that  men  call 
holy  to  be  the  five  and  twentieth  that  the  noble  house  of  Alcimidas 
hath  shown  forth :  yet  were  two  wreaths  in  the  Olympian  games 
beside  the  precinct  of  Cronion  denied  to  thee,  boy,  and  to  Poly- 
timidas,  by  the  fall  of  the  lot. 

Peer  of  the  dolphin  hurrying  through  the  brine  —  such  would 
I  call  Melesias  1  by  whom  thy  hands  and  strength  were  guided,  as 
a  chariot  by  the  charioteer. 

85.  Cimon  and  Pericles,  as  seen  by  an  Aristocratic 
Contemporary 

(Ion  of  Chios,  Journeys,  quoted  by  Plutarch) 

Ion  of  Chios,  a  contemporary  of  Cimon  and  Pericles,  died  in  421  or  shortly 
before  that  date  (Aristoph.  Peace,  835  with  schol.).  In  addition  to  dramas  and 
various  other  forms  of  poetry,  he  wrote  a  work  entitled  Journeys  ("EirtStyfAcai), 
which,  had  it  been  preserved,  would  have  been  most  interesting  and  valuable  to 
us  for  the  light  it  threw  on  the  character  of  the  great  men  with  whom  the 
author  came  into  personal  touch,  and  on  the  social  conditions  of  his  age.  As  it 
is,  we  are  obliged  to  depend  upon  the  meager  excerpts  from  the  work  quoted  by 
Plutarch  and  Athenaeus  (Mtiller,  Fragmenta  historicorum  grcecorum,  II.  46 
sqq.).  During  his  stay  at  Athens  this  aristocrat  and  enthusiastic  admirer  of 
Sparta  naturally  gravitated  to  Cimon  and  his  circle,  but  was  repelled  by  the 
austerity  of  Pericles.  On  this  author  in  general,  see  Miiller,  op.  cit.  II.  44-6 ; 
Scholl,  Fr.,  in  Rhein.  Mus.  XXXII  (1877).  145  sqq. ;  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch. 
III.  4-6 ;  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  I.  369. 


1  The  trainer  of  Alcidimas. 


312 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


.  The  following  passages,  though  brief,  are  useful  as  contemporary  glimpses 
of  eminent  men  and  social  conditions  in  the  greatest  age  of  Greece,  and  at  the 
same  time  they  give  an  idea  of  one  class  of  sources  from  which  Plutarch  drew 
material  for  his  immortal  biographies. 

(Plutarch,  Cimon,  9) 

Ion  tells  us  that  when  quite  a  boy  he  came  from  Chios  to  Athens, 
and  met  Cimon  at  dinner  in  the  house  of  Laomedon.  After  dinner 
he  (Cimon)  was  asked  to  sing,  and  he  sang  well.  The  guests  all 
praised  him,  and  said  that  he  was  a  more  clever  man  than  Themis- 
tocles  :  for  Themistocles  was  wont  to  say  that  he  did  not  know 
how  to  sing  or  to  play  the  lyre,  but  that  he  knew  how  to  make  a 
state  great  and  rich.1  Afterward  the  conversation  turned  upon 
Cimon's  exploits,  and  each  mentioned  what  he  thought  the  most 
important.  Thereupon  Cimon  himself  described  what  he  consid- 
ered to  be  the  cleverest  thing  he  had  ever  done.  After  the  capture 
of  Sestos  and  Byzantium  by  the  Athenians  and  their  allies,  there 
were  a  great  number  of  Persians  taken  captive,  whom  the  allies 
desired  Cimon  to  divide  among  them.2  He  placed  the  prisoners 
on  one  side  and  all  their  clothes  and  jewellery  on  the  other,  and 
offered  the  allies  their  choice  between  the  two.  When  they  com- 
plained that  he  had  made  an  unequal  division,  he  bade  them  take 
whichever  they  pleased,  assuring  them  that  the  Athenians  would 
willingly  take  whichever  part  they  rejected.  By  the  advice  of 
Herophytus  of  Samos,  who  urged  them  to  take  the  property  of 
the  Persians,  rather  than  the  Persians  themselves,  the  allies  chose 
the  clothes  and  jewels.  Hereupon  Cimon  was  thought  to  have 
made  a  most  ridiculous  division  of  the  spoil,  as  the  allies  went 
swaggering  about  with  gold  bracelets,  armlets,  and  necklaces, 
dressed  in  Median  robes  of  rich  purple,  while  the  Athenians  pos- 
sessed only  the  naked  persons  of  men  who  were  altogether  unfit 
for  labor.    Shortly  afterward,  however,  the  friends  and  relatives 

1  Another  contemporary,  Stesimbrotus  of  Thasos,  who  knew  Cimon  personally, 
"tells  us  that  he  was  never  taught  music  or  any  of  the  other  usual  accomplishments 
of  a  Greek  gentleman"  (Plut.  Cim.  4).  Under  these  circumstances  it  is  quite  possible 
that  Themistocles  showed  better  taste  in  keeping  quiet  than  Cimon  in  singing. 

2  One  object  of  the  Delian  Confederacy  was  to  gain  wealth  by  the  plunder  of  Per- 
sian territory  (no.  68).  The  passage  throws  light  on  the  division  of  spoil  between 
Athens  and  her  allies,  and  on  the  treatment  of  prisoners. 


CIMON  AND  PERICLES 


3i3 


of  the  prisoners  came  down  to  the  Athenian  camp  from  Phrygia 
and  Lydia,  and  ransomed  each  captive  for  great  sums  of  money; 
so  that  Cimon  was  able  to  give  his  fleet  four  months'  pay  1  and 
also  remit  a  large  sum  to  Athens  from  the  money  paid  for  their 
ransom. 

(Plut.  op.  cit.  5) 

Ion  the  poet  tells  us  that  he  was  not  an  ill-looking*  man,  but  tall 
and  with  a  thick  curly  head  of  hair. 

In  the  debate  between  Ephialtes  and  Cimon  in  the  Athenian  popular 
assembly  as  to  whether  aid  should  be  sent  the  Spartans  against  the  revolted 
helots,  Cimon  favored  the  Spartan  cause  in  the  memorable  words  which  Ion 
may  himself  have  heard. 

(Plut.  op.  cit.  16) 

Ion  the  historian  has  preserved  the  argument  which  had  most 
effect  upon  the  Athenians,  and  says  that  Cimon  besought  them 
not  to  look  on  and  see  Hellas  lame  of  one  foot  and  Athens  pulling 
without  her  yokemate.2 

(Plut.  Pericles,  5) 

The  poet  Ion  asserts  that  Pericles  was  overbearing  and  insolent 
in  conversation,  and  that  his  pride  had  in  it  a  great  deal  of  contempt 
for  others,3  while  he  praises  Cimon's  civil,  sensible,  and  polished 
address. 

All  the  following  passage  is  probably  from  Ion;  the  latter  part  of  it  cer- 
tainly is. 

(Plut.  op.  cit.  28) 

After  the  reduction  of  Samos,  Pericles  returned  to  Athens, 
where  he  buried  magnificently  those  who  had  fallen  in  the  war, 
and  was  much  admired  for  the  funeral  oration  which,  as  is  cus- 
tomary, was  spoken  by  him  over  the  graves  of  his  countrymen. 

1  The  pay  of  the  sailor  at  this  time  was  undoubtedly  two  obols,  or  about  six  cents, 
daily ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xii. 

2  In  this  debate,  462,  Cimon  won,  and  himself  conducted  the  aid,  consisting  of  a 
force  of  4000  heavy  infantry,  to  Peloponnese.  The  words  quoted  illustrate  the  direct, 
unpolished  but  forceful  oratory  of  Cimon. 

3  Evidently  Ion  was  thoroughly  prejudiced  against  Pericles,  and  could  not  speak  of 
him  in  a  fair  spirit.  This  passage  and  the  following  give  a  hint  of  the  kind  of  opposi- 
tion which  throughout  his  public  career  Pericles  had  to  face. 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


When  he  descended  from  the  speaker's  stand,  the  women  greeted 
him,  crowning  him  with  garlands  and  ribbons  like  a  victorious 
athlete;  but  Elpinice,  drawing  near  him,  said,  "A  fine  exploit, 
truly,  Pericles,  and  well  worthy  of  a  wreath,  to  lose  many  of  our 
brave  fellow-citizens,  not  in  fighting  with  Persians  or  Phoenicians 
as  my  brother  Cimon  did,  but  in  ruining  a  city  of  men  of  our  own 
blood  and  ou£  own  allies."  1  At  these  words  of  Elpinice,  Pericles 
merely  smiled  and  repeated  the  verse  of  Archilochus :  — 

Too  old  art  thou  for  rich  perfumes. 

Ion  says  that  his  victory  over  the  Samians  wonderfully  flat- 
tered his  vanity.  Agamemnon,  he  was  wont  to  boast,  required 
ten  years  for  taking  a  barbarian  city,  but  he  in  nine  months  had 
made  himself  master  of  the  first  and  most  powerful  city  in  Ionia. 

86.  The  Country  People  in  the  Peloponnesian  War 

(Aristophanes,  Peace,  632-52) 

Hermes.    Then  your  laboring  population,  flocking  in  from  vale 
and  plain,2 

Never  dreamefl  that,  like  the  others,  they  themselves  were  sold 
for  gain. 

But  as  having  lost  their  grape-stones,  and  desiring  figs  to  get, 
Everyone  his  wrapt  attention  on  the  public  speakers  set ; 
These  beheld  you  poor  and  famished,  lacking  all  your  home  sup- 
plies, 

Straight  they  pitch-forked  out  the  Goddess,3  scouting  her  with 
yells  and  cries, 

1  In  addition  to  this  passage  there  are  other  indications  that  during  the  age  of  Cimon 
and  the  earlier  career  of  Pericles  women  were  socially  freer  and  more  influential  than 
they  afterward  became.  On  this  point  and  on  the  social  conditions  in  general  which 
these  excerpts  from  Ion  illustrate,  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xiii. 

2  On  the  opening  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  the  policy  of  Pericles  was  to  bring  the 
entire  country  population  of  Attica  into  the  city  for  protection,  and  to  permit  their 
lands  to  be  ravaged  by  the  enemy  (Thuc.  ii.  13-17).  "The  others,"  referred  to  in  the 
following  line,  were  the  Laconians,  mentioned  above  by  Aristophanes  :  Athenians  and 
Laconians  alike,  he  declares,  were  duped  by  demagogues  into  voting  for  the  war.  Then 
having  lost  their  grapes  and  other  subsistence,  and  desiring  gifts  of  food  from  the  state, 
the  Attic  farmers  blindly  followed  these  same  evil-minded  speakers. 

8  Eirene,  the  goddess  Peace. 


FARMERS  AND  DEMAGOGUES  315 

Whenso'er  (for  much  she  loved  you)  back  she  turned  with  wistful 
eyes. 

Then  with  suits  they  vexed  and  harassed  your  substantial  rich 
allies, 

Whispering  in  your  ear,  "The  fellow  leans  to  Brasidas,"  1  and  you 
Like  a  pack  of  hounds  in  chorus  on  the  quivering  victim  flew. 
Yea,  the  City,  sick  and  pallid,  shivering  with  disease  2  and  fright, 
Any  calumny  they  cast  her,  ate  with  ravenous  appetite. 
Till  at  last  your  friends,  perceiving  whence  their  heavy  wounds 
arose, 

Stopped  with  gold  the  mouths  of  speakers,  who  were  such  disas- 
trous foes : 

Thus  the  scoundrels  throve  and  prospered ;  whilst  distracted  Hellas 
came 

Unobserved  to  wrack  and  ruin ;  but  the  fellow  most  to  blame 
Was  a  tanner.3 

Tryceus.    Softly,  softly,  Hermes,  master,  say  not  so; 
Let  the  man  remain  in  silence,  whereso'er  he  is,  below ; 
For  the  man  is  ours  no  longer ;  he  is  all  your  own,  you  know ; 
Wherefore  whatso'er  you  call  him, 
Knave  and  slave  while  yet  amongst  us, 
Wrangler,  jangler,  false  accuser, 
Troubler,  Muddler,  All-Confuser, 
You  will  all  these  names  be  calling 
One  who  now  is  yours  alone. 

87.  The  Military  Officers  are  Unfair  toward  the  Farmers 

{Op.  cit.  1179-90) 

Chorus  of  Peasants.    Ah,  but  when   at   home  they're4 
stationed,  things  that  can't  be  borne  they  do, 
Making  up  the  lists  unfairly,  striking  out  and  putting  down 

1  Certain  allies  were  harassed  by  prosecutions  on  the  suspicion  that  they  sym- 
pathized with  the  Lacedaemonian  general  Brasidas,  while  he  was  operating  in  Chalcidice 
and  Thrace. 

2  The  great  plague  described  by  Thucydides  ii.  47-53. 

3  Cleon,  killed  in  battle  with  Brasidas  in  422,  hence  a  dweller  with  Hermes  in  the 
realm  of  Hades. 

4  "They"  were  the  taxiarchs,  colonels  of  the  ten  tribal  regiments. 


316 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


Names  at  random.    'Tis  to-morrow  that  the  soldiers  leave  the 
town ; 

One  poor  wretch  has  bought  no  victuals,  for  he  knew  not  that  he 
must  go 

Till  he  on  Pandion's  1  statue  spied  the  list  and  found  'twas  so, 
Reading  there  his  name  inserted ;  off  he  scuds  with  aspect  wry. 
This  is  how  they  treat  the  farmers,  but  the  burghers  certainly 
Somewhat  better:  godless  wretches,  rogues  with  neither  shame 
nor  —  shield,2 

Who  one  day,  if  God  be  willing,  strict  accounts  to  me  shall  yield. 
For  they've  wronged  me  much  and  sorely : 
Very  lions  in  the  City, 
Very  foxes  in  the  fight. 

88.  If  Peace  would  only  Come 
{Op.  cit.  346-57) 

Chorus  of  Peasants.    Oh,  that  it  were  yet  my  fortune  those 
delightful  days  to  see  ! 

Woes  enough  I've  had  to  bear, 

Sorry  pallets,  trouble,  care, 

Such  as  fell  to  Phormion's  3  share ; 
I  would  never  more  thereafter  so  morose  and  bitter  be, 
Nor  a  judge  so  stubborn-hearted,  unrelenting,  and  severe ; 4 

You  shall  find  me  yielding  then, 

Quite  a  tender  youth  again, 

When  these  weary  times  depart. 

Long  enough  we've  undergone 

Toils  and  sorrows  many  a  one, 

Worn  and  spent  and  sick  at  heart, 
From  Lyceum  to  Lyceum,  trudging  on  with  shield  and  spear.5 

1  Pandion,  one  of  the  ten  tribal  heroes,  whose  statues  stood  near  the  market-place. 
Public  notices,  including  conscription  lists  of  soldiers,  were  posted  there.  Before 
setting  out,  each  soldier  had  to  provide  himself  with  three  days'  rations. 

2  It  is  hinted  that  the  taxiarchs  through  cowardice  have  abandoned  their  shields 
in  battle  —  the  greatest  disgrace  that  could  befall  a  Greek. 

3  A  famous  naval  officer  of  Athens  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  war. 

4  They  refer  to  their  function  as  jurors,  of  whom  there  were  six  thousand.  Note- 
worthy is  their  reputation  for  severity. 

6  The  Lyceum,  an  enclosure  sacred  to  Apollo  outside  the  city,  had  been  adorned 


GLADSOME  PEACE 


3i7 


89.  When  Peace  Comes 

(Op.  cit.  339-45) 
Then  will  be  the  time  for  laughing, 
Shouting  out  in  jovial  glee, 
Sailing,  sleeping,  feasting,  quaffing, 
All  the  public  sights  to  see. 
Then  the  cottabus  1  be  playing, 
Then  be  hip-hip-hip-hurrahing, 
Pass  the  day  and  pass  the  night 
Like  a  regular  Sybarite. 

{Op.  cit.  539-49) 

Hermes.    And  look  there, 
See  how  the  reconciled  cities  greet  and  blend 
In  peaceful  intercourse,  and  laugh  for  joy ; 
And  that,  too,  though  their  eyes  are  swollen  and  blackened, 
And  all  cling  fast  to  cupping  instruments. 

Tryceus.    Yes,  and  survey  the  audience ;  by  their  looks 
You  can  discern  their  trades.2    Herm.    O  dear  1  O  dear ! 
Don't  you  observe  that  man  that  makes  the  crests 
Tearing  his  hair  ?    And  yon's  a  pitchfork-seller. 
Fie  !    How  he  fillips  the  sword-cutler  there. 

Tryg.    And  see  how  pleased  the  sickle-maker  looks, 
Joking  and  poking  the  spear-burnisher. 

(Op.  cit.  435-53) 

TryGjEUS.    And  as  we  pour  we'll  pray.    O  happy  morn, 
Be  thou  the  source  of  every  joy  to  Hellas ! 
And  O  may  he  who  labors  well  to-day 
Be  never  forced  to  bear  a  shield  again ! 

Chorus.    No  ;  may  he  spend  his  happy  days  in  peace, 
Stirring  the  fire,  his  mistress  at  his  side. 

with  fountains,  trees,  and  buildings.    There  the  youths  took  military  exercise,  and 
there  during  the  war,  as  this  passage  implies,  the  recruits  had  their  training. 
1 A  favorite  game  among  the  Greeks. 

2  Interest  in  the  sale  of  arms  and  ambition  for  military  distinction,  as  indicated  in 
this  passage  and  in  the  following,  were  as  strong  motives  to  war  in  ancient  times  as  they 
are  at  present. 


3¥8 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


Tryg.    If  there  be  any  that  delights  in  war, 
King  Dionysus,  may  he  never  cease 
Picking  out  spearheads  from  his  funny-bones. 

Chor.    If  any,  seeking  to  be  made  a  Captain, 
Hates  to  see  Peace  return,  O  may  he  ever 
Fare  in  his  battles  like  Cleonymus.1 

Tryg.    If  any  merchant,  selling  spears  or  shields, 
Would  fain  have  battles,  to  improve  his  trade, 
May  he  be  seized  by  thieves  and  eat  raw  barley. 

Chor.    If  any  would-be  General  won't  assist  us, 
Or  any  slave  preparing  to  desert, 
May  he  be  flogged  and  broken  on  the  wheel. 
But  on  ourselves  all  joy  :  hip,  hip,  hurrah  ! 

Tryg.    Don't  talk  of  being  hipped  —  hurrah's  the  word  to-day. 

Chor.    Hurrah,  hurrah,  hurrah's  the  word  to-day ! 

(Op.  cit.  1128-37) 

What  a  pleasure,  what  a  treasure, 

What  a  great  delight  to  me, 

From  the  cheese  and  from  the  onions, 

From  the  helmet  to  be  free. 

For  I  can't  enjoy  a  battle 

And  I  love  to  pass  my  days 

With  my  wine  and  boon  companions 

Round  the  merry,  merry  blaze, 

When  the  logs  are  dry  and  seasoned, 

And  the  fire  is  burning  bright, 

And  I  roast  the  pease  and  chestnuts 

In  the  embers  all  alight. 

90.  Back  to  the  Country 

.     (Op.  cit.  551-81) 

Tryg^us.    O  yes,  O  yes !  the  farmers  all  may  go 
Back  to  their  homes,  farm  implements  and  all. 
You  can  leave  your  darts  behind  you ;  yea,  for  sword  and  spear 
shall  cease. 

1  Often  ridiculed  as  a  coward  by  Aristophanes. 


BACK  TO  FARMING 


3i9 


All  things  all  around  are  teeming  with  the  mellow  gifts  of  Peace ; 
Shout  you  paeans,  march  away  to  labor  in  your  fields  to-day. 

Chorus.    Day  most  welcome  to  the  farmers  and  to  all  the  just 
and  true, 

Now  I  see  you,  I  am  eager  once  again  my  vines  to  view, 
And  the  fig-trees  which  I  planted  in  my  boyhood's  early  prime, 
I  would  fain  salute  and  visit  after  such  a  weary  time. 
First,  then,  comrades,  to  the  Goddess  be  our  grateful  prayers 
addressed, 

Who  has  freed  us  from  the  Gorgons  1  and  the  fear-inspiring  crest. 
Next  a  little  salt  provision  fit  for  country  uses  buy, 
Then  with  merry  expedition  homeward  to  the  fields  we'll  hie. 
Hermes.    O  Poseidon !  fair  their  order,  sweet  their  serried 
ranks  to  see : 

Right  and  tight,  like  rounded  biscuits,  or  a  thronged  festivity. 
Tryg.    Yes,  by  Zeus  !  the  well-armed  mattock  seems  to  sparkle 
as  we  gaze, 

And  the  burnished  pitchforks  glitter  in  the  sun's  delightful  rays. 
Very  famously  with  those  will  they  clear  the  vineyard  rows. 
So  that  I  myself  am  eager  homeward  to  my  farm  to  go, 
Breaking  up  the  little  furrows,  long-neglected,  with  the  hoe. 

Think  of  all  the  thousand  pleasures, 

Comrades,  which  to  Peace  we  owe, 

All  the  life  of  ease  and  comfort 

Which  she  gave  us  long  ago ; 

Figs  and  olives,  wine  and  myrtles, 

Luscious  fruits  preserved  and  dried, 

Banks  of  fragrant  violets,  blowing 

By  the  crystal  fountain's  side ; 

Scenes  for  which  our  hearts  are  yearning, 

Joys  that  we  have  missed  so  long  — 

—  Comrades,  here  is  Peace  returning, 

Greet  her  back  with  dance  and  song ! 


1  A  common  device  for  a  shield. 


320 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


91.  Mayfair 

{Op.  cit.  887-904) 

Theoria  —  "  Festival,"  here  translated  "  Mayfair. "  Trygaeus  speaks,  in- 
troducing a  personification  of  Mayfair  to  the  Council :  — 

Councillors  !  Magistrates  !  behold  Mayfair  ! 

And  0  remember  what  a  deal  of  fun 

That  word  implies ;  what  pastimes  and  what  feasts ! 

See  here's  a  famous  kitchen  chest  she  brings ; 

'Tis  blacked  a  little ;  for  in  times  of  Peace 

The  jovial  Council  kept  its  saucepans  there. 

Take  her  and  welcome  her  with  joy ;  and  then 

To-morrow  morning  let  the  sports  begin : 

Then  we'll  enjoy  the  Fair  in  every  fashion, 

With  boxing  matches  and  with  wrestling  bouts, 

And  tricks  and  games,  while  striplings  soused  in  oil 

Try  the  pancration,1  fist  and  leg  combined. 

Then  the  third  day  from  this  we'll  hold  the  races, 

The  eager  jockeys  riding ;  the  great  cars 

Puffing  and  blowing  through  the  lists,  till  dashed 

Full  on  some  turning-post,  they  reel  and  fall 

Over  and  over ;  everywhere  you  see 

The  hapless  drivers  wallowing  on  the  plain.2 


92.  On  a  Rainy  Day 
{Op.  cit.  1140-58) 

Chorus  of  Peasants.    Ah,  there's  nothing  half  so  sweet  as 
when  the  seed  is  in  the  ground, 
God  a  gracious  rain  is  sending,  and  a  neighbor  saunters  round. 
"  O  Comarchides,"  he  hails  me  ;  "How  shall  we  enjoy  the  hours?" 
"  Drinking  seems  to  suit  my  fancy,  what  with  these  benignant 
showers. 

1  A  contest  consisting  of  boxing  and  wrestling. 

2  For  a  vivid  account  of  a  chariot  race,  see  Sophocles,  Electra,  696  sqq.,  quoted  in 
Botsford,  Source-Book  of  Ancient  History,  189-91. 


NEIGHBORLY  HOSPITALITY 


321 


Therefore  let  three  quarts,  my  mistress,  of  your  kidney-beans  be 
fried, 

Mix  them  nicely  up  with  barley,  and  your  choicest  figs  provide ; 
Syra,  run  and  shout  to  Manes,  call  him  in  without  delay, 
'Tis  no  time  to  stand  and  dawdle  pruning  out  the  vines  to-day, 
Nor  to  break  the  clods  about  them,  now  the  ground  is  soaking 
through. 

Bring  me  out  from  home  the  fieldfare,  bring  me  out  the  siskins  1 
two ; 

Then  there  ought  to  be  some  beestings,  four  good  plates  of  hare 
beside, 

(Hah  !  unless  the  cat  purloined  them  yesterday  at  eventide ; 
Something  scuffled  in  the  pantry,  something  made  a  noise  and  fuss ;) 
If  you  find  them,  one's  for  father,  bring  the  other  three  to  us. 
Ask  iEschinades  to  send  us  myrtle  branches  green  and  strong ; 
Bid  Charinades  attend  us,  shouting  as  you  pass  along. 

Then  we'll  sit  and  drink  together, 

God  the  while  refreshing,  blessing 
All  the  labors  of  our  hands." 

93.  The  Public  Slave  in  the  Temple  of  the  Delphian 

Apollo 

(Euripides,  Ion,  36  sqq.) 

Often  illegitimate  children  as  well  as  those  of  poor  parents  were  exposed  in  a 
public  place,  where  they  either  died  or  were  taken  up  by  passersby,  occasion- 
ally to  be  adopted  but  m^re  frequently  to  be  reduced  to  slavery.  In  myth 
Creusa,  daughter  of  Erechtheus,  an  early  king  of  Athens,  secretly  bore  to  Apollo 
a  son,  Ion,  whom  the  mother  exposed  in  a  wicker  basket  in  the  cave  of  Agraulus, 
in  the  northern  declivity  of  the  Acropolis.  At  the  request  of  Apollo,  Hermes 
rescued  the  child  and  carrying  him  to  Delphi,  placed  him  on  the  threshold  of 
the  shrine  of  Apollo.  The  rest  of  the  story  is  told  in  the  following  passage 
remarkable  for  the  beautiful  description  of  Delphi,  its  references  to  Athens, 
and  the  light  it  throws  on  the  almost  enviable  life  of  a  public  slave  in  a  temple 
like  that  of  Apollo. 

Hermes.  To  do  my  brother  Loxias  a  service,  I  took  up  the 
woven  basket  and  bore  it  off,  and  at  the  threshold  of  the  shrine 

1  Fieldfare,  a  species  of  thrush ;  siskin,  a  species  of  finch. 


322 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


I  have  laid  the  babe,  after  opening  the  lid  of  the  wicker  cradle 
that  the  child  might  be  seen.  But  just  as  the  Sun-God  was  start- 
ing forth  to  run  his  course,  a  priestess  chanced  to  enter  the  God's 
shrine ;  and  when  her  eyes  lit  upon  the  tender  babe,  she  thought 
it  strange  that  any  Delphian  maid  should  dare  cast  her  illegitimate 
child  down  at  the  temple  of  the  God ;  wherefore  her  purpose  was 
to  remove  him  beyond  the  altar,  but  from  pity  she  renounced  her 
cruel  thought;  and  the  God  to  help  his  child  did  second  her  pity 
to  save  the  babe  from  being  cast  out.  She  took  him,  accordingly, 
and  brought  him  up,  but  knew  not  that  Phoebus  was  his  sire,  nor 
of  the  mother  that  bare  him,  nor  yet  did  the  child  know  his  parents. 
While  yet  he  was  a  child,  around  the  altar  that  fed  him  he  would 
ramble  at  his  play,  but  when  he  came  to  man's  estate,  the  Del- 
phians  made  him  Treasurer  of  the  God  and  Steward  of  all  his 
store,  and  found  him  true.  Till  the  present  day,  therefore,  he 
leads  a  holy  life  in  the  God's  temple.  Meantime  Creusa,  mother 
of  this  youth,  is  married  to  Xuthus.  .  .  .  After  many  years 
of  wedded  life  he  and  Creusa  are  still  childless;  wherefore  they 
come  to  this  oracle  of  Apollo  in  their  desire  of  offspring.  To  this 
end  is  Loxias  guiding  their  destiny  nor  hath  it  escaped  his  ken, 
as  some  suppose.  For  when  Xuthus  enters  this  shrine,  the  God 
will  give  him  his  own  son  and  declare  that  Xuthus  is  the  sire,  that 
so  the  boy  may  come  to  his  mother's  home  and  be  acknowledged 
by  Creusa,  while  the  marriage  of  Loxias  remains  a  secret,  and  the 
child  obtains  his  rights  ;  and  he  shall  cause  him,  throughout  all  the 
breadth  of  Hellas,  to  be  called  Ion,  founder  of  the  realm  in  Asia.  .  .  . 

Ion.  Lo  !  the  Sun-God  is  e'en  now  turning  toward  earth  his 
chariot-car  resplendent ;  before  yon  fire  the  stars  retire  to  night's 
mysterious  gloom  from  forth  the  firmament ;  the  peaks  of  Parnas- 
sus, where  no  man  may  set  foot,  are  all  ablaze,  and  hail  the  car  of 
day  for  mortal's  service.  To  Phoebus'  roof  mounts  up  the  smoke 
of  myrrh,  offering  of  the  desert.  There  on  the  holy  tripod  sits 
the  Delphian  priestess,  chanting  to  the  ears  of  Hellas,  in  numbers 
loud,  whate'er  Apollo  doth  proclaim.  Ye  Delphians,  votaries 
of  Phoebus,  away  to  Castalia's  gushing  fount  as  silver  clear,  and 
when  you  have  bathed  you  in  waters  pure,  enter  the  shrine ;  and 
keep  your  lips  in  holy  silence  that  it  may  be  well.  Be  careful  to 
utter  words  of  good  omen  amongst  yourselves  to  those  who  wish 


TEMPLE  DECORATIONS' 


323 


to  consult  the  oracle ;  while  I,  with  laurel  sprays  and  sacred  wreaths 
and  drops  of  water  sprinkled  o'er  the  floor,  will  purify  the  entrance 
to  the  shrine  of  Phoebus  —  my  task  each  day  from  childhood's 
hour.  With  my  bow  will  I  put  to  flight  the  flocks  of  feathered 
fowls  that  harm  his  sacred  offerings ;  for  here  in  Phcebus's  shrine, 
which  nurtured  me,  I  minister,  an  orphan,  fatherless  and  mother- 
less .  .  . 

Enter  chorus  of  maid  servants  of  Creusa,  queen  of  the  Athenians;  the 
members  speak  individually,  admiring  the  paintings  or  sculptured  decora- 
tions of  the  temple. 

Chorus  1 .  It  is  not  in  holy  Athens  only  that  there  are  courts 
of  the  Gods  with  fine  colonnades,  and  the  worship  of  Apollo,  guar- 
dian of  highways ;  but  here,  too,  at  the  shrine  of  Loxias,  son  of 
Latona,  shines  the  lovely  eye  of  day  on  faces  twain. 

Chorus  2.  Just  look  at  this!  here  is  the  son  of  Zeus  killing 
with  his  golden  scimitar  the  watersnake  of  Lerna.1  Do  look  at 
him  my  friend ! 

Chorus  i.  Yes,  I  see.  And  close  to  him  stands  another 
with  a  blazing  torch  uplifted ;  who  is  he  ?  Can  this  be  the  warrior 
Iolaiis,2  whose  story  is  told  on  my  embroidery,  who  shares  with 
the  son  of  Zeus  his  labors,  and  helps  him  in  the  moil  ? 

Chorus  3.  O  but  look  at  this !  a  man  mounted  on  a  winged 
horse,  killing  a  fire-breathing  monster  with  three  bodies.3 

Chorus  i.  I  am  turning  my  eyes  in  every  direction.  Behold 
the  rout  of  the  giants  carved  on  these  walls  of  stone. 

Chorus  4.    Yes,  yes,  good  friends,  I  am  looking. 

Chorus  5.  Dost  see  her4  standing  over  Enceladus,  brandish- 
ing her  shield  with  the  Gorgon's  head  ? 

Chorus  6.    I  see  Pallas,  my  own  Goddess. 

Chorus  7.  Again,  dost  thou  see  the  massy  thunderbolt 
all  aflame  in  the  far-darting  hands  of  Zeus? 

Chorus  8.  I  do;  'tis  blasting  with  its  flame  Mimas,5  that 
deadly  foe. 

1  Lerna,  a  place  near  Argos  where  Heracles  killed  the  Hydra,  here  described  as  a 
watersnake. 

2  Iolaiis,  a  kinsman  and  faithful  comrade  of  Heracles. 

3  Bellerophon  killing  the  Chimaera. 

4  Athena  (Pallas)  standing  triumphant  over  the  giant  Enceladus. 

5  Mimas,  a  giant,  killed  by  a  thunderbolt  as  here  described. 


324 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


Chorus  9.  Bromius,1  too,  the  God  of  revelry,  is  slaying  another 
of  the  sons  of  Earth  with  his  thyrsus  of  ivy,  never  meant  for  battle. 

Chorus  i.  Thou  that  art  stationed  by  this  fane,  to  thee  I 
do  address  me;  may  we  pass  the  threshold  of  these  vaults  with 
our  fair  white  feet  ? 

Ion.    Nay,  ye  must  not,  stranger  ladies. 

Chorus  10.    May  I  ask  thee  about  something  I  have  heard? 

Ion.    What  wouldst  thou  ask? 

Chorus  1 1 .  Is  it  true  that  the  temple  of  Phoebus  stands  upon 
the  centre  of  the  world  ? 

Ion.  Aye,  there  it  stands  with  garlands  decked  and  gorgeous 
all  around. 

Chorus  12.    E'en  so  the  legend  saith. 

Ion.  If  ye  have  offered  a  sacrificial  cake  before  the  shrine 
and  have  aught  ye  wish  to  ask  Phoebus,  approach  the  altar ;  but 
enter  not  the  inmost  sanctuary,  save  ye  have  sacrificed  sheep. 

Chorus  13.  I  understand;  but  we  have  no  mind  to  trespass 
against  the  God's  law ;  the  pictures  here  without  will  entertain  us. 

Ion.    Feast  your  eyes  on  all  ye  may. 

Chorus  14.  My  mistress  gave  me  leave  to  see  these  vaulted 
chambers. 

Ion.    Whose  handmaids  do  ye  avow  yourselves? 
Chorus  15.    The  temple  where  Pallas  dwells  is  the  nursing- 
home  of  my  lords.    But  lo !  here  is  she  of  whom  thou  askest. 

Creusa  enters,  and  in  a  long  conversation  with  Ion  reveals  her  anxiety  for 
the  son  she  has  borne  to  Apollo.  Thereupon  Ion,  when  left  alone,  calls  Apollo 
to  account  for  his  misconduct.  The  Gods  ought  to  obey  the  laws  they  have 
established  for  mankind. 

Ion.  Why  doth  this  stranger  lady  hint  dark  reproaches  against 
the  God  unceasingly  ?  .  .  .  Maybe  because  she  is  hiding  something 
needing  secrecy?  Yet  what  have  I  to  do  with  the  daughter  of 
Erechtheus?  She  is  naught  to  me.  No,  I  will  go  to  the  laver, 
and  from  golden  ewers  sprinkle  the  holy  water.  Yet  I  must  warn 
Phoebus  of  what  is  happening  to  him  ;  he  wrongs  a  maid  and  proves 
unfaithful  to  her,  and  after  secretly  becoming  the  parent  of  a  son 
leaves  him  to  die.    O  Phoebus,  do  not  so,  but  as  thou  art  supreme, 

1  Bromius,  Dionysus. 


BETTER  REMAIN  A  SLAVE 


325 


follow  in  virtue's  track ;  for  whosoever  of  mortal  men  transgresses, 
him  the  Gods  punish.  How,  then,  can  it  be  just  that  you  should 
enact  your  laws  for  men,  and  yourselves  incur  the  charge  of  break- 
ing them  ?  Now  I  will  put  this  case,  though  it  will  never  happen. 
Wert  thou,  were  Poseidon,  and  Zeus,  lord  of  Heaven,  to  make 
atonement  to  mankind  for  every  act  of  lawless  love,  ye  would 
empty  your  temples  in  paying  fines  for  your  misdeeds.  For  when 
ye  pursue  pleasure  in  preference  to  the  claims  of  prudence,  ye  act 
unjustly  ;  no  longer  is  it  fair  to  call  men  wicked,  if  we  are  imitating 
the  evil  deeds  of  Gods,  but  rather  are  those  who  give  us  such 
examples. 

After  a  time  Xuthus  enters ;  and,  directed  by  Apollo  to  claim  Ion  as  his 
son,  he  invites  the  young  man  to  accompany  him  to  Athens,  there  to  enter 
public  life  with  a  view  to  succeeding  to  the  throne.  The  reply  of  Ion  indicates 
some  of  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  new  man's  success  in  Athenian  politics, 
and  by  contrast  the  blessedness  of  the  life  of  a  slave  in  office  at  Apollo's  shrine. 

Ion.  .  .  .  Athens,  I  am  told  —  that  glorious  city  of  a  native 
race  —  owns  no  aliens ; 1  therefore  I  shall  force  my  entrance  there 
under  a  twofold  disadvantage,  —  as  an  alien's  son  and  base-born 
as  I  am.  Branded  with  this  reproach,  while  as  yet  I  am  unsup- 
ported, I  shall  get  the  name  of  a  mere  nobody,  a  son  of  nobodies ; 
and  if  I  win  my  way  to  the  highest  place  in  the  state,  and  seek  to 
be  someone,  I  shall  be  hated  by  those  who  have  no  influence,  for 
superiority  is  galling;  while  amongst  men  of  worth  who  could 
show  their  wisdom  but  are  silent,  and  take  no  interest  in  politics, 
I  shall  incur  ridicule  and  be  thought  a  fool  for  not  keeping  quiet 
in  such  a  fault-finding  city.  Again,  if  I  win  a  name  among  the 
men  of  mark  who  are  engaged  in  politics,  still  more  will  jealous 
votes  bar  my  progress  ;  for  thus,  father,  it  is  ever  wont  to  be  :  they 
who  have  the  city's  ear,  and  have  already  made  their  mark,  are 
most  bitter  against  all  rivals.  Again  if  I,  a  stranger,  come  to  a 
home  that  knows  me  not,  and  to  that  childless  wife  who  before 
had  thee  as  partner  of  her  sorrow,  but  now  will  feel  the  bitterness 
of  having  to  bear  her  fortune  all  alone  —  how,  I  ask,  shall  I  not 
fairly  earn  her  hatred,  when  I  take  my  stand  beside  thee;  while 
she,  still  childless,  sees  thy  dear  pledge  with  bitter  eyes ;  and  then 

1  Athens  rarely  granted  the  citizenship  to  aliens. 


326 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


thou  have  to  choose  between  deserting  me  and  regarding  her,  or 
honoring  me  and  utterly  confounding  thy  home?  How  many  a 
murder,  and  death  by  deadly  drugs,  have  wives  devised  for  hus- 
bands !  Besides  I  pity  that  wife  of  thine,  father,  with  her  child- 
less old  age  beginning;  she  little  deserves  to  pine  in  barrenness, 
a  daughter  of  a  noble  race. 

That  princely  state  we  fondly  praise  is  pleasant  to  the  eye; 
but  yet  in  its  mansions  sorrow  lurks ;  for  who  is  happy  or  by  for- 
tune blest  that  has  to  live  his  life  in  fear  of  violence,  with  many  a 
sidelong  glance?  Rather  would  I  live  among  the  common  folk 
and  taste  their  bliss,  than  be  a  tyrant  who  delights  in  making  evil 
men  his  friends,  and  hates  the  good  in  terror  of  his  life.  Perchance 
wilt  thou  tell  me,  'Gold  outweighs  all  these  evils,  and  wealth  is 
sweet.'  I  have  no  wish  to  be  abused  for  holding  tightly  to  my 
pelf,  nor  yet  to  have  the  trouble  of  it.  Be  mine  a  moderate  for- 
tune free  from  annoyance !  Now  hear  the  blessings,  father,  that 
here  were  mine ;  first  leisure,  man's  chiefest  joy,  with  but  moder- 
ate trouble ;  no  villain  ever  drove  me  from  my  path,  and  that  is 
a  grievance  hard  to  bear,  to  make  room  and  give  way  to  sorry 
knaves.  My  duty  was  to  pray  unto  the  Gods,  or  with  mortal 
men  converse,  a  minister  to  their  joys,  not  to  their  sorrows.  And 
I  was  ever  dismissing  one  company  of  guests,  while  another  took 
their  place,  so  that  from  the  charm  of  novelty  I  was  always  wel- 
come. That  honesty  which  men  must  pray  for,  even  against 
their  will,  custom  and  nature  did  conspire  to  plant  in  me  in  the 
sight  of  Phcebus.  Now  when  I  think  on  this,  I  deem  that  I  am 
better  here  than  there,  father.  So  let  me  live  on  here,  for  'tis 
an  equal  charm  to  joy  in  high  estate  or  in  a  humble  fortune  find  a 
pleasure. 

94.  Origin  of  Various  Social  Customs 

(Critias,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  i.  50.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  cottabus  1  is  from  Sicilian  soil,  a  feat  of  excellence,  which 
we  establish  as  the  mark  for  hurling  remnant  drops  of  wine;  and 
then  the  Sicilian  carriage  in  beauty  and  in  costliness  is  preemi- 

1  The  object  of  this  game,  which  was  very  popular  at  banquets,  was  to  throw  in  a 
high  curve  at  a  mark  the  last  few  drops  of  the  wine-cup  without  spilling  any  of  it. 
Illustrations  are  found  in  vase  paintings. 


INVENTIONS  AND  CUSTOMS 


327 


nent.  .  .  .  The  armchair  is  from  Thessaly,  most  luxurious  seat  for 
limbs ;  but  for  the  couch  of  rest  chiefly  possess  distinction  both 
Miletus  and  Chios,  the  sea-town  of  (Enopion.1  Of  Tuscan  craft 
is  foremost  the  cup  of  hammered  gold,  and  everything  of  bronze, 
all  that  adorns  the  home  in  every  need.2  Phoenicians  devised  the 
letters  that  preserve  discourse ; 3  Thebes  was  the  first  to  join  to- 
gether the  carriage  chair ;  and  cargo-bearing  boats  the  Carians, 
stewards  of  the  sea.  But  she  who  did  invent  the  child  of  wheel 
and  earth  and  oven,  most  famous  pottery,  useful  dispenser  in  the 
household,  'twas  she  who  did  establish  a  fair  trophy  at  Marathon.4 

{Idem,  quoted  by  Athen.  x.  41.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

This  is  the  usage  at  Sparta  and  practice  established,  that  (all) 
should  drink  from  the  same  winebearing  cup,  nor  make  a  gift  of 
drinking  healths  in  citing  (friends)  by  name,  nor  pass  it  toward 
the  right  within  the  brotherhood  (thiasos)  .  .  . 

[A  Lydian  hand  of  Asian  origin  invented  goblets,]  5  and  pass- 
ing healths  toward  the  right,  and  calling  out  by  naming  him  to 
whom  one  desires  to  drink  a  health.  Then  starting  with  such 
draughts,  they  loose  their  tongues  to  stories  shameful,  they  en- 
feeble more  their  bodies ;  upon  the  eye  doth  settle  blinding  dark- 
ness ;  oblivion  melts  away  the  memory  of  the  mind.  Intelligence 
fails ;  like  slaves  they  have  licentious  manners  —  upon  them  falls 
expenditure  that  ruins  house  and  home. 

But  the  lads  of  Lacedaemon  drink  so  much  only  as  carries  every 
mind  to  gladsome  hope,  to  kindly  cheer  and  talk  and  measured 
mirth.  Such  drinking  is  useful  for  the  body  and  for  the  mind  and 
store ;  well  to  the  doings  of  Aphrodite  and  to  sleep  —  the  port  of 
toil  —  it  is  adjusted,  and  to  the  Goddess  Health,  most  charming 
to  mankind,  and  to  Self-Restraint,  next  door  to  Piety. 

1  (Enopion,  son  of  Dionysus,  led  a  company  of  Cretans  to  colonize  Chios,  accord- 
ing to  Pausanias  vii.  4.  8. 

2  From  the  contents  of  Etruscan  tombs,  as  well  as  from  various  literary  sources, 
we  learn  that  the  Etruscans  were  famous  for  their  bronze  wares. 

3  It  is  now  believed  that  the  Phoenicians  derived  the  elements  of  the  alphabet,  in 
whole  or  part,  from  the  Minoan  Cretans;  Evans,  Scripta  Minoa,  I.  77  sqq. 

4  Athenaeus  remarks  :  "  In  fact  the  pottery  of  Athens  is  deservedly  praised  " ;  loc.  cit. 

5  This  line  is  bracketed  by  Kaibel.  The  word  ayyea  literally  "pails,"  probably 
means  large  drinking  cups,  goblets.  The  excessive  drinking  of  the  Lydians  is  con- 
trasted with  the  Lacedaemonian  moderation.    Critias  was  a  great  admirer  of  Sparta. 


328 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


95.  The  Wonderful  Powers  of  Man 
(Sophocles,  Antigone,  332-75) 

Wonders  are  many,  and  none  is  more  wonderful  than  man; 
the  power  that  crosses  the  white  sea,  driven  by  the  stormy  south- 
wind,  making  a  path  under  surges  that  threaten  to  engulf  him ; 
and  Earth,  the  eldest  of  the  gods,  the  immortal,  the  unwearied, 
doth  he  wear,  turning  the  soil  with  the  offspring  of  horses,  as  the 
ploughs  go  to  and  fro  from  year  to  year. 

And  the  light-hearted  race  of  birds,  and  the  tribes  of  savage 
beasts,  and  the  sea-brood  of  the  deep,  he  snares  in  the  meshes  of 
his  woven  toils,  he  leads  captive,  man  excellent  in  wit.  And  he 
masters  by  his  arts  the  beast  whose  lair  is  in  the  wilds,  who  roams 
the  hills ;  he  tames  the  horse  of  shaggy  mane,  he  puts  the  yoke  upon 
its  neck,  he  tames  the  tireless  mountain  bull. 

And  speech  and  swift-winged  thought  and  all  the  moods  that 
mould  a  state,  hath  he  taught  himself ;  and  how  to  flee  the  arrows 
of  the  frost,  when  'tis  hard  lodging  under  the  clear  sky,  and  the  ar- 
rows of  the  rushing  rain ;  yea,  he  hath  resource  for  all ;  without 
resource  he  meets  nothing  that  must  come ;  only  against  Death 
shall  he  call  for  aid  in  vain ;  but  from  baffling  maladies  he  hath 
devised  escapes.1 

Cunning  beyond  fancy's  dream  is  the  fertile  skill  which  brings 
him  now  to  evil,  now  to  good.  When  he  honors  the  laws  of  the 
land,  and  that  justice  which  he  hath  sworn  by  the  gods  to  uphold, 
proudly  stands  his  city;  no  city  hath  he  who  for  his  rashness 
dwells  with  sin.  Never  may  he  share  my  hearth,  never  think  my 
thoughts,  who  doth  these  things  ! 

96.  Woman's  Self-Sacrifice 

(Euripides,  Alcestis,  280-368) 

In  the  age  of  Pericles  the  tendency  was  to  limit  the  social  freedom  of 
Athenian  women  and  to  confine  them  as  much  as  possible  to  the  home.  Doubt- 
less the  great  majority  of  women  met  this  demand  upon  them  in  the  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  best  shown  in  Alcestis,  whom  Euripides  presented  on  the  stage 
in  438. 

1  On  the  progress  of  medical  science,  see  nos.  79-81. 


HER  LAST  REQUEST 


329 


Admetus,  a  Thessalian  lord,  is  doomed  to  die  unless  he  can  find  a  substitute. 
After  he  has  vainly  besought  his  friends  and  kinsfolk,  including  his  father  and 
mother,  to  go  down  to  Hades'  realm  in  his  place,  his  wife  Alcestis  willingly 
offers  to  die  that  he  may  live,  coward  and  weakling  as  he  is.  Especially  inter- 
esting, too,  in  the  following  passage  is  the  sentiment  regarding  a  second  marriage. 

Alcestis.  Admetus,  lo !  thou  seest  how  it  is  with  me ;  to 
thee  I  fain  would  tell  my  wishes  ere  I  die.  Thee  I  set  before  my- 
self, and  instead  of  living  have  ensured  thy  life,  and  so  I  die,  though 
I  need  not  have  died  for  thee,  but  might  have  taken  for  my  hus- 
band whom  I  would  of  the  Thessalians,  and  have  had  a  home  blessed 
with  royal  power ;  reft  of  thee,  with  my  children  orphans,  I  cared 
not  to  live,  nor,  though  crowned  with  youth's  fair  gifts,  wherein 
I  used  to  joy,  did  I  grudge  them.  Yet  the  father  that  begat  thee, 
the  mother  that  bare  thee,  gave  thee  up,  though  they  had  reached 
a  time  of  life  when  to  die  were  well,  so  saving  thee  their  child,  and 
winning  noble  death.  For  thou  wert  their  only  son,  nor  had  they 
any  hope,  when  thou  wert  dead,  of  other  offspring.  And  I  should 
have  lived  and  thou  the  remnant  of  our  days,  nor  wouldst  thou 
have  wept  thy  wife's  loss,  nor  have  had  an  orphan  family.  But 
some  god  hath  caused  these  things  to  be  even  as  they  are.  Enough  ! 
Remember  thou  the  gratitude  due  to  me  for  this ;  yea,  for  I  shall 
never  ask  thee  for  an  adequate  return,  for  naught  is  prized  more 
highly  than  our  life ;  but  just  is  my  request,  as  thou  thyself  must 
say,  since  I  no  less  than  thou  dost  love  these  children,  if  so  be  thou 
thinkest  aright.  Be  content  to  let  them  rule  my  house,  and  do 
not  marry  a  new  wife  to  be  a  stepmother  to  these  children,  for  she 
from  jealousy,  if  so  she  be  a  woman  worse  than  me,  will  stretch 
out  her  hand  against  the  children  of  our  union.  Then  do  not  this, 
I  beseech  thee.  For  the  stepmother  that  succeeds,  hateth  children 
of  a  former  match,  cruel  as  the  viper's  are  her  tender  mercies.  A 
son,  'tis  true,  hath  in  his  sire  a  tower  of  strength,  [to  whom  he  speaks 
and  has  his  answer  back] ; 1  but  thou,  my  daughter,  how  shall  thy 
maidenhood  be  passed  in  honor?  What  shall  thy  experience  be 
of  thy  father's  wife?  She  may  fasten  on  thee  some  foul  report  in 
thy  youthful  bloom,  and  frustrate  thy  marriage.  Never  shall 
thy  mother  lead  thee  to  the  bridal  bed,  nor  by  her  presence  in  thy 


1  This  line  is  probably  spurious. 


33° 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


travail  hearten  thee,  my  child,  when  a  mother's  kindness  triumphs 
over  all.  No,  for  I  must  die ;  and  lo !  this  evil  cometh  to  me  not 
to-morrow  nor  yet  on  the  third  day  of  the  month,  but  in  a  moment 
shall  I  be  counted  among  the  souls  that  are  no  more.  Fare  ye 
well,  be  happy;  and  thou,  husband,  canst  boast  thou  hadst  a 
peerless  wife,  and  you,  children,  that  you  had  such  a  one  for  mother. 

Chorus.  Take  heart ;  I  do  not  hesitate  to  answer  for  him ; 
he  will  perform  all  this,  unless  his  mind  should  go  astray. 

Adm.  It  shall  be  so,  fear  not  it  shall ;  alive  thou  wert  the  only 
wife  I  had,  and  dead  thou  shalt,  none  else,  be  called  mine;  no 
Thessalian  maid  shall  ever  take  thy  place  and  call  me  lord;  not 
though  she  spring  from  lineage  high,  nor  though  besides  she  be 
the  fairest  of  her  sex.  Of  children  I  have  enough  ;  god  grant  I 
may  in  them  be  blessed,  for  in  thee  has  it  been  otherwise.  No 
year-long  mourning  will  I  keep  for  thee,  but  all  my  life  through, 
lady ;  loathing  the  mother  that  bare  me,  and  hating  my  father, 
for  they  were  friends  in  word  but  not  in  deed.  But  thou  didst 
give  thy  dearest  for  my  life  and  save  it.  May  I  not  then  mourn 
to  lose  a  wife  like  thee  ?  And  I  will  put  an  end  to  revelry,  to  social 
gathering  over  the  wine,  forego  the  festal  crown  and  music  which 
once  reigned  in  my  halls.  For  nevermore  will  I  touch  the  lyre  nor 
lift  my  soul  in  song  to  the  Lydian  flute,  for  thou  hast  taken  with 
thee  all  my  joy  in  life.  .  .  .  Thou  wilt  come  to  me  in  dreams 
and  gladden  me.  For  sweet  it  is  to  see  our  friends,  come  they 
when  they  will,  e'en  by  night. 

Had  I  the  tongue,  the  tuneful  voice  of  Orpheus  to  charm  Deme- 
ter's  daughter  or  her  husband  by  my  lay  and  bring  thee  back  from 
Hades,  I  had  gone  down,  nor  Pluto's  hound,  nor  Charon,  ferryman 
of  souls,  whose  hand  is  on  the  oar,  had  held  me  back,  till  to  the 
light  I  had  restored  thee  alive.  At  least  do  thou  await  me  there, 
against  the  hour  I  die,  prepare  a  home  for  me  to  be  my  true  wife 
still.  For  in  this  same  cedar  coffin  I  will  bid  these  children  lay 
me  with  thee  and  stretch  my  limbs  by  thine ;  for  never  even  in 
death  may  I  be  severed  from  thee,  alone  found  faithful  of  them  all. 


GRIEF  AND  RESIGNATION  331 

{Op.  cit.  895-1005  ;  Way) 

The  following  passage  appreciates  the  worth  of  Alcestis  who  has  sacrificed 
herself  to  save  her  husband,  and  expresses  some  interesting  thoughts  on  future 
life  and  on  the  resistless  power  of  Necessity. 

Admetus  1 

O  long  grief  and  pain, 

For  beloved  ones  passed ! 
Why  didst  thou  restrain, 

When  myself  I  had  cast 
Down  into  her  grave,  with  the  noblest  to  lie  peace-lulled  at  the  last? 
Not  one  soul,  but  two 

Had  been  Hades'  prey, 
Souls  utterly  true 

United  for  aye, 

Which  together  o'er  waves  of  the  underworld-mere  had  passed  this 
day. 

Chorus  2 

Of  my  kin  was  there  one, 

And  the  life's  light  failed 
In  his  halls  of  a  son, 

One  meet  to  be  wailed, 
His  only  beloved ;  howbeit  the  manhood  within  him  prevailed ; 
And  the  ills  heaven-sent 

As  a  man  did  he  bear, 
Though  by  this  was  he  bent 

Unto  silvered  hair, 
Far  on  in  life's  path,  without  son  for  his  remnant  of  weakness  to  care. 

Admetus  3 

Oh  how  can  I  tread 
Thy  threshold,  fair  home? 

1  Admetus  regrets  that  he  had  been  prevented  from  dying  with  his  wife,  to  whom  he 
was  devotedly  attached. 

2  The  Chorus  gives  him  an  example  of  patient  resignation,  with  the  implication 
that  he  ought  to  be  instructed  by  it. 

3  Here  Admetus  contrasts  the  present  desolation  of  his  home  with  its  happiness  on 
the  day  when  he  brought  into  it  his  bride  with  festal  gaiety.  Thereupon  the  Chorus, 
changing  their  manner  of  consolation,  rebukes  him  sternly  though  pityingly :  with  a 
great  price  indeed  he  has  gained  his  object. 


332  HELLENIC  SOCIETY 

• 

How  shelter  mine  head 

'Neath  thy  roof,  now  the  doom 
Of  my  fate's  dice  changeth  ?  —  ah  me,  what  change  upon  all  things 
is  come ! 

For  with  torches  aflame 

Of  the  Pelian  pine, 
And  with  bride-song  I  came 
In  thy  hour  divine, 
Upbearing  the  hand  of  a  wife  —  thine  hand,  O  darling  mine  I 
Followed  revellers,  raising 

Acclaim :  ever  broke 
From  the  lips  of  them  praising, 
Of  the  dead  as  they  spoke, 
And  of  me,  how  the  noble,  the  children  of  kings,  Love  joined  near 
his  yoke. 

But  for  bridal  song 

Is  the  wail  of  the  dead, 
And,  for  white-robed  throne, 
Black  vesture  hath  led 
Me  to  halls  where  the  ghost  of  delight  lieth  couched  on  a  desolate 
bed. 

Chorus 

To  the  trance  of  thy  bliss 

Sudden  anguish  was  brought. 
Never  lesson  like  this 

To  thine  heart  had  been  taught : 
Yet  thy  life  hast  thou  won,  and  thy  soul  hast  delivered  from  death  : 
is  it  naught  ? 

Thy  wife  hath  departed  : 

Love  tender  and  true 
Hath  she  left ;  stricken-hearted, 
Wherein  is  this  new  ? 
Hath  death  not  unyoked  from  the  chariot  of  Love  full  many  ere 
you? 

Admetus 

Friends  I  account  the  fortune  of  my  wife 
Happier  than  mine,  albeit  it  seem  not  so. 
For  naught  of  grief  shall  touch  her  any  more. 


A  WIFELESS  HOME 


333 


But  I,  unmeet  to  live,  my  doom  outrun, 
Shall  drag  out  bitter  days :  I  know  it  now. 
How  shall  I  bear  to  enter  this  my  home  ? 
Speaking  to  whom,  and  having  speech  of  whom, 
Shall  I  find  joy  of  entering  ?  —  whither  turn  rne  ? 
The  solitude  within  shall  drive  me  forth, 
Whenso  I  see  my  wife's  couch  tenantless, 
And  seats  whereon  she  sat,  and  'neath  the  roof, 
All  foul  the  floor ;  when  on  my  knees  my  babes 
Falling  shall  weep  their  mother,  servants  moan 
The  peerless  mistress  from  the  mansion  lost. 
All  this  within  :  but  from  the  world  without 
Me  shall  Thessalian  bridals  chase,  and  throngs 
Where  women  gossip  —  oh  I  shall  not  bear 
On  these  young  matrons  like  my  wife  to  look ! 
And  whatsoever  foe  I  have  shall  scoff : 
'  Lo  there  who  basely  liveth  —  dared  not  die, 
But  whom  he  wedded  gave,  a  coward's  ransom, 
And  'scaped  from  Hades.    Count  ye  him  a  man? 
He  hates  his  parents,  though  himself  was  loth 
To  die  ! '    Such  ill  report,  besides  my  griefs, 
Shall  mine  be.    Ah  what  honor  is  mine  to  live, 
O  friends,  in  evil  fame,  in  evil  plight  ? 

Chorus  1 

I  have  mused  on  the  words  of  the  wise, 

Of  the  mighty  in  song ; 
I  have  lifted  mine  heart  to  the  skies, 
I  have  searched  all  truth  with  mine  eyes ; 

But  none  more  strong 
Than  Fate  have  I  found  :  there  is  naught 

In  the  tablets  of  Thrace, 
Neither  drugs  whereof  Orpheus  taught, 

1  Failing  in  every  effort  to  console  Admetus,  the  Chorus,  in  a  splendid  Ode,  ad- 
dresses Necessity  (in  the  translation  "Fate"),  the  Goddess  unworshiped  by  man,  who 
rules  the  human  race,  without  whose  aid  even  Zeus  could  not  accomplish  his  purpose. 
Interesting  is  the  last  paragraph,  which  gives  the  departed  Alcestis  a  character  like  that 
of  the  mediaeval  saint. 


334 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


Nor  in  all  that  Apollo  brought 
To  Asclepius '  race, 
When  the  herbs  of  healing  he  severed,  and  out  of  their  anguish 
delivered 

The  pain  distraught. 

There  is  none  other  Goddess  beside 

To  the  altars  of  whom 
No  man  draweth  near,  nor  hath  cried 
To  her  image,  nor  victim  hath  died, 

Averting  her  doom. 
O  Goddess,  more  mighty  for  ill 

Come  not  upon  me 

Than  in  days  overpast ;  for  his  will 
Even  Zeus  may  in  no  wise  fulfil 

Unholpen  of  thee. 
Steel  is  molten  as  water  before  thee,  but  never  relenting  came  o'er 
thee, 

Who  art  ruthless  still. 

Thee,  friend,  hath  the  Goddess  gripped :  from  her  hands  never 

wrestler  hath  slipped. 
Yet  be  strong  to  endure :  never  mourning  shall  bring  our  beloved 

returning 

From  the  nethergloom  up  to  the  light. 
Yea,  the  heroes  of  Gods  begotten, 
They  fade  into  darkness,  forgotten 

In  death's  chill  night. 
Dear  was  she  in  days  ere  we  lost  her, 

Dear  yet,  though  she  lie  with  the  dead. 
None  nobler  shall  Earth-mother  foster 

Than  the  wife  of  thy  bed. 

Not  as  mounds  of  the  dead  which  have  died,  so  account  we  the  tomb 
of  thy  bride; 

But  oh,  let  the  worship  and  honor  that  we  render  to  Gods  rest  upon 
her : 

Unto  her  let  the  wayfarer  pray. 


A  WIFE'S  SAD  STATE 


335 


As  he  treadeth  the  pathway  that  trendeth 
Aside  from  the  highway,  and  bendeth 

At  her  shrine,  he  shall  say : 

'  Her  life  for  her  lord's  was  given ; 

With  the  blest  now  abides  she  on  high. 
Hail,  Queen,  show  us  grace  from  thy  heaven ! ' 

Even  so  shall  they  cry. 

97.  Sorrows  of  a  Wife 

(Euripides,  Medeia,  204-66) 

Having  come  to  Corinth  with  his  wife  Medeia  and  his  two  sons,  Jason  has 
repudiated  his  wife  and  has  married  the  daughter  of  the  Corinthian  king. 
Medeia,  full  of  sorrow  for  her  misfortune  and  of  hatred  for  Jason,  approaches 
with  a  bitter  cry.  The  Chorus  of  sympathetic  Corinthian  women  speak  among 
themselves  of  her  sad  plight,  after  which  she  addresses  them. 

Chorus.  I  heard  a  bitter  cry  of  lamentation !  loudly,  bitterly 
she  calls  on  the  traitor  of  her  marriage  bed,  her  perfidious  spouse ; 
by  grievous  wrongs  oppressed  she  invokes  Themis,1  bride  of  Zeus, 
witness  of  oaths,  who  brought  her  unto  Hellas,  the  land  that  fronts 
the  strand  of  Asia,2  o'er  the  sea  by  night  through  ocean's  boundless 
gate. 

Medeia.  From  the  house  I  have  come  forth,  Corinthian  ladies, 
for  fear  lest  ye  be  blaming  me ;  for  well  I  know  that  amongst  men 
many  by  showing  pride  have  got  them  an  ill  name  and  a  reputation 
for  indifference,  both  those  who  shun  men's  gaze  and  those  who 
move  among  the  stranger  crowd,  and  likewise  they  who  choose  a 
quiet  walk  in  life.  For  there  is  no  just  discernment  in  the  eyes 
of  men,  for  they,  or  ever  they  have  surely  learnt  their  neighbor's 
heart,  loathe  him  at  first  sight,  though  never  wronged  by  him ; 
and  so  a  stranger  most  of  all  should  adopt  a  city's  views ; 3  nor  do  I 
commend  that  citizen,  who,  in  the  stubbornness  of  his  heart,  from 
churlishness  resents  the  city's  will. 

1  Themis,  divine  legislator,  was  especially  protector  of  the  marriage  tie,  desecrated 
by  Jason. 

2  Medeia  was  a  foreigner,  from  Colchis,  a  city  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Black  Sea. 

3  Throughout  Greek  literature  are  many  references  to  the  hard  lot  of  the  alien 
resident;  cf.  no.  93.  Those  of  Attica,  however,  were  well  protected,  and  stood  on  a 
social  level  with  the  citizens. 


336 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


But  on  me  hath  fallen  this  unforeseen  disaster,  and  sapped 
my  life;  ruined  am  I,  and  long  to  resign  the  boon  of  existence, 
kind  friends,  and  die.  For  he  who  was  all  the  world  to  me,  as  well 
thou  knowest,  hath  turned  out  the  veriest  villain,  my  own  husband. 
Of  all  things  that  have  life  and  sense  we  women  are  the  most  hap- 
less creatures ;  first  must  we  buy  a  husband  at  an  exorbitant  price, 
and  o'er  ourselves  a  tyrant  set  which  is  an  evil  worse  than  the  first ; 
and  herein  lies  a  most  important  issue,  whether  our  choice  be  good 
or  bad.  For  divorce  is  discreditable  to  women,  nor  can  we  disown 
our  lords.  Next  must  the  wife,  coming  as  she  does  to  ways  and 
customs  new,  since  she  hath  not  learned  the  lesson  in  her  home, 
have  a  diviner's  eye  to  see  how  best  to  treat  the  partner  of  her 
life.  If  haply  we  perform  these  tasks  with  thoroughness  and 
tact,  and  the  husband  live  with  us,  without  resenting  the  yoke, 
our  life  is  a  happy  one ;  if  not,  'twere  best  to  die.  But  when  a 
man  is  vexed  with  what  he  finds  indoors,  he  goeth  forth  and  rids 
his  soul  of  its  disgust,  betaking  him  to  some  friend  or  comrade  of 
like  age ;  whilst  we  must  needs  regard  his  single  self.1 

And  yet  they  say  we  live  secure  at  home,  while  they  are  at  the 
wars  —  with  their  sorry  reasoning ;  for  I  would  gladly  take  my 
stand  in  battle  array  three  times  o'er,  than  once  give  birth.  But 
enough  !  this  language  suits  not  thee  as  it  does  me ;  thou  hast  a 
city  here,  a  father's  house,  some  joy  in  life,  and  friends  to  share 
thy  thoughts ;  but  I  am  destitute,  without  a  city,  and  therefore 
scorned  by  my  husband,  a  captive  I  from  a  foreign  shore,  with  no 
mother,  brother,  or  kinsman  in  whom  to  find  a  new  haven  of 
refuge  from  this  calamity.2  Wherefore  this  one  boon  and  only 
this  I  wish  to  win  from  thee,  —  thy  silence,  if  haply  I  can  some 
way  or  other  devise  to  avenge  me  on  my  husband  for  this  cruel 
treatment,  and  on  the  man  who  gave  to  him  his  daughter,  and 
on  her  who  is  his  wife.  For  though  a  woman  be  timorous  enough 
in  all  else,  and  as  regards  courage,  a  coward  at  the  mere  sight  of 
steel,  yet  in  the  moment  she  finds  her  honor  wronged,  no  heart  is 
filled  with  deadlier  thoughts  than  hers.  .  .  . 

1  Though  Athenian  women  of  the  higher  classes  could  visit  one  another,  they  had 
far  less  liberty  than  the  men  to  move  about  through  the  city. 

2  Usually  the  father  or  brother  was  ready  to  give  refuge  and  protection  to  a  woman 
abused  by  her  husband;  of  this  fact  the  Attic  orators  furnish  many  illustrations. 


CHILDREN 


337 


{Op.  cit.  807-08 ;  Way) 

Let  none  account  me  impotent  or  weak, 
Or  spiritless  !  —  O  nay,  in  other  sort, 
Grim  to  my  foes,  and  kindly  to  my  friends. 
Most  glorious  is  the  life  of  such  as  I.1 

98.  Children  a  Great  Care 

(Euripides,  Medeia,  1081-1115) 

Chorus.  Oft  ere  now  have  I  pursued  subtler  themes  and  have 
faced  graver  issues  than  woman's  sex  should  seek  to  probe ;  but 
then  e'en  we  aspire  to  culture,  which  dwells  with  us  to  teach  us 
wisdom ;  I  say  not  all ;  for  small  is  the  class  amongst  women  — 
one  maybe  shalt  thou  find  mid  many  —  that  is  not  incapable  of 
culture.  And  amongst  mortals  I  do  assert  that  they  who  are 
wholly  without  experience  and  have  never  had  children  far  surpass 
in  happiness  those  who  are  parents.  The  childless,  because  they 
have  never  proved  whether  children  grow  to  be  a  blessing  or  curse 
to  men,  are  removed  from  all  share  in  many  troubles  ;  whilst  those 
who  have  a  sweet  race  of  children  growing  up  in  their  houses  do 
wear  away,  as  I  perceive,  their  whole  life  through ;  first  with  the 
thought  how  they  may  train  them  up  in  virtue,  next  how  they 
shall  leave  their  sons  the  means  to  live ;  and  after  all  this  'tis  far 
from  clear  whether  on  good  or  bad  children  they  bestow  their 
toil.  But  one  last  crowning  woe  for  every  mortal  man  I  will  now 
name ;  suppose  that  they  have  found  sufficient  means  to  live,  and 
seen  their  children  grow  to  man's  estate  and  walk  in  virtue's  path, 
still  if  fortune  so  befall,  comes  death  and  bears  the  children's  bodies 
off  to  Hades.  Can  it  be  any  profit  to  the  gods  to  heap  upon  us 
mortal  men,  beside  our  other  woes,  this  further  grief  for  children 
lost,  a  grief  surpassing  all? 

1  It  can  readily  be  seen  that  Medeia  was  made  of  sterner  stuff  than  were  most 
Hellenic  women ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xx. 


338 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


99.  An  Unequal  Match  and  its  Results 

(Aristophanes,  Clouds,  41-72) 

Strepsiades,  a  well-to-do  but  uncultured  farmer,  marries  a  noble  lady,  niece 
of  Megacles  of  the  mighty  Alcmeonid  gens.  The  incompatibility  of  this 
wedded  pair,  their  quarrel  over  the  naming  of  their  first  son,  and  the  prodigality 
of  the  latter  when  he  becomes  a  young  man  and  a  knight,  are  set  forth  in  the 
following  lines. 

Strepsiades.  Oh  that  that  love-broker  1  who  put  me  on  to 
marry  your  mother  —  beshrew  her  —  had  perished  first !  For 
a  rustic  lot  was  mine  —  a  most  delightful  life  —  full  of  slovenry, 
unaffrighted  by  bugs,  carelessly  diffused  —  a  life  full-fraught  with 
honey-bees  and  droves  and  olive-cakes ;  and  then  I  had  to  ally 
me  to  the  niece  of  Megacles,  son  of  Megacles  —  a  rural  fellow  to  a 
city-bred  madam,  a  proud  and  mincing  peat,  a  very  Ccesyra 2 
incarnate,  wedded  and  abode  with  her,  I  with  the  reek  about  me 
of  must,  of  rig-cakes,  of  wool  —  in  a  word,  of  affluence,  while  she 
was  all  myrrh  and  fragrance  and  soft  caresses,  spendthrift  ways, 
gormandising  epicurism,  and  worse.3  .  .  . 

Afterward,  then,  when  this  son  of  ours  was  born,  to  me  and  to 
my  worthy  mistress,  we  forthwith  at  brain-buffets  fell  about  his 
name :  she  wanted  some  horsey  tag  —  something  with  hippus  in 
it  —  Xanthippus  or  Charippus  or  Callippides ;  while  I  was  for 
naming  him  after  his  thrifty  grandfather,  Pheidonides.4  For  a 
while  accordingly  we  kept  at  jars  but  at  length  we  compromised 
on  Pheidippides.5  Now  she  was  for  making  a  dandy  of  this  son 
of  ours;   'Twill  be  a  brave  day,'  quoth  she,  'when  a  man  full- 

1  Professional  match-makers  were  common  in  ancient  Athens. 

2  Coesyra,  said  to  have  been  a  fashionable  lady  of  Eretria  who  had  married  into  the 
Alcmeonid  gens. 

3  "  And  worse,"  a  general  expression  for  the  specific  but  untranslatable  epithets 
of  the  text. 

4  Usually  the  eldest  son  was  named  after  the  paternal  grandfather.  But  in  case 
the  wife  was  of  higher  rank  than  the  husband,  as  here,  she  commonly  chose  the  name 
from  her  own  family.  The  ending  hippus  ("  horse  ")  is  indicative  of  knightly  rank. 
Xanthippus,  Charippus,  etc.,  are  names  of  men  of  the  upper  class.  Pheidonides  sig- 
nifies "  son  of  Thrift,"  or  "  Thrifty-son,"  and  could  only  belong  to  the  middle  or  poorer 
class. 

5  Pheidippides  has  some  such  meaning  as  "  son  of  a  sparer  of  horses,"  applied  ironi- 
cally to  this  spendthrift  young  knight. 


A  PRODIGAL  KNIGHT 


339 


grown,  you  shall  drive  your  car  to  the  citadel,  in  a  festal  robe,  like 
Megacles.'  'Nay  rather,'  said  I,  'when  you  shall  drive  your  goats 
from  the  scaur,  in  a  greasy  fell,  like  your  father.' 

(Op.  cit.  12-40) 

The  scene  of  the  following  passage  is  a  bedroom;  Pheidippides,  the  son, 
now  in  early  manhood,  is  talking  in  his  sleep,  while  the  father  is  kept  awake 
by  the  worry  of  his  debts. 

Streps.  (Tossing  about  in  bed).  I'm  so  nettled  and  stung 
by  these  expenses  and  stable  bills  and  debts  —  thanks  to  this  son 
of  mine.  But  he,  curled  darling,  jaunts  up  and  down,  and  drives 
his  four-in-hand,  and  dreams  of  horses.  Meanwhile  on  me  ruin 
speeds  apace,  as  I  watch  the  moon  bring  on  the  day  of  doom,  for 
the  interests  mount  up.1  (Jumping  up.)  What,  boy !  light  the 
lamp  and  fetch  me  my  table-book  that  I  may  read  the  rubrics 
of  my  debts,  and  make  up  the  audit  of  the  interest.  Let  me  see 
how  much  I  really  owe.  cTo  Pasias  fifty  minas.' 2  Why  fifty 
minas  to  Pasias?  What  did  I  spend  it  on?  'Twas  for  the  stone 
horse  —  a  murrain  on  it !  I  wish  a  stone  had  knocked  out  my  eye 
ere  I  had  seen  him. 

Pheidippides  (In  sleep).  Philon,3  you're  cheating;  keep 
to  your  own  track. 

Streps.  Ah,  this  is  the  cause  of  my  ruin;  he  dreams  of  the 
turf,  —  e'en  in  the  watches  of  the  night. 

Phedd.    How  many  courses  will  the  war-cars  run? 

Streps.  'Courses!'  A  pretty  course  you  make  me,  your 
father,  run.  (Turning  to  his  ledger.)  But  after  Pasias,  within 
whose  danger  do  I  stand?  ' Twelve  minas  to  Amynias' — for 
pelting  car  and  a  brace  of  wheels. 

Phedd.    Give  the  horse  a  good  roll  and  lead  him  home. 

Streps.  O  foolish  youth,  you  have  rolled  me  out  of  my  estate ; 
for  I  have  been  cast  in  suits,  and  others  are  demanding  surety 
for  the  interest. 

Phedd.  (Awakening).  Father,  pray  why  are  you  so  peevish, 
and  toss  about  the  whole  night? 

1  Interest  was  payable  at  the  end  of  the  month. 

2  Mina,  about  $18.00. 

3  Philon,  probably  a  rival  in  the  race. 


34o 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


Streps.    A  bailiff  1  from  the  bed-clothes  is  biting  me. 
Pheid.    Suffer  me,  good  sir,  to  sleep  a  little. 
Streps.    Sleep  on  then  ;  but  be  assured  that  all  these  debts 
will  turn  upon  your  head. 

100.  Program  of  Women  for  the  Better  Government  of 

Athens 

(Aristophanes,  Lysistrate,  486-597) 

The  Lysistrate,  from  which  the  following  passage  has  been  quoted,  is 
interesting  as  the  first-known  piece  of  literature  which  treats  of  "woman's 
rights."  Aristophanes  proposes,  between  jest  and  earnest,  that  the  women  of 
Athens  should  assume  the  reins  of  government,  make  peace  with  the  Pelopon- 
nesians,  join  the  allies  on  equal  terms  with  the  Athenians  in  "one  mighty- 
political  aggregate,"  and  improve  the  administration  in  various  ways.  It  is  a 
great  credit  to  the  women  that  these  enlightened  ideas  should  be  attributed  to 
them.  The  women  have  seized  the  Acropolis,  whereupon  the  Proboulos 
(p.  346,  n.  3)  approaches  them  and  talks  with  their  leaders  about  their  intentions. 

Proboulos.    Foremost  and  first  I  should  wish  to  inquire  of  them, 

what  is  this  silly  disturbance  about? 
Why  have  ye  ventured  to  seize  the  Acropolis, 

locking  the  gates  and  barring  us  out  ? 
Lys.    Keeping  the  silver  securely  in  custody, 

lest  for  its  sake  ye  continue  the  war. 
Prob.    What,  is  the  war  for  the  sake  of  the  silver,  then? 

Lys.    Yes ;  and  all  other  disputes  that  there  are. 
Why  is  Peisander  2  forever  embroiling  us, 

Why  do  the  rest  of  our  officers  feel 
Always  a  pleasure  in  strife  and  disturbances? 

Simply  to  gain  an  occasion  to  steal. 
Act  as  they  please  for  the  future,  the  treasury 

Never  a  penny  shall  yield  them,  I  vow. 
Prob.    How,  may  I  ask,  will  you  hinder  their  getting  it? 

Lys.    We  will  ourselves  be  the  treasurers  now. 

1  Bailiff,  demarch  (84jnapxoi),  chief  magistrate  of  a  township  or  deme,  whose 
jurisdiction  included  suits  for  the  collection  of  debts. 

2  Peisander,  one  of  the  foremost  politicians  of  the  time  and  among  the  chief  pro-  , 
moters  of  the  oligarchic  revolution  of  that  year. 


WOMEN  FOR  PEACE 


34r 


Prob.    You,  women,  you  be  the  treasurers?    Lys.  Certainly. 

Ah,  you  esteem  us  unable,  perchance ! 
Are  we  not  skilled  in  domestic  economy, 

do  we  not  manage  the  household  finance? 
Prob.    Oh,  that  is  different.    Lys.    Why  is  it  different  ? 

Prob.    This  is  required  for  the  fighting,  my  dear. 
Lys.    Yes,  but  the  fighting  itself  isn't  requisite. 

Prob.    Only,  without  it,  we're  ruined,  I  fear. 
Lys.    We  will  deliver  you.    Prob.    You  will  deliver  us  ! 

Lys.  Truly  we  will.    Prob.    What  a  capital  notion  ! 
Lys.    Whether  you  like  it  or  not,  we'll  deliver  you. 

Prob.    Impudent  hussy  !    Lys.    You  seem  in  commotion. 
Nevertheless  we  will  do  as  we  promise  you. 

Prob.    That  were  a  terrible  shame,  by  Demeter. 
Lys.    Friend,  we  must  save  you.    Prob.    But  how  if  I  wish  it  not  ? 

Lys.    That  will  but  make  our  resolve  the  completer. 
Prob.     Fools !  what  on  earth  can  possess  you  to  meddle  with 

matters  of  war,  and  matters  of  peace  ? 
Lys.    Well,  I  will  tell  you  the  reason.    Prob.    And  speedily, 

else  you  will  rue  it.    Lys.    Then  listen,  and  cease 
Clutching  and  clenching  your  fingers  so  angrily ; 

keep  yourself  peaceable.    Prob.    Hanged  if  I  can; 
Such  is  the  rage  that  I  feel  at  your  impudence. 

Stratyllis.    Then  it  is  you  that  will  rue  it,  my  man. 
Prob.    Croak  your  own  fate,  you  ill-omened  antiquity. 

{To  Lys)    You  be  the  spokeswoman,  lady.    Lys.    I  will. 
Think  of  our  old  moderation  and  gentleness, 

think  how  we  bore  with  your  pranks,  and  were  still, 
All  through  the  days  of  your  former  pugnacity, 

all  through  the  war  that  is  over  and  spent ; 
Not  that  (be  sure)  we  approved  of  your  policy ; 

never  our  griefs  you  allowed  us  to  vent. 
Well  we  perceived  your  mistakes  and  mismanagement, 

Often  at  home  on  our  housekeeping  cares, 
Often  we  heard  of  some  foolish  proposal  you 

made  for  conducting  the  public  affairs. 
Then  would  we  question  you  mildly  and  pleasantly, 

inwardly  grieving,  but  outwardly  gay ; 


342 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


'Husband  how  goes  it  abroad?'  we  would  ask  of  him ; 

'  what  have  ye  done  in  assembly  to-day  ? 
What  would  ye  write  on  the  side  of  the  Treaty  stone  ? ' 

Husband  says  angrily,  '  What's  that  to  you  ? 
You,  hold  your  tongue  ! '    And  I  held  it  accordingly. 

Strat.    That  is  a  thing  I  never  would  do  ! 
Prob.    Madam,  if  you  hadn't,  you'd  soon  have  repented  it. 

Lys.    Therefore  I  held  it,  and  spake  not  a  word. 
Soon  of  another  tremendous  absurdity, 

wider  and  worse  than  the  former  we  heard. 
'Husband,'  I  say,  with  a  tender  solicitude, 

'  Why  have  ye  passed  such  a  foolish  decree  ? ' 
Vicious,  moodily,  glaring  askance  at  me, 

'Stick  to  your  spinning,  my  mistress,'  says  he, 
'Else  you  will  speedily  find  it  the  worse  for  you, 

War  is  the  care  and  the  business  of  men  ! ' 
Prob.    Zeus,  'twas  a  worthy  reply,  and  an  excellent ! 

Lys.    What !  you  unfortunate,  shall  we  not  then, 
Then,  when  we  see  you  perplexed  and  incompetent, 

shall  we  not  tender  advice  to  the  state  ? 
So  when  aloud  in  the  streets  and  the  thoroughfares 

sadly  we  heard  you  bewailing  of  late, 
'  Is  there  a  Man  to  defend  and  deliver  us  ? ' 

'No,'  says  another,  'there's  none  in  the  land;' 
Then  by  the  Women  assembled  in  conference 

jointly  a  great  Revolution  was  planned, 
Hellas  to  save  from  her  grief  and  perplexity. 

Where  is  the  use  of  a  longer  delay  ? 
Shift  for  the  future  our  parts  and  our  characters ; 

you,  as  the  women,  in  silence  obey ; 
We,  as  the  men,  will  harangue  and  provide  for  you ; 

then  shall  the  state  be  triumphant  again, 
Then  shall  we  do  what  is  best  for  the  citizens. 

Prob.    Women  to  do  what  is  best  for  the  men ! 
That  were  a  shameful  reproach  and  unbearable  ! 

Lys.    Silence,  old  gentleman.    Prob.    Silence,  for  you? 
Stop  for  a  wench  with  a  wimple  enfolding  her  ? 

No,  by  the  Powers,  may  I  die  if  I  do ! 


WOMEN  FOR  GOOD  ORDER 


343 


Lys.    Do  not,  my  pretty  one,  do  not  I  pray, 
Suffer  my  wimple  to  stand  in  the  way. 
Here  take  it,  and  wear  it,  and  gracefully  tie  it, 
Enfolding  it  over  your  head  and  be  quiet. 

Now  to  your  task. 
Callonice.    Here  is  an  excellent  spindle  to  pull. 
Myrrhina.    Here  is  a  basket  for  carding  the  wool. 

Lys.  Now  to  your  task. 

Haricots  chawing  up,  petticoats  drawing  up, 
Off  to  your  carding,  your  combing  and  trimming, 
War  is  the  care  and  the  business  of  women. 

Lys.    First  we  will  stop  the  disorderly  crew, 
Soldiers  in  arms  promenading  and  marketing. 

Strat.    Yea,  by  the  divine  Aphrodite,  'tis  true. 
Lys.    Now  in  the  market  you  see  them  like  Corybants,1 

jangling  about  with  their  armor  of  mail. 
Fiercely  they  stalk  in  the  midst  of  the  crockery, 

sternly  parade  by  the  cabbage  and  kail. 
Prob.    Right,  for  a  soldier  should  always  be  soldierly ! 

Lys.    Troth,  'tis  a  mighty  ridiculous  jest, 
Watching  them  haggle  for  shrimps  in  the  market-place, 

grimly  accoutred  with  shield  and  with  crest. 
Strat.    Lately  I  witnessed  a  captain  of  cavalry, 

proudly  the  while  on  his  charger  he  sat, 
Witnessed  him,  soldierly,  buying  an  omelet, 

stowing  it  all  in  his  cavalry  hat. 
Comes  like  a  Tereus,2  a  Thracian  irregular, 

shaking  his  dart  and  his  target  to  boot ; 
Off  runs  a  shop-girl,  appalled  at  the  sight  of  him, 

down  he  sits  soldierly,  gobbles  her  fruit. 
Prob.    You,  I  presume,  could  adroitly  and  gingerly 

settle  this  intricate,  tangled  concern  : 
You  in  a  trice  could  relieve  our  perplexities. 

Lys.    Certainly.    Prob.    How?    Permit  me  to  learn. 
Lys.    Just  as  a  woman  with  nimble  dexterity, 

thus  with  her  hands  disentangles  a  skein, 

1  Corybants  (Corybantes) ,  priests  of  Cybele,  danced  tumultuously  in  armor. 

2  Tereus,  a  mythical  king  of  Thrace,  changed  by  the  gods  into  a  hoopoo. 


344 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


Hither  and  thither  her  spindle  unravels  it, 

drawing  it  out,  and  pulling  it  plain. 
So  would  this  weary  Hellenic  entanglement 

soon  be  resolved  by  our  womanly  care, 
So  would  our  embassies  neatly  unravel  it, 

drawing  it  here  and  pulling  it  there. 
Prob.    Wonderful,  marvellous  feats,  not  a  doubt  of  it, 

you  with  your  skeins  and  your  spindles  can  show ; 
Fools  I  do  you  really  expect  to  unravel  a 

terrible  war  like  a  bundle  of  tow  ? 
Lys.    Ah,  if  you  could  only  manage  your  politics 

just  in  the  way  that  we  deal  with  a  fleece  ! 
Prob.    Tell  us  the  recipe.    Lys.    First  in  the  washing- tub 

plunge  it,  and  scour  it,  and  cleanse  it  from  grease, 
Purging  away  all  the  filth  and  the  nastiness ; 

then  on  the  table  expand  it  and  lay, 
Beating  out  all  that  is  worthless  and  mischievous, 

picking  the  burrs  and  the  thistles  away. 
Next  for  the  clubs,  the  cabals,  and  the  coteries, 

banding  unrighteously,  office  to  win, 
Treat  them  as  clots  in  the  wool,  and  dissever  them, 

lopping  the  heads  that  are  forming  within. 
Then  you  should  card  it,  and  comb  it,  and  mingle  it, 

all  in  one  Basket  of  love  and  of  unity, 
Citizens,  visitors,  strangers,  and  sojourners, 

all  the  entire,  undivided  community. 
Know  you  a  fellow  in  debt  to  the  Treasury  ? 

Mingle  him  merrily  in  with  the  rest. 
Also  remember  the  cities  our  colonies, 

outlying  states  in  the  east  and  the  west, 
Scattered  about  to  a  distance  surrounding  us, 

these  are  our  shreds  and  our  fragments  of  wool ; 
These  to  one  mighty  political  aggregate 

tenderly,  carefully,  gather  and  pull, 
Twining  them  all  in  one  thread  of  good  fellowship ; 

thence  a  magnificent  bobbin  to  spin, 
Weaving  a  garment  of  comfort  and  dignity, 

worthily  wrapping  the  People  therein. 


WAR  AFFLICTS  THE  WOMEN 


Prob.    Heard  any  ever  the  like  of  their  impudence, 

those  who  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  war, 
Preaching  of  bobbins,  and  beatings,  and  washing-tubs. 

Lys.    Nothing  to  do  with  it,  wretch  that  you  are  ! 
We  are  the  people  who  feel  it  the  keenliest, 

doubly  on  us  the  affliction  is  cast ; 
Where  are  the  sons  that  we  sent  to  your  battlefields  ? 

Prob.    Silence !  a  truce  to  the  ills  that  are  past. 
Lys.    Then  in  the  glory  and  grace  of  our  womanhood 

all  in  the  May  and  the  morning  of  life, 
Lo,  we  are  sitting  forlorn  and  disconsolate, 

what  has  a  soldier  to  do  with  a  wife  ? 
We  might  endure  it,  but  ah !  for  the  younger  ones, 

still  in  their  maiden  apartments  they  stay, 
Waiting  the  husband  that  never  approaches  them, 

watching  the  years  that  are  gliding  away. 
Prob.    Men,  I  suppose,  have  their  youth  everlastingly. 

Lys.    Nay,  but  it  isn't  the  same  with  a  man : 
Grey  though  he  be  when  he  comes  from  the  battlefield, 

still  if  he  wishes  to  marry  he  can. 
Brief  is  the  spring  and  the  flower  of  our  womanhood, 

once  let  it  slip,  and  it  comes  not  again ; 
Sit  as  we  may  with  our  spells  and  our  auguries, 

never  a  husband  will  marry  us  then. 


101.  Women  Love  Personal  Adornments 

(Euripides,  Medeia,  156-66) 

Repudiated  by  her  husband  Jason,  Medeia  sends  a  poisoned  robe  and  crown 
to  his  new  bride,  who  before  the  poison  begins  to  work  finds  great  pleasure  in 
their  beauty. 

Soon  as  she  saw  the  ornaments,  she  no  longer  held  out,  but 
yielded  to  her  lord  in  all ; 1  and  ere  the  father  and  his  sons  were 
far  from  the  palace  gone,  she  took  the  broidered  robe,  and  put  it 

1  The  request  here  implied,  conveyed  through  Jason  from  Medeia,  was  that  their 
sons  might  not  be  compelled  to  accompany  their  mother  into  exile,  but  might  be  cared 
for  in  Corinth ;  it  was  Medeia's  excuse  for  sending  the  gifts. 


346 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


on,  and  set  the  golden  crown  about  her  tresses,  arranging  her  hair 
at  her  bright  mirror,1  with  many  a  happy  smile  at  her  breathless 
counterfeit.  Then  rising  from  her  seat,  she  passed  across  the 
chamber,  tripping  lightly  on  her  fair  white  foot,  exulting  in  the 
gift,  with  many  a  glance  at  her  uplifted  ankle. 

(Aristophanes,  Lysistrate,  399-423) 

In  the  following  selection  from  the  Lysistrate,  acted  at  Athens  in  411,  the 
Chorus  of  Men  and  the  Proboulos,  member  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety, 
denounce  the  effrontery  of  their  wives,  who  have  deserted  their  homes  and 
seized  the  Acropolis  in  order  to  force  the  men  to  peace  with  the  Peloponnesians. 
The  opinion  of  the  magistrate  is  that  the  men  have  brought  all  this  trouble 
upon  themselves  by  pampering  their  wives  with  excessive  attentions. 

Chorus  of  Men.    What  if  you  heard  their  insolence  to-day, 
Their  vile,  outrageous  goings-on  ?    And  look, 
See  how  they've  drenched  and  soused  us  from  their  pitchers, 
Till  we  can  ring  out  water  from  our  clothes.2 

Proboulos.3    Ay,  by  Poseidon,  and  it  serves  us  right. 

'Tis  all  our  fault ;  they'll  never  know  their  place, 

These  pampered  women,  whilst  we  spoil  them  so. 

Hear  how  we  talk  in  every  workman's  shop. 

'  Goldsmith,'  says  one,  'this  necklace  that  you  made, 

My  gay  young  wife  was  dancing  yester-eve, 

And  lost,  sweet  soul,  the  fastening  of  the  clasp ; 

Do  please  reset  it,  Goldsmith.'    Or  again, 

1  O  Shoemaker,  my  wife's  new  sandal  pinches 

Her  little  toe,  the  tender,  delicate  child, 

1  The  mirror  was  of  polished  metal.  Many  examples  of  beautifully  chased  Etrus- 
can mirrors  have  been  preserved. 

2  The  men  have  attempted  to  storm  the  citadel  held  by  the  women,  but  have  been 
repulsed  by  a  phalanx  of  pitcher-bearers. 

3  Proboulos ;  after  the  Sicilian  disaster  the  first  step  toward  the  establishment  of 
oligarchy  was  taken  by  the  appointment  of  ten  probouli,  for  41 2-1 1,  to  be  elected  an- 
nually one  from  each  tribe.  They  were  to  take  the  place  of  the  prytaneis  (see  no.  69, 
n.  1)  in  determining  the  measures  to  be  brought  before  the  assembly.  They  were  also 
to  supervise  the  finances  and  attend  to  the  equipment  of  the  fleet.  The  board  might 
well  be  described  as  a  Committee  of  Public  Safety.  Though  the  age  qualification  was 
fixed  at  forty  years,  the  members  were  in  fact  far  older  men.  Aristophanes  repre- 
sents the  typical  proboulos  as  fussy  and  meddlesome  but  inefficient ;  cf.  594  sqq. ; 
Time.  viii.  1;  Aristotle,  Const.  Ath.  29.  2;  Suidas,  s.v.  Upo^ovXoi. 


PAMPERED  WIVES 


347 


Make  it  fit  easier,  please.'  —  Hence  all  this  nonsense  ! 
Yea,  things  have  reached  a  pretty  pass,  indeed, 
When  I,  the  State's  Director,  wanting  money 
To  purchase  oar-blades,  find  the  Treasury  gates 
Shut  in  my  face  by  these  preposterous  women. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

For  recent  literature  on  social  and  private  life,  see  Bliimner,  H.,  in  Jahresb. 
CLXIII  (1913).  1-83.  See  also  Abrahams,  E.  B.,  Greek  Dress  (London,  1908) ; 
Bechtel,  F.,  Attische  Frauennamen,  etc.  (Gottingen,  1902) ;  Becker,  Charicles, 
trans,  by  Metcalfe,  F.  (Longmans,  1895) ;  Benecke,  E.  F.  M.,  Antimachus  of 
Colophon  and  the  Position  of  Women  in  Greek  Poetry  (London,  1896) ;  Bliimner, 
H.,  Leben  und  Sitten  der  Griechen,  3  vols.  (Leipzig,  1887) ;  Home  Life  of  the 
Ancient  Greeks,  trans,  by  Zimmern,  A.  (Cassel,  1893) ;  Braunstein,  O.,  Die 
politische  Wirksamkeit  der  griechischen  Frau  (Leipzig,  191 1) ;  Bryant,  A.  A., 
"Boyhood  and  Youth  in  the  Days  of  Aristophanes,"  in  Harv.  St.  in  Class. 
Philol.  XVIII  (1907).  73-122;  Carroll,  M.,  Woman:  in  All  Ages  and  in  All 
Countries,  I:  Greek  Women  (Phila.,  1907) ;  "The  Athens  of  Aristophanes,"  in 
Studies  in  Honor  of  Gildersleeve  (Baltimore,  1902),  241  sqq. ;  Cesaresco,  E.  M., 
Outdoor  Life  in  Greek  and  Roman  Poets  (Macmillan,  191 1) ;  Clerc.  M.,  Les 
meteques  atheniens  (Paris,  1893);  "Condition  des  etrangeres  domicilies 
dans  les  differentes  cites  grecques,"  in  Rev.  des  universites  du  midi,  IV  (1898). 
1-32,  153-80,  249-75;  Donaldson,  J.,  Woman;  her  Position  and  Influence  in 
Ancient  Greece,  etc.  (Longmans,  1907) ;  Ferriman,  Z.  D.,  Home  Life  in  Hellas 
(Mills  and  Boon,  1910),  modern  conditions;  Gothein,  M.,  "Der  griechische 
Garten,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  XXXIV  (1909).  100  sqq. ;  Guhl,  E.  K.,  and  Koner,  W., 
Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  (from  3d  German  ed.,  London,  1889) ;  Guiraud, 
P.,  La  vie  privee  et  la  vie  publique  des  Grecs  (3d  ed.,  Paris,  1901) ;  Gulick,  C.  B., 
Life  of  the  Ancient  Greeks  (Appleton,  1902) ;  Haley,  H.  W.,  "Social  and  Do- 
mestic Position  of  Women  in  Aristophanes,"  in  Harv.  St.  in  Class.  Philol. 
I  (1890).  159-86;  Lorimer,  H.  L.,  "The  Country  Cart  of  Ancient  Greece,"  in 
Journ.  Hell.  St.  XXIII  (1903).  132  sqq. ;  Mahaffy,  J.  P.,  Social  Life  in  Greece 
from  Homer  to  Menander  (Macmillan,  1883) ;  Miller,  W.,  Greek  Life  in  Town  and 
Country  (London,  1905) ;  Pohlmann,  R.  v.,  Geschichte  der  sozialen  Frage  und  des 
Sozialismus  der  antiken  Welt,  2  vols.  (Munich,  191 2);  Poland,  F.,  Geschichte 
des  griech.  Vereinswesens  (Teubner,  1909) ;  Ransom,  C.  L.,  Studies  in  Ancient 
Furniture;  Couches  and  Beds  of  the  Greeks,  Etruscans,  and  Romans  (Chicago : 
University  Press,  1905);  Roper,  A.  G.,  Ancient  Eugenics  (Oxford:  Blackwell, 
1913) ;  Savage,  C.  A.,  "The  Athenian  in  his  Relations  to  the  State,"  in  Studies 
in  Honor  of  Gildersleeve  (Baltimore,  1902),  87  sqq.)  Schreiber,  G.  T.,  Atlas  of 
Classical  Antiquities,  ed.  by  Anderson,  W.  C.  F.  (London,  1895) ;  St.  John,  J.  A., 
History  of  the  Manners  and  Customs  of  Ancient  Greece,  3  vols.  (London,  1842) ; 
Sudhoff,  K.,  Aus  dem  antiken  Badewesen  (Berlin,  1910) ;  Sundwall,  J.,  "Epigra- 


348 


HELLENIC  SOCIETY 


phische  Beitrage  zur  sozialpolitischen  Geschichte  Athens  im  Zeitalter  des 
Demosthenes,"  in  Klio:  Beitrage  zur  alt.  Gesch.  Ergzb.  I.  4  (1906) ;  Tod,  M.  N., 
"Statute  of  an  Attic  Thiasos,"  in  Ann.  Brit.  School  at  Ath.  XIII  (1906-7). 
328-38  ;  Tucker,  T.  G.,  Life  in  Ancient  Athens  (Macmillan,  1906) ;  Wagner,  W., 
Hellas:  das  Land  und  Volk  der  alten  Griechen,  2  vols.  (6th  ed.,  Leipzig,  1886) ; 
Ward,  C.  O.,  The  Ancient  Lowly,  2  vols.  (Chicago:  Kerr,  1910) ;  Wilamowitz- 
Moellendorff,  U.  v.,  Staat  und  Gesellschaft  der  Griechen  und  Romer  (Teubner, 
1910) ;  Wolf,  H.,  Geschichte  des  antiken  Sozialismus  (Gutersloh,  1909). 


CHAPTER  XI 


RELIGION 
In  the  Period  479-404  B.C. 

This  chapter  comprises  a  group  of  inscriptions  of  the  fifth  century  whose 
primary  interest  is  religious.  At  the  same  time,  however,  they  afford  informa- 
tion on  various  other  topics. 

102.  Imprecations  of  the  Teians  against  Evil  Doers 

(CIG.  3044;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  23;  Michel,  Recueil,  no.  13 18;  Roberts, 
I.  no.  142 ;  Collitz-Bechtel,  SGDI.  III.  2.  no.  5632 ;  trans,  by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription  was  found  near  the  site  of  ancient  Teos,  on  the  coast  of 
Asia  Minor  south  of  Smyrna.  Of  the  two  stelae  on  which  it  was  written,  only 
the  former  (A)  is  now  known  to  be  extant.  From  the  character  of  the  alphabet 
and  the  references  to  piracy  and  the  barbarians  the  document  may  be  assigned 
to  the  period  of  insecurity  intervening  between  the  defeat  of  the  Persians  at 
Mycale  and  the  admission  of  Teos  to  the  Delian  Confederacy  —  to  about 
475  B.C.  Strange  to  us,  but  quite  common  in  early  Greece,  is  the  use  of  the 
curse  for  the  enforcement  of  regulations;  cj.  Plut.  Sol.  24;  Isoc.  Paneg.  157; 
Schomann,  Griechische  Altertiimer,  II .  254 ;  Ziebarth,  in  Hermes,  XXX  (1895). 
57  sqq. ;  see  further  Hicks  and  Hill,  p.  27  sq. 

(A)  If  anyone  should  prepare  harmful  drugs  against  the  Teians 
as  a  community  or  against  a  private  citizen,  let  him  perish,  both 
himself  and  his  kin.  If  anyone  should  prevent  the  importation  of 
grain  into  the  Teian  territory,  by  art  or  device,  by  sea  or  by  land, 
or  should  reject  it  after  it  has  been  imported,  let  him  perish,  both 
himself  and  his  kin. 

(B)  (Opening  lines  lost.)  If  anyone  should  [disobey  (  ?)]  a  Euthy- 
nos1  or  a  supreme  magistrate2  of  the  Teians  or  should  rebel  against 

1  Euthynos  (Etidwos)  in  Teos  was  probably  an  officer  who  executed  the  penalties 
imposed  by  the  courts,  wholly  different  therefore  from  the  functionary  of  the  same  name 
at  Athens,  who  was  an  auditor;  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VI.  151 7.  For  another 
view,  see  Hicks  and  Hill,  p.  28. 

2  Aisymnetes  (AicrvfjLv^Ttjs)  an  extraordinary  magistrate  in  some  Hellenic  states, 
elected  by  the  people  and  vested  with  a  power  somewhat  like  that  of  the  Roman  dic- 
tator; Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  1088-91. 

349 


RELIGION 


the  supreme  magistrate,  let  him  perish,  both  himself  and  his  kin. 
If  anyone  in  future,  while  supreme  magistrate  in  Teos  or  in  the 
Teian  territory,  should  put  to  death  illegally  [an  innocent  man  or 
say  that  he  has  betrayed]  the  city  and  the  territory  of  the  Teians, 
or  should  betray  the  men  [in  the  island  or  on  the  sea  or  those  who 
have  come  to  the  aid  of  the  commonwealth  of  the  Teians],1  or  if  he 
should  practise  highway  robbery  or  harbor  highway  robbers  or 
practise  piracy  or  harbor  pirates  with  knowledge,  when  they  are 
plundering  in  the  Teian  territory  or  on  the  sea,  or  if  he  should 
knowingly  plot  any  evil  concerning  the  commonwealth  of  the 
Teians  either  with  Greeks  or  with  barbarians,  let  him  perish,  both 
himself  and  his  kin.  If  any  persons,  while  office-holders,2  should 
not  pronounce  the  imprecation  to  the  best  of  their  ability  during 
sessions  of  the  assembly,  at  the  Anthesteria,3  the  festival  of  Heracles, 
and  that  of  Zeus,  let  them  be  subject  to  the  imprecation.  If  any- 
one shall  break  the  stelae  on  which  the  imprecation  is  written,  or 
shall  cut  away  the  lettering,  or  shall  remove  them,  let  him  perish, 
both  himself  and  his  kin. 


103.  Athenian  Decree  Concerning  the  Temple  and  the 
Priestess  of  Athena  Nike 

(Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  37  ;  Roberts  and  Gardner,  no.  4 ;  trans,  by  G.  W.  B.) 

This  inscription  provides  for  the  building  of  a  shrine  which  is  undoubtedly 
to  be  identified  with  the  beautiful  little  temple  of  "Wingless  Victory."  The 
document  belongs  to  450-447.  Callicrates,  who  drew  up  the  plan,  was  also 
one  of  the  architects  of  the  Parthenon,  begun  about  the  same  time.  The  in- 
scription is  interesting  for  the  light  it  throws,  not  only  upon  the  construction  of 
temples  of  the  kind,  but  also  upon  the  salaries  and  perquisites  of  priestesses. 

First  Side  of  the  Stele 

...cms,  moved  the  resolution:  That  a  priestess  be  established 
for  Athena  Nike,  who  shall  be  a  citizen,  born  of  citizen  parents, 
taken  from  the  whole  body  of  Athenian  women  (thus  qualified). 
That  the  shrine  shall  be  furnished  with  a  door,  according  as  Calli- 

1  This  reading  follows  the  suggestion  of  Haussoullier,  adopted  by  Michel,  Recueil, 
no.  131 8,  but  the  reading  is  very  uncertain. 

2  Office-holders,  timuchi  (Tifxovxoi)  were  probably  the  ordinary  annual  magistrates, 
suspended  on  the  election  of  an  aisymnetes. 

3  A  festival  celebrated  in  February  in  honor  of  Dionysus. 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  NIKE 


35i 


crates  shall  draw  up  the  specifications.  That  the  commissioners  of 
sales  1  shall  let  the  contract  in  the  prytany  of  the  tribe  Leontis. 
That  the  priestess  shall  have  a  living  of  fifty  drachmae  together 
with  the  legs  and  hides  of  the  public  sacrificial  animals.  That  the 
temple  and  a  stone  altar  be  erected  according  to  the  specifications  of 
Callicrates. 

Hestiaeus  further  moved :  That  a  committee  of  three  men  be 
elected  from  the  boule,  and  that  they  shall  assist  Callicrates  in 
drawing  up  the  specifications,  and  present  to  the  boule  their  judg- 
ment on  the  letting  of  the  contract ;  and  that  the  prytaneis  report 
to  the  demus.  .  .  . 

Second  Side 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Boule  and  the  Demus.  ^Egeis  was  the 
prytanizing  tribe.  Neocleides  was  secretary.  Agnodemus  was 
chairman.  Callias  moved  the  resolution :  That  the  Colacretae,2 
who  may  be  in  office  in  the  month  [Poseideon  3],  shall  pay  to  the 
priestess  of  Athena  Nike  the  fifty  drachmae,  recorded  on  the  stele, 
to  the  priestess  of  Athena  Nike.  .  .  . 

104.  Additional  Decree  on  the  Same  Subject* 

(Roberts  and  Gardner,  no.  6;  Ditt.  I.  no.  16) 

.  .  .  The  Acropolis  ...  to  build,  so  that  no  runaway  slave 
or  sneakthief  may  gain  entrance.  Callicrates  shall  draw  up  the 
specifications  for  it,  and  the  commissioners  of  sales  shall  prepare  to 
let  the  contract  as  advantageously  and  as  inexpensively  as  possible. 
They  shall  see  that  it  be  ready  within  sixty  days.  The  guards  shall 
be  three  archers  drawn  from  the  prytanizing  tribe.4 

1  Poletae,  whose  duty  in  general  was  to  let  out  state  contracts. 

2  Originally  the  Colacretae  had  been  the  chief  treasurers  of  the  state,  but  their  im- 
portance had  shrunk  with  the  institution  of  various  other  finance  officials ;  cf.  Meyer, 
Forsch.  II.  136  sq. 

3  Corresponds  roughly  with  December.  For  a  list  of  the  Attic  months  with  their 
English  equivalents,  see  Gulick,  Life  of  the  Ancient  Greeks,  241. 

4  It  is  evident  that  these  guards  were  citizens  {cf.  Wernicke,  in  Hermes,  XXVI. 
51  sqq.) .  The  ordinary  policemen  of  Athens,  however,  were  public  slaves,  brought 
originally  from  Scythia,  and  known  therefore  as  Scythian  archers.  They  were  intro- 
duced in  the  sixth  century;  cf.  Walters,  Ancient  Pottery,  II.  176  ( illustration). 


352 


RELIGION 


105.  Athenian  Decree  Concerning  the  Repayment  of  Sums 
Borrowed  from  the  Treasuries  of  the  Gods 

(Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  49;  Ditt.  I.  no.  21;  Roberts  and  Gardner,  II.  no.  10; 
Bockh,  Staatshaushaltung  der  Athener,  II.  42-8  (text,  translation,  and  com- 
mentary) ;  trans,  by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription  is  on  a  marble  slab,  formerly  part  of  the  altar  of  a  Greek 
church  but  now  in  the  Louvre.    It  belongs  most  probably  to  435-4. 

At  this  time  the  Athenians  had  attained  to  a  high  degree  of  prosperity. 
Notwithstanding  large  sums  expended  on  temples  and  other  public  works, 
accumulations  in  the  state  treasury  had  enabled  them  in  recent  years  to  repay 
3000  talents  formerly  borrowed  from  the  treasury  of  Athena.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  among  ancient  Hellenic  states  there  was  no  system  of  public  credit  or  of 
public  debt,  such  as  burdens  every  modern  state,  county,  and  municipality; 
but  in  time  of  need  the  government  could  borrow  from  a  temple.  As  religion 
was  a  part  of  the  state,  such  loans  were  merely  a  transfer  of  funds  from  one 
department  to  another,  to  be  returned  should  circumstances  permit.  Accu- 
mulations in  temples,  accordingly,  constituted  a  reserve  fund  for  the  state.  In 
addition  to  the  repayment  of  sums  borrowed  from  Athena,  the  government  was 
now  in  a  position  to  return  certain  smaller  sums  drawn  in  like  manner  from  the 
funds  of  other  gods.  The  decree  here  translated  provides  for  the  latter  trans- 
action. The  money  so  paid,  however,  was  to  constitute  the  beginning  of  a  new 
treasury,  to  be  placed  under  the  charge  of  Treasurers  of  the  Other  Gods,  drawn 
by  lot,  as  were  the  Treasurers  of  Athena,  from  the  highest  property  class  (the 
pentacosiomedimni) .  The  style  of  the  inscription  proves  that  it  was  not 
engraved  till  some  fifteen  years  after  the  date  of  enactment  above  given.  See 
further  on  the  document,  Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  562-5 ;  Meyer,  Forsch. 
II.  88  sqq. ;  Cavaignac,  VHistoire  financiere  d'Athenes  au  Ve  siecle,  104  sqq. 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Boule  and  the  Demus.  Cecropis  was  the 
prytanizing  tribe.  Mnesitheus  was  secretary.  Eupeithes  was 
chairman.    Callias  moved  the  resolution. 

That  the  moneys  owed  shall  be  repaid  to  the  gods,  since  there 
have  been  brought  up  into  the  Acropolis  for  Athena  the  three 
thousand  talents1  in  our  own  coin,  as  had  been  voted.  The  repay- 
ment shall  be  made  from  the  moneys  which  have  been  voted  for 
repaying  the  gods ;   namely,  the  sums  now  in  the  hands  of  the 

1  This  was  the  sum  recently  paid  Athena  in  liquidation  of  the  debt  due  her  by  the 
state.  At  $1100  to  the  talent  it  would  amount  to  $3,300,000.  About  this  time  the 
total  amount  of  money  stored  in  the  treasuries  on  the  Acropolis  was  9700  talents,  an 
immense  reserve  for  a  Greek  state.  Before  the  opening  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  the 
erection  of  temples  and  other  public  works  had  reduced  it  to  6000  talents;  Thuc.  ii.  13. 


SACRED  FUNDS 


353 


Hellenic  Treasurers,1  the  remainder  that  belongs  to  these  funds,  and 
the  proceeds  of  the  tithe,2  when  it  shall  have  been  farmed  out. 
The  thirty  accountants 3  now  in  office  shall  audit  with  exactness  the 
sums  due  to  the  gods,  and  the  boule  shall  have  full  power4  to  convoke 
the  accountants.  The  prytaneis,  together  with  the  (whole)  boule, 
shall  repay  the  moneys  and  shall  cancel  (the  indebtedness)  upon 
making  payment,  searching  for  the  tablets  and  the  account  books 
and  whatever  other  records  there  may  be.  The  priests,  the  com- 
missioners of  sacrifices,  and  any  other  person  who  has  knowledge, 
shall  be  obliged  to  produce  the  records.  Treasurers5  of  these  funds 
shall  be  taken  by  lot  at  the  same  time  as  the  other  magistrates  and 
upon  the  same  terms  as  the  Treasurers  of  the  Sacred  Funds  of 
Athena.  They  shall  deposit  the  funds  of  the  gods,  so  far  as  is 
possible  and  allowable,  in  the  Opisthodomos 6  on  the  Acropolis,  and 
they  shall  join  with  the  Treasurers  of  Athena  in  opening  and  closing 
and  sealing  the  doors  of  the  Opisthodomos.  The  funds  (received) 
from  the  present  treasurers  and  the  superintendents  and  the  com- 
missioners of  sacrifices  in  the  temples,  who  have  the  management 
at  present,  shall  be  counted  and  weighed  out  in  the  presence  of  the 
boule  on  the  Acropolis  by  the  Treasurers  to  be  appointed,  and  these 

1  Hellenotamiae  were  the  imperial  treasurers,  in  charge  of  the  fund  made  up  of  trib- 
utes from  the  allies. 

2  Probably  a  rent  of  ten  per  cent  on  public  lands  let  by  the  state  to  private  persons. 

3  Logistae  (Xoyio-ral),  a  board  filled  by  lot,  to  whom  all  public  accounts  had  to  be 
submitted. 

4  This  the  boule  could  do  on  its  own  responsibility,  without  consulting  the  assembly 
of  citizens. 

6  Hereby  was  instituted  the  office  of  Treasurers  of  the  Other  Gods  (see  introduc- 
tion). Like  the  Treasurers  of  Athena  they  were  doubtless  ten  in  number,  and  were 
taken  by  lot  from  members  of  the  highest  property  class.  For  a  fragment  of  their 
account  for  the  year  429-8,  see  Inscr.  grcec.  I.  nos.  194,  195,  where,  however,  only  five 
names  appear. 

6  Opisthodomos  (OwKrOddonos),  "Rear  Chamber,"  applying  to  the  rear  chamber 
of  a  temple.  Some  scholars  have  supposed  that  the  Opisthodomos  here  mentioned 
was  the  rear  chamber  of  the  Parthenon;  but  a  careful  examination  of  the  sources 
proves  that  view  untenable.  Certain  scholars,  accordingly,  have  taken  the  ground 
that  the  term  has  reference  to  the  back  part  of  the  old  Athena  temple,  north  of 
the  Parthenon,  and  contend  that  this  part,  consisting  of  three  rooms,  was  rebuilt  as  a 
Treasury  after  the  Persian  war.  The  most  complete  defense  of  this  view  is  given  by 
J.  W.  White,  Harvard  Studies  in  Classical  Philology,  VI  (1895).  Another  view,  repre- 
sented by  Judeich,  Topographie  von  Athen,  230,  which  regards  the  Opisthodomos  as  a 
building  to  the  west  of  the  Parthenon,  erected  about  454  as  an  imperial  Treasury, 
seems  to  have  less  evidence  in  the  sources. 


354 


RELIGION 


officers  shall  receive  the  funds  from  the  persons  now  in  office  and 
shall  record  them  all  on  a  single  stele,  both  the  amounts  belonging 
to  each  of  the  gods  respectively  and  the  sum  total,  the  silver  and 
the  gold  separately.  And  in  future  the  Treasurers  for  the  time 
being  shall  make  record  upon  a  stele  and  shall  account  to  the 
auditors  for  the  funds  at  hand  and  for  those  accruing  to  the  gods, 
and  for  whatever  is  expended  during  the  year.  They  shall  submit 
to  examination,1  — and  shall  render  their  account  from  Panathenaea 
to  Panathenaea,2  like  the  Treasurers  of  Athena.  The  Treasurers  shall 
place  on  the  Acropolis  the  stelae  on  which  they  record  the  sacred 
funds.  When  the  moneys  shall  have  been  repaid  to  the  gods,  the 
surplus  shall  be  used  for  the  dockyard  and  the  fortifications. 

1 06.  The  Athenian  Decree  for  Regulating  the  Offerings 
of  First  Fruits  to  the  Goddesses  of  Eleusis 

{Inscr.  grcec.  I.  Supplem.  no.  27  b,p.  59;  Ditt.  no.  20;  Prott  and  Ziehen,  Leges 
grcecorum  sacra,  pt.  II  (Leipzig,  1906),  p.  19  sqq. ;  Foucart,  in  Bulletin  de 
correspondance  hellenique,  IV  (1880).  229  sqq. ;  trans,  by  C.  J.  O.) 

One  of  the  aims  of  Pericles  was  to  use  religion  as  a  means  of  securing  to 
Athens  a  recognized  leadership  in  Hellenic  affairs.  Such  was  his  project  for 
the  restoration  of  temples  destroyed  by  the  Persian  invader  (Plut.  Per.  17). 
If,  as  seems  probable,  the  decree  given  in  Inscr.  grcec.  I.  no.  1 ;  Supplem.  p.  3, 
133,  belongs  to  the  time  shortly  following  460  (Busolt,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  473), 
we  may  infer  that  he  wished  to  apply  the  Eleusinian  worship  to  that  end.  He 
had  all  the  greater  hope  for  success  in  this  policy  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
Eleusinian  cult  had  already  extended  far  beyond  the  borders  of  Attica  —  e.g., 
to  Sicily  (Athenaeus  ix.  17,  374  d).  To  a  somewhat  later  period  —  evidently 
to  a  time  of  peace,  perhaps  444-436  —  belongs  the  following  decree  (Busolt, 
op.  cit.  III.  474  and  n.  2),  which  regulates  the  offering  of  first  fruits  to  the  God- 
desses Twain  of  Eleusis  on  the  part  of  the  Athenians  and  their  allies,  and  in- 
vites all  other  Hellenes  to  participate. 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Boule  and  the  Demus.  Cecropis  was  the 
prytanizing  tribe.    Timo teles  was  secretary.3    Cycneas  was  chair- 

1  Euthyna  (EiJ^w),  a  general  investigation  to  which  outgoing  officials  were  sub- 
jected and  more  thorough  than  formal  accounting. 

2  That  is,  their  term  begins  with  the  Panathenaic  festival  (July),  and  not  with  the 
civil  year. 

8  At  this  time  a  new  secretary  of  the  boule  was  appointed  for  each  prytany. 


FIRST  FRUITS 


355 


man.  The  commissioners  of  legislation1  drafted  (the  statute)  in 
the  following  terms : 

The  Athenians  shall  offer  first  fruits  from  the  harvest  to  the 
Two  Goddesses 2  according  to  ancestral  custom  and  the  oracle  from 
Delphi : 3  namely,  from  every  hundred  medimni  of  barley  not  less 
than  one  sixth  of  a  medimnus,4  and  from  every  hundred  medimni  of 
wheat  not  less  than  one  twelfth  of  a  medimnus.  If  anyone  has  a  har- 
vest of  greater,  or  of  equal,  or  of  less  amount,  he  shall  offer  the  first 
fruits  in  the  same  proportion.  The  demarchs  5  shall  collect  the 
offering  by  demes  and  shall  bring  it  to  Eleusis,  to  the  commissioners 
of  sacrifices.  Three  corn  pits  shall  be  constructed  according  to 
ancestral  custom,  wherever  the  commissioners  of  sacrifices  and 
the  architect  may  think  proper,  with  the  money  of  the  Two 
Goddesses ;  and  the  commissioners  shall  store  therein  the  grain 
that  they  may  receive  from  the  demarchs.  The  allies  6  also  shall 
offer  first  fruits  on  the  same  terms,  and  the  cities  shall  choose  col- 
lectors of  the  grain,  according  as  they  may  think  that  the  grain 
will  best  be  collected.  When  it  is  collected,  they  shall  send  it  to 
Athens,  and  those  who  take  it  shall  bring  it  to  Eleusis  to  the  com- 
missioners of  sacrifices  at  Eleusis ;  and  if  the  commissioners  shall 
not  accept  it  within  five  days  after  announcement  and  tender  are 
made  by  the  men  of  the  city  from  which  the  grain  comes,  they  shall 
be  fined  a  thousand  drachmae7  apiece.  They  shall  accept  it  from  the 
demarchs  also  on  the  same  terms.  Let  the  council  choose  heralds 
and  send  them  to  the  cities  to  announce  the  [present]  decree  of  the 
people,  (and  let  it  do  so)  for  the  present  occasion  as  soon  as  possible, 

1  Syngrapheis  (2vyypa(p€ts)}  a  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  a  comprehensive 

law. 

2  Demeter  and  Persephone  (Core),  in  whose  worship  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  were 
celebrated. 

3  Cf.  Isocrates,  Paneg.  31  (composed  390-380) :  "Most  of  the  cities  sent  us  every 
year  offerings  of  the  first  fruits  of  grain  in  remembrance  of  our  ancient  benefactions ; 
and  the  Pythia  (the  priestess  of  Apollo  at  Delphi)  has  often  enjoined  the  neglectful  to 
contribute  their  tithes  of  the  harvest,  and  to  show  toward  our  city  the  conduct  pre- 
scribed by  ancestral  usage";  see  also  the  scholiast  on  Aristoph.  Plutus,  1054. 

4  A  medimnus  was  about  1^  bu. ;  a  sixth  would  therefore  be  about  a  peck. 

5  Demarch  (8if]fxapxos),  chief  officer  of  the  deme,  or  township.  Attica  was  divided 
into  considerably  more  than  a  hundred  demes. 

6  The  states  of  the  Delian  Confederacy  and  Athenian  empire. 

7  A  drachma  was  about  eighteen  cents. 


356 


RELIGION 


and  in  future  whenever  it  thinks  best.  Let  both  the  hierophant 
and  the  torch-bearer  at  the  celebration  of  the  Mysteries1  bid  the 
Greeks  offer  first  fruits  from  the  harvest  according  to  the  ancestral 
custom  and  the  oracle  from  Delphi.  Let  them  (the  commissioners) 
write  upon  a  tablet  both  the  amount  of  grain  received  from  the  de- 
marchs  according  to  demes  and  that  received  from  the  cities  ac- 
cording to  cities,  and  let  them  place  (a  tablet)  in  the  Eleusinion  2 
at  Eleusis  and  in  the  council-hall.  The  council  shall  send  word  also 
to  all  the  other  Greek  cities,  wheresoever  in  its  opinion  it  may  be 
possible  to  send,  by  men  who  shall  tell  them  how  the  Athenians  and 
the  allies  offer  first  fruits,  and  who,  without  commanding  them,  shall 
urge  them  to  offer  if  they  so  desire  according  to  the  ancestral 
custom  and  the  oracle  from  Delphi.  The  commissioners  of  sacrifices 
shall  receive  (offerings)  on  the  same  terms  from  these  cities  also,  if 
anyone  brings  (offerings) .  They  (the  commissioners)  shall  sacrifice 
from  the  sacred  porridge  according  as  the  Eumolpidae 3  shall  direct, 
and,  from  (the  proceeds  of)  the  barley  and  the  wheat,  an  ox  and  two 
other  animals4  with  gilded  horns  to  each  of  the  Two  Goddesses, 
a  full-grown  sheep  to  Triptolemus  and  the  God  and  the  Goddess  and 
Eubulus  5  severally,  and  an  ox  with  gilded  horns  to  Athena.  The 
commissioners  shall  sell  the  remainder  of  the  barley  and  of  the  wheat 
and,  together  with  the  council,  shall  make  and  dedicate  offerings  to 
the  Two  Goddesses,  such  as  shall  seem  good  to  the  Athenian  people, 
and  they  shall  inscribe  upon  the  offerings  the  fact  that  they  were 
dedicated  from  (the  proceeds  of)  the  first  fruits  of  the  harvest  and 
the  name  of  the  Greeks  who  offered  the  first  fruits.  And  may 
those  who  do  thus  have  many  blessings  and  good  and  abundant 
harvests,  provided  that  they  do  not  wrong  the  Athenians  or  the 
city  of  the  Athenians  or  the  Two  Goddesses. 

1  Celebrated  annually  at  Eleusis  in  September.  About  that  time  the  contributions 
of  grain  were  probably  brought  to  Eleusis;  cf.  A.  Mommsen,  Feste  der  Stadt  Athen 
(Leipzig,  1898),  192-5. 

2  The  temple  of  Eleusis.  Dittenberger,  however,  would  transpose  the  following 
words  so  as  to  read  :  "in  the  Eleusinion  (a  sanctuary  at  Athens)  and  at  Eleusis  in  the 
council-hall." 

3  A  gens  (an  association  of  families  assumed  to  be  of  one  kin)  who  had  the  function 
of  regulating  the  Eleusinian  ceremonial. 

4  Literally,  "a  triad  headed  by  an  ox"  —  an  ox,  a  ram,  and  a  he-goat. 

5  On  these  divinities,  see  Farnell,  Cults  of  the  Greek  States,  III  (Oxford,  1907).  135 
sq.,  144  sq. 


FIRST  FRUITS;  PELARGICUM 


357 


Lamport1  moved  as  an  amendment  to  the  statute  concerning 
the  offering  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  harvest  to  the  Two  Goddesses  : 
The  secretary  of  the  council  shall  record  the  statute  and  the  fol- 
lowing decree  on  two  stone  stelae  and  shall  place  one  of  them  in  the 
sanctuary  at  Eleusis  and  the  other  on  the  Acropolis.  The  poletae2 
shall  let  the  contract  for  the  stelae,  and  the  colacretae 3  shall  give  the 
money  therefor.  These  provisions  concerning  the  offering  of  the 
first  fruits  of  the  harvest  to  the  Two  Goddesses  shall  be  recorded 
upon  the  stelae;  but  furthermore  the  new  archon  shall  intercalate 
the  month  Hecatombaeon.4  The  king  archon 5  shall  mark  the 
bounds  of  the  sanctuaries  in  the  Pelargicum,6  and  in  future  altars 
shall  not  be  set  up  in  the  Pelargicum  without  (the  authority  of) 
the  council  and  the  people.  Neither  shall  the  stones  be  quarried 
from  the  Pelargicum  nor  shall  earth  or  stone  be  taken  thence.  If 
anyone  shall  violate  any  of  these  provisions,  he  shall  pay  (a  fine  of) 
five  hundred  drachmae,  and  the  king  archon  shall  denounce  him  to 
the  council.  Lampon  shall  draft  a  statute  concerning  the  offering 
of  the  first  fruits  of  oil  and  shall  exhibit  it  to  the  council  in  the 
ninth  prytany,  and  the  council  shall  of  necessity  bring  it  before  the 
people. 

107.  The  Construction  of  the  Erechtheum 

a.  condition  of  the  material  in  409-8  b.c. 
(Inscr.  graze.  I.  322.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

In  409-8,  shortly  after  the  restoration  of  the  absolute  democracy  (no.  77, 
introduction)  the  Athenians  resumed  work  on  the  Erechtheum,  on  the  Acrop- 
olis, a  temple  second  only  to  the  Parthenon  in  beauty.  We  do  not  know  when 
it  had  been  begun,  whether  after  the  peace  of  Nicias,  421,  or  possibly  before 

1  An  influential  soothsayer,  often  mentioned  by  writers  of  comedy  in  that  age. 

2  See  no.  103,  n.  1. 

3  See  no.  103,  n.  2. 

4  In  order  to  adjust  the  lunar  months  of  the  Attic  calendar  to  the  seasons,  an  extra 
month  was  inserted  every  second  or  third  year  by  the  head  Archon,  usually  after  the 
sixth  month  in  midwinter.  The  insertion  of  an  extra  Hecatombaeon  (July)  in  this  case 
seems  to  have  been  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  more  time  for  the  sending  of  the  contri- 
butions. 

5  The  chief  religious  official. 

6  A  precinct  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  Acropolis,  by  the  gateway  of  the  orig- 
inal fortifications;  cf.  Judeich,  Topographie  von  Athen,  107  sqq.  For  the  "  taboo" 
upon  it  see  Thucydides,  ii.  17. 


358 


RELIGION 


the  outbreak  of  the  Peloponnesian  war;  D'Ooge,  Acropolis,  196.  It  was 
devoted  to  Athena  Polias  —  guardian  of  the  city  —  whose  statue  was  a  log 
rudely  carved  in  human  form,  and  to  Erechtheus,  a  hero- king  of  Athens ;  see 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xx.  The  following  passage  comprises  a  few 
items  excerpted  from  a  lengthy  report  to  the  government  on  the  condition  of 
the  material  for  the  Erechtheum,  at  the  time  of  the  .resumption  of  its  construc- 
tion, drawn  up  by  the  committee  of  supervisors  for  the  building  of  that  temple. 

The  Committee  of  Supervisors 1  of  the  temple  on  the  Acropolis, 
in  which  is  the  ancient  cult  statue,2  Brosunes  of  Cephisia,  Chariades 
of  Argyle,  Diodes  of  Cephisia,  the  chief  architect  Philocles  of 
Acharnae,  Etearchus  of  Cydathenaion  the  secretary,  recorded  the 
following  works  of  the  temple  in  the  condition  in  which  they 
took  them  over  in  accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  demus  — 
(comprising  material)  finished  and  half -wrought  —  in  the  archon- 
ship  of  Diocles,  when  the  tribe  Cecropis  held  the  first  prytany,  in 
the  term  of  that  boule 3  in  which  Nicophanes  of  Marathon  was  first 
to  serve  as  secretary. 

Of  the   temple  we  took  over  the  following   (material)  half- 
wrought  :  — 
At  the  corner  near  the  Cecropion 4  — 

4  blocks  not  set,  4  feet  in  length,  2  feet  in  width,  3^  in  thickness. 
1  'armpit'  piece,  4  feet  in  length,  3  feet  in  width,       feet  in 

thickness. 

5  blocks  of  toplayer,  4  feet  in  length,  3  feet  in  width,  ij  feet  in 

thickness. 

1  angle  block,  7  feet  in  length,  4  feet  in  width,  i|  feet  in  thickness. 
1  curved  stone  not  set,  corresponding  to  the  toplayer  blocks,  10 

feet  in  length,      feet  in  height.  .  .  . 
Of  the  columns  at  the  wall  on  the  side  of  the  Pandroseion ; 5 

of  (half-done  material)  :  — 

1  'EwHrTdrai,  the  committee  appointed  to  supervise  the  construction  of  the  build- 
ing.   The  names  of  the  supervisors  follow. 

2  This  was  the  wooden  statue  mentioned  in  the  introduction.  Individuals  are 
distinguished  by  their  demes  (townships). 

3  On  demus,  prytany,  and  boule,  see  no.  69,  n.  i. 

4  Cecropion,  shrine  of  Cecrops,  hero-king  of  Athens.  It  stood  near  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  Erechtheum;  D'Ooge,  Acropolis,  216  sqq. 

5  As  the  only  wall  columns  connected  with  the  Erechtheum  were  on  the  west,  it 
follows  that  the  Pandroseion,  shrine  of  Pandrosos,  daughter  of  Cecrops,  was  on  that 
side;  cf.  D'Ooge,  loc.  cit. 


ARCHITECTURAL  MATERIALS 


4  pieces  of  columns  in  position  uncut  for  i  J  feet  of  each  column 
from  the  inner  anthemion.1 
It  is  necessary  to  set  in  addition  a  volute  at  the  inside  of  the 
south  wall. 

The  following  are  unpolished  and  not  fluted :  — 

The  wall  on  the  inside  of  the  south  wing  is  not  polished  except 
that  one  in  the  portico  near  the  Cecropion. 

The  upright  blocks  are  unpolished,  the  outside  ones  all  around, 
except  those  in  the  portico  contiguous  to  the  Cecropion. 

All  the  rounded  base  mouldings  are  unfluted ;  the  columns 
all  unfluted  except  the  one  at  the  wall ;  the  entire  founda- 
tion around  is  unfluted ;  parts  of  the  inner  wall  are  un- 
polished. .  .  . 
In  the  facade  which  is  at  the  portal :  — 

(We  found)  the  altar  of  the  sacrificing  priest  unset ;  the  cross- 
beams (of  the  roof)  and  tie-beams  unset  (not  firmly  set). 
At  the  facade  near  the  Cecropion :  — 

It  is  necessary  to  work  the  roofstones  (3)  lying  on  the  maidens,2 
on  their  upper  surfaces,  for  a  length  of  13  feet,  a  width  of  5. 

The  bronze  ornaments  on  the  architraves  ought  to  be  wrought 
to  completion. 

Items  of  stone  completely  wrought  which  are  on  the  ground  :  — 
11  blocks,  4  feet  in  length,  2  feet  in  width,  ij  feet  in  thickness. 
1  'armpit'  block  4  feet  in  length,  3  feet  in  width,  of  a  thickness 
of  i|  feet.  .  .  . 

Facing  the  wall  at  the  Pandroseion,  a  length  of  7J  feet,  width 
of  3J  feet,  half-wrought  in  smooth  work. 

1  length  of  6  feet,  width  of  3  feet  and  1  palm,  thickness  of  5 
palms,  at  the  wall  facing  the  Pandroseion ;  five  feet  of  this 
part  did  not  Jiave  the  bead-work  carved  in. 

6  pieces  of  pediment,  those  from  the  colonnade,  7J  feet  in  length, 
3J  feet  in  width,  1  foot  in  thickness  —  half-wrought.  .  .  . 

4  doors  of  stone  8  feet  long  and  a  palm  ;  2  J  feet  wide ;  of  these 
parts  the  rest  have  been  completed,  but  the  black  stones 
should  be  inserted  in  the  rails  (of  the  doors) :  — 

1  For  the  architectural  terms  used  in  this  inscription,  see  Fowler  and  Wheeler, 
Greek  Archeology,  and  Tarbell,  History  of  Greek  Art  (indices). 

2  These  are  the  famous  statues  of  maidens  (Caryatids)  in  the  south  porch. 


360 


RELIGION 


The  console  1  for  the  space  above  the  eastern  door,  half-done. 
3  for  the  altar  of  the  sacrificing  priest,  of  Pentelic  marble,  4  feet 
in  length,  2  feet  high,  and  2  feet  and  1  palm  in  thickness.  .  .  . 

108.  Construction  of  the  Erechtheum 
b.  account  of  expenses  for  work  and  material 

(Inscr.  grcec.  I.  no.  324.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  following  selection  is  made  up  of  items  excerpted  from  the  account  of 
expenditures  on  the  construction  of  the  Erechtheum  for  the  year  408.  The 
inscription  is  so  mutilated  that  we  cannot  determine  the  sum  total  of  expendi- 
tures. The  value  of  the  document  lies  chiefly  in  the  information  it  affords 
regarding  the  social  classes  of  laborers,  their  wages,  and  the  cost  of  certain 
materials.  The  Athenian  citizen  is  distinguished  by  the  name  of  his  deme,  as 
"  Arescechmus  of  Agryle  ";  rarely  by  the  name  of  his  father  and  that  of  his  deme. 
The  metic  (alien  resident)  is  described  as  residing  in  a  deme,  as  uManis  residing 
in  Colly  tus."  The  name  of  the  slave  is  followed  by  that  of  the  master  in  the 
genitive  case,  as  "  Cerdon  {slave)  of  Axiopeithes" ;  see  Francotte,  U Industrie 
dans  la  Grece,  I.  204,  n.  2.  Francotte  has  thus  calculated  that  of  eighty-one 
men  engaged  in  the  work,  twenty-four  were  citizens,  forty  metics,  and  seventeen 
slaves.  There  are  many  besides  who  cannot  be  classified ;  but  from  the  pro- 
portions given  we  can  see  that  the  citizens,  though  on  the  verge  of  famine, 
were  not  favored,  and  that  the  greater  part  of  the  work  was  done  by  free  hands. 
It  is  clear,  too,  that  the  supervisors  engaged  either  individuals  or  extremely 
small  groups,  as  a  man  and  his  co-worker,  a  master  with  a  slave  or  two ;  in 
other  words,  labor  was  not  capitalized.  A  most  remarkable  fact  is  that  slave, 
metic,  and  citizen,  underling  and  architect  received  the  same  daily  wage  of  one 
drachma. 

******* 

For  completing  roof :  to  the  men  who  brought  on  the  rounded  plank  and  the 
others  for  each  seat : 


To  Manis  residing  in  Collytus 
To  Crcesus  residing  in  Scambonidae 
To  Andreas  residing  in  Melite 
To  Prepon  residing  in  Agryle 


1  drachma. 
1  dr. 
1  dr. 
1  dr. 


******* 

To  the  six  men  who  took  down  the  scaffolding  from  the  columns  of  the  facade 
To  Teucrus  residing  in  Cydathenaion  2  1  dr. 

1  Roberts  and  Gardner. 

2  Evidently  the  workmen  thus  far  mentioned  were  metics ;  see  introduction. 


WORKMEN'S  WAGES 


361 


To  Cerdon  (slave)  of  Axiopeithes  1  1  dr. 

******* 
To  the  men  who  did  the  scaffolding  for  the  encaustic  artists  under  the  roof : 
To  Manis  residing  in  Colly tus  4  dr. 

******* 

Total  for  underworkers  84  dr.  5^  obols. 

To  the  sawyers  working  day  by  day,  16  days  for  2  men,  1  dr.  per  day  per 
man 

To  Radius  residing  in  Colly  tus  and  his  co-worker  32  dr. 

To  sawyers  working  by  the  day,  for  third  period  of  twelve  days,  wooden 
laths  for  the  roofs,  for  seven  days,  1  dr.  per  day  (each)  for  two  men 
To  Radius  residing  in  Collytus  and  his  co-worker  14  days. 

Total  for  the  sawyers  46  dr. 

For  the  encaustic  painters  : 

To  the  one  who  made  the  encaustic  cymatium  which  is  on  the  inner  archi- 
trave, 5  obols  per  foot.2 

******* 

Total  to  encaustic  painters  30  dr. 

To  goldsmiths  (lit.  gold  pourers) : 

We  further  gave  to  him  who  gilded  bronze  figures  what  was  due  of  the  pre- 
ceding prytany,3  that  of  Oeneis. 

To  the  architect  Archilochus  of  Agryle  37  dr.4 

To  the  underclerk  Pyrgion  30  dr.  5  obols. 

Total  for  wages  67  dr.  5  obols. 

Total  for  entire  expenditure  1790  dr.  3^  obols. 

In  the  seventh  prytany,  that  of  the  tribe  of  Leontis : 

Received  from  the  treasurers  of  the  Goddesses,5  from  Aresaech- 

mus  and  his  fellow-officials,  4302  dr.  1  obol. 

1  For  the  fact  that  this  workman  was  a  slave,  see  introduction. 

2  Here  we  notice  that  some  of  the  artists  were  paid  according  to  the  amount  of 
work  accomplished. 

3  It  is  clear  that  these  accounts  were  kept  according  to  prytanies,  a  prytany  being 
a  tenth  of  the  year;  see  no.  69,  n.  1.  Each  prytany  was  named  after  the  tribe  whose 
delegation  in  the  council  constituted  the  prytaneis  (supreme  administrative  committee) 
for  the  time  being. 

4  As  this  prytany  doubtless  included  37  days,  we  learn  here  that  the  architect  re- 
ceived only  a  drachma  a  day,  the  same  as  a  common  laborer.  From  the  item  below  it 
is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  underclerk  received  less,  as  he  may  have  worked 
fewer  days. 

6  On  the  Treasurers  of  the  Goddess  (Athena),  see  no.  105,  introduction. 


362 


RELIGION 


Expenditure;  purchases:  .  .  . 

Phyromachus  of  Cephisia,  the  youth  by  the  breastplate  60  dr. 

Praxias  residing  in  Melite,  the  horse  and  the  figure  appearing  behind, 

turning  the  horse  round  I2o  dr. 

******* 
Phyromachus  of  Cephisia,  the  man  leaning  on  the  staff,  the  one  next  to 

the  altar  60  dr. 

Iasos  of  Collytus,  the  woman  whom  the  young  girl  has  embraced  80  dr. 
Total  for  the  making  of  religious  figures  3315  dr. 

Received  4302  dr.    Expenditure  the  same. 
In  the  Pandionis,  the  eighth  prytany : 

Received  from  the  Treasurers  of  the  Goddess,  Aresaechmus  and 

his  fellow-officials  1239  dr.  1  ob. 

Expenditure ;  purchases : 

2  planks  (wooden  tablets)  on  which  we  are  entering  the  account ; 

each  1  dr.1  2  dr. 

The  stone- work  account :  for  fluting  the  columns  on  the  east  side,  those 

by  the  third  altar  from  the  altar  of  Dione  : 
Ameiniades  residing  in  Ccele  18  dr. 

(In  another  prytany) 

******* 
Expenditure ;  purchases : 

2  pieces  of  papyrus  were  purchased,  on  which  we  entered  the 

copies  (of  the  accounts)  2  dr.  4  obols. 

4  tablets  4  dr. 

Gold  was  purchased  for  the  bronzes,  leaves  165  dr.  1  obol. 

Each  leaf  at  1  dr.,  from  Adonis  residing  in  Melite  166  dr. 

Lead  was  purchased,  2  talents,  for  the  clamping  of  the 

small  figures,  from  Sostratus,  residing  in  Melite  2  10  dr. 

Gold,  2  leaves,  was  purchased  to  gild  the  'eyes'  of  the  column, 
from  Adonis  residing  in  Melite  2  dr. 

Total  of  purchases  189  dr.  1  obol. 

For  stone- work :  for  fluting  pillars  toward  the  east,  those  by  the  altar.  That 

by  the  altar  of  Dione : 
Laossus  of  Alopece,  Philon  of  Erchia,  Parmenon  slave  of  Laossus,  Carion  slave 
of  Laossus.3  .  .  . 

1  It  appears  that  the  clerk  kept  the  running  accounts  on  wooden  tablets,  which 
were  copied  on  papyrus,  as  is  stated  below ;  and  the  accounts  as  finally  approved  were 
engraved  on  stone,  which  alone  has  been  preserved. 

2  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  this  merchant  and  another,  Adonis,  mentioned  im- 
mediately above,  were  both  metics.  In  these  transactions  there  seems  to  have  been  no 
idea  of  giving  native  Athenians  the  preference. 

3  Here  is  an  interesting  combination  of  workmen :  the  citizen  Laossus  with  two 
slaves  has  worked  by  the  side  of  another  citizen,  Philon,  in  fluting  certain  pillars. 


DEITIES  OF  THE  ERECHTHEUM 


363 


109.  The  Completed  Erechtheum  and  the  Worship  of 

Athena 

(Pausanias  i.  26) 

There  is  also  a  building  called  the  Erechtheum.  Before  the 
entrance  is  an  altar  of  Supreme  Zeus,  where  they  sacrifice  no  living 
thing ;  but  they  lay  cakes  on  it,  and  having  done  so  they  are  for- 
bidden by  custom  to  make  use  of  wine.  Inside  of  the  building  are 
altars  :  one  of  Poseidon,  on  which  they  sacrifice  also  to  Erechtheus 
in  obedience  to  an  oracle;  one  of  the  hero  Butes;  and  one  of 
Hephaestus.  On  the  walls  are  paintings  of  the  family  of  the  Butads.1 
Within,  for  the  building  is  double,  there  is  sea-water  in  a  well. 
This  is  not  surprising,  for  the  same  thing  may  be  seen  in  inland 
places,  as  at  Aphrodisias  in  Caria.  But  what  is  remarkable  about 
this  well  is  that,  when  the  south  wind  has  been  blowing,  the 
well  gives  forth  a  sound  of  waves ;  and  there  is  the  shape  of  a 
trident  in  the  rock.  These  things  are  said  to  have  been  the  evi- 
dence produced  by  Poseidon  in  support  of  his  claim  to  the 
country. 

The  rest  of  the  city  and  the  whole  land  are  equally  sacred  to 
Athena ;  for  although  the  worship  of  other  gods  is  established  in 
the  townships,  the  inhabitants  none  the  less  hold  Athena  in  honor. 
But  the  object  which  was  universally  deemed  the  holy  of  holies 
many  years  before  the  union  of  the  townships,  is  an  image  of  Athena 
in  what  is  now  called  the  Acropolis,  but  what  was  then  called  the 
city.  The  legend  is  that  the  image  fell  from  heaven,  but  whether 
this  was  so  or  not  I  will  not  inquire.  As  to  this  I  shall  not 
give  an  opinion,  whether  it  was  so  or  not.  Callimachus  made 
a  golden  lamp  for  the  goddess.  When  they  fill  this  lamp  with 
oil,  it  lasts  a  whole  year,  although  it  burns  continually  night  and 
day. 

There  are  various  other  indications  in  this  inscription  that  citizens,  metics,  and  slaves 
worked  side  by  side  on  the  same  architectural  piece.  It  is  interesting,  too,  that  slaves 
could  do  as  delicate  artistic  work  as  citizens  or  metics. 

1  The  Butads,  who  after  the  time  of  Cleisthenes  called  themselves  Eteobutadae, 
to  distinguish  themselves  as  members  of  a  noble  clan  from  the  Butad  demesmen, 
were  hereditary  priests  of  Poseidon;  Topffer,  J.,  Attische  Genealogie  (Berlin,  1889). 
113  sqq. 


364 


RELIGION 


no.  Law  of  the  City  of  Iulis  in  Ceos  for  Regulating 

Funerals 

(Inscr.  grcBc.  XII.  no.  593;  Ditt.  II.  no.  877;  Michel,  Recueil,  no.  398  A; 
Dareste-Haussoullier-Reinach,  Recueil  des  inscriptions  juridiques  grecques, 
I  (1891).  10-17;  Buck,  Greek  Dialects,  II.  no.  8;  and  especially  Prott 
and  Ziehen,  Leges  Grtzcorum  Sacrce,  II.  1.  260-67,  including  an  elaborate 
commentary.    Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription,  found  at  Iulis  on  the  island  of  Ceos,  belongs  on  philologi- 
cal grounds  to  the  last  quarter  of  the  fifth  century  (425-400) ;  but  the  funda- 
mental laws  contained  in  it  must  be  far  older.  They  were  either  simply  repub- 
lished or  more  probably  revised  in  some  points.  Sumptuary  regulations, 
directed  against  extravagant  and  ostentatious  funeral  ceremonies,  were  com- 
mon in  ancient  Hellenic  states,  and  were  ascribed  to  various  eminent  lawgivers, 
notably  to  Solon ;  Cicero,  De  Legibus,  ii.  59-66 ;  Plutarch,  Solon,  20  sq.  For 
the  most  part,  however,  we  have  only  scattered  allusions  to  the  subject  in 
ancient  authors,  and  this  stringent  law  of  Iulis  is  valuable  as  a  connected 
though  brief  account  of  Hellenic  burial  customs,  in  addition  to  its  mention  of 
curious  superstitions.  The  similar  ordinance  of  the  Labyadae  at  Delphi  (Ditt. 
II.  no.  438  C  ;  Michel,  no.  995  C)  should  be  compared ;  and  for  a  general  view 
of  the  subject,  see  Rohde,  Psyche  (4th  ed.  Tubingen,  1907).  I.  216-58. 

The  following  (are  the)  laws  regarding  the  departed.  They 
shall  bury  1  the  dead  person  in  the  following  manner  :  in  three  pieces 
of  white  cloth,2  namely,  a  sheet,  a  garment,  and  a  coverlet  —  it 
shall  also  be  permitted  to  use  fewer  —  all  three  not  to  exceed  one 
hundred  drachmae 3  in  value.  They  shall  bear  him  forth  on  a  bed 
with  wedge-shaped  feet,4  and  shall  not  cover  the  .  .  .5  with  the 
cloths.  They  shall  take  to  the  tomb  not  more  than  three  choes 
of  wine  and  not  more  than  one  chous  of  olive  oil ; 6  and  they  shall 
take  the  vessels  away  with  them.  They  shall  carry  the  dead  person 
(with  his  face)  covered,7  observing  silence  as  far  as  the '  tomb. 
They  shall  perform  the  preliminary  sacrifice  8  according  to  ancestral 

1  The  Greek  word  thaptein  (ddirTeiv),  which  may  be  used  of  either  interment  or 
cremation,  seems  here  to  signify  all  the  funeral  rites. 

2  Cloth  in  which  the  body  is  to  be  wrapped. 

3  Drachma,  about  18  cents.    The  entire  cost  therefore  is  not  to  exceed  $18. 

4  I.e.,  unornamented. 

5  Both  the  reading  and  the  interpretation  of  the  word  here  omitted  are  uncertain. 

6  About  nine  quarts  of  wine  and  three  of  oil. 

7  So  as  to  avoid  polluting  the  streets  of  the  city  and  the  light  of  day. 

8  Probably  a  sacrifice  offered  in  the  grave  itself  before  the  burial ;  Prott  and 
Ziehen,  op.  cit.  II.  264  sq. 


THE  DEAD 


365 


custom.  They  shall  take  the  bed  and  the  coverings  1  home  from 
the  tomb.  On  the  following  day  a  free  person  shall  sprinkle  the 
house  with  sea  water  first,2  and  then  all  the  rooms(?)  3  with  hyssop.4 
When  the  house  has  been  sprinkled  throughout,  it  shall  be  pure, 
and  they  shall  offer  sacrifices  upon  the  hearth. 

The  women  who  go  to  the  funeral  shall  not(?)  5  go  away  from 
the  tomb  before  the  men. 

They  shall  not  perform  rites  on  the  thirtieth  day  6  for  the  dead 
person.  They  shall  not  place  a  cup  beneath  the  bed,  nor  pour 
out  the  water,  nor  shall  they  carry  the  sweepings  to  the  tomb.7 

Wherever  a  person  dies,  no  women  shall  go  to  the  house  after 
the  body  is  borne  forth,  except  those  who  are  polluted  (by  the 
death),  namely,  the  mother,  the  wife,  sisters  and  daughters,  and 
not  more  than  five  women  besides  them  ;  also  children  of  daughters 
and  of  cousins  (are  polluted),  but  no  one  else.8  Those  who  are 
polluted,  after  washing  themselves  ...  by  pouring  water,  shall  be 
pure. 

(The  remainder  is  lost.) 

in.  Worship  of  the  Dead  at  Athens 

(Sophocles,  Electra,  404-500) 

The  following  passage  offers  further  information  on  the  relations  between 
the  kinsmen  and  their  dead,  as  represented  in  Attic  tragedy.  Noteworthy  is 
the  belief  that  the  spirit  of  the  deceased  father,  when  duly  invoked,  will  come 
from  the  tomb  to  aid  his  daughter  against  enemies. 

1  Probably  the  sheet  and  coverlet  already  mentioned. 

2  Cf.  Euripides,  Iphigeneia  in  Tauris,  1193 :  "The  sea  washes  away  all  the  ills  of 
men." 

3  So  Prott  and  Ziehen.  Buck  would  restore  thus :  "And  then  a  slave  shall  step  in 
(and  shall  sprinkle  the  house)." 

4  For  the  use  of  hyssop  in  purifications,  see  Leviticus  xiv.  49-53. 

5  The  insertion  of  the  word  is  very  doubtful. 

6  At  Athens  a  memorial  feast  was  held  thirty  days  after  the  funeral ;  cf.  Rohde, 
Psyche,  I.  233,  n.  3. 

7  These  superstitions  are  not  mentioned  by  ancient  writers,  but  may  be  compared 
with  similar  practices  among  the  modern  Greeks  and  the  German  peasantry ;  Cf.  Prott 
and  Ziehen,  op.  cit.  II.  265  sqq. 

8  The  sense  of  this  passage  is  slightly  confused,  but  it  seems  to  mean  that  the  rela- 
tives as  far  as  the  fifth  degree  are  rendered  impure,  but  only  five  women  from  their 
number,  in  addition  to  the  immediate  family,  shall  join  in  the  lamentations. 


366 


RELIGION 


Clytemnestra,  queen  of  Argos,  has  murdered  her  husband  Agamemnon, 
and  now  lives  in  dread  of  punishment  for  the  crime.  Frightened  by  a  dream, 
she  sends  her  daughter  Chrysothemis  with  a  sacrifice  to  offer  at  the  tomb  of  the 
slain  king.  Electra,  another  daughter,  meets  Chrysothemis  on  the  way,  and 
the  following  conversation  takes  place. 

Chrysothemis.  Then  I  will  go  forth  upon  mine  errand. 
Electra.  And  whither  goest  thou?    To  whom  bearest  thou 
these  offerings  ? 

Chr.  Our  mother  sends  me  with  funeral  libations  for  our  sire. 

El.  How  sayest  thou?    For  her  deadliest  foe? 

Chr.  Slain  by  her  own  hand  —  so  thou  wouldest  say. 

El.  What  friend  hath  persuaded  her?    Whose  wish  was  this? 

Chr.  The  cause,  I  think,  was  some  dread  vision  of  the  night. 

El.  Gods  of  our  house  !  be  ye  with  me  —  now  at  last ! 

Chr.  Dost  thou  find  any  encouragement  in  this  terror? 

El.  If  thou  wouldest  tell  me  the  vision,  then  I  could  answer. 

Chr.  Nay,  I  can  tell  but  little  of  the  story. 

El.  Tell  what  thou  canst ;  a  little  word  hath  often  marred,  or 
made  men's  fortunes. 

Chr.  'Tis  said  that  she  beheld  our  sire,  restored  to  the  sunlight, 
at  her  side  once  more ;  then  he  took  the  scepter,  —  once  his  own, 
but  now  borne  by  yEgisthus,  —  and  planted  it  at  the  hearth ;  and 
thence  a  fruitful  bough  sprang  upward,  wherewith  the  whole  land 
of  Mycenae  was  overshadowed.1  Such  was  the  tale  that  I  heard 
told  by  one  who  was  present  when  she  declared  her  dream  to 
the  Sun-god.  More  than  this  I  know  not,  —  save  that  she  sent 
me  by  reason  of  that  fear.  So  by  the  gods  of  our  house  I  beseech 
thee,  hearken  to  me,  and  be  not  ruined  by  folly  !  For  if  thou  repel 
me  now,  thou  wilt  come  back  to  seek  me  in  thy  trouble. 

El.  Nay,  dear  sister,  let  none  of  these  things  in  thy  hands 
touch  the  tomb ;  for  neither  custom  nor  piety  allows  thee  to  ded- 
icate gifts  nor  bring  libations  to  our  sire  from  a  hateful  wife.  No — 
to  the  winds  with  them ;  or  bury  them  deep  in  the  earth,  where 
none  of  them  shall  ever  come  near  his  place  of  rest ;  but,  when  she 
dies,  let  her  find  these  treasures  laid  up  for  her  below. 

And  were  she  not  the  most  hardened  of  all  women,  she  would 

1  This  omen  foretells  the  growth  of  her  son  Orestes,  now  an  exile,  to  manhood  and 
his  succession  to  the  throne  of  his  father. 


OFFERINGS  TO  THE  DEAD 


367 


never  have  sought  to  pour  these  offerings  of  enmity  on  the  grave  of 
him  whom  she  slew.  Think  now  if  it  is  likely  that  the  dead  in  the 
tomb  shall  take  these  honors  kindly  at  her  hand,  who  ruthlessly 
slew  him,  like  a  foeman,  and  mangled  him,  and  for  ablution  wiped 
off  the  bloodstains  on  his  head?  Canst  thou  believe  that  these 
things  which  thou  bringest  will  absolve  her  of  the  murder  ? 

It  is  not  possible.  No,  these  things  cast  aside  ;  give  him  rather 
a  lock  cut  from  thine  own  tresses,  and  on  my  part,  hapless  that  I 
am,  —  scant  gifts  these,  but  my  best,  —  this  hair,  not  glossy  with 
unguents,  and  this  girdle,  decked  with  no  rich  ornament.  Then 
fall  down  and  pray  that  he  himself  may  come  in  kindness  from  the 
world  below,  to  aid  us  against  our  foes  ;  and  that  the  young  Orestes 
may  live  to  set  his  foot  upon  his  enemies  in  victorious  might,  that 
henceforth  we  may  crown  our  father's  tomb  with  wealthier  hands 
than  those  which  grace  it  now. 

I  think,  indeed,  I  think  that  he  also  had  some  part  in  sending 
her  these  appalling  dreams;  still,  sister,  do  this  service,  to  help 
thyself  and  me,  and  him,  that  most  beloved  of  all  men,  who  rests 
in  the  realm  of  Hades,  thy  sire  and  mine. 

Chorus.  The  maiden  counsels  piously ;  and  thou,  friend,  wilt 
do  her  bidding. 

Chr.  I  will.  When  a  duty  is  clear,  reason  forbids  that  two 
voices  shall  contend,  and  claims  the  hastening  of  the  deed.  Only, 
when  I  attempt  this  task,  aid  me  with  your  silence,  I  entreat  you, 
my  friends ;  for  should  my  mother  hear  of  it,  methinks  I  shall  yet 
have  cause  to  rue  my  venture. 

Ch.  If  I  am  not  an  erring  seer  and  one  who  fails  in  wisdom, 
Justice,  that  hath  sent  the  presage,  will  come,  triumphant  in  her 
righteous  strength,  —  will  come  ere  long,  my  child,  to  avenge. 
There  is  courage  in  my  heart,  through  those  new  tidings  of  the 
dream  that  breathes  comfort.  Not  forgetful  is  thy  sire,  the  lord 
of  Hellas ;  not  forgetful  is  the  two-edged  axe  of  bronze  that  struck 
the  blow  of  old,  and  slew  him  with  foul  cruelty. 

The  Erinys  1  of  untiring  feet,  who  is  lurking  in  her  dread  am- 
bush, will  come  as  with  the  march  and  with  the  might  of  a  great 
host.    For  wicked  ones  have  been  fired  with  passion  that  hurried 

1  Erinys,  the  avenging  Fury  of  the  slain  man ;  she  will  soon  punish  the  murderess. 


368 


RELIGION 


them  to  a  forbidden  bed,  to  accursed  bridals,  to  a  marriage  stained 
with  guilt  of  blood.  Therefore  am  I  sure  that  the  portent  will  not 
fail  to  bring  woe  upon  the  partners  in  crime.  Verily  mortals  can- 
not read  the  future  in  fearful  dreams  or  oracles,  if  this  vision  of  the 
night  find  not  due  fulfilment. 

112.    COLONUS  AND  ITS  RELIGIOUS  ASSOCIATIONS 

(Sophocles,  (Edipus  of  Colonus,  668-719) 

Colonus  was  a  deme  (township)  of  Attica,  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
northwest  of  Athens,  and  not  far  from  the  Academy.  It  was  the  birthplace  of 
Sophocles .  In  that  age  Greece  was  well  watered,  and  Colonus  was  most  beautiful, 
as  this  description  shows,  though  it  is  now  desolate. 

The  passage  is  included  in  this  chapter  to  illustrate  the  religious  associations 
which  clustered  even  about  places  not  distinguished  for  famous  shrines.  At 
the  same  time  it  is  evidence  of  the  marvelous  beauty  of  the  place  and  of  the 
poet's  appreciation  of  the  loveliness  of  nature. 

Stranger,1  in  this  land  of  goodly  steeds  thou  hast  come  to  earth's 
fairest  home,  even  to  our  white  Colonus ;  where  the  nightingale,  a 
constant  guest,  trills  her  clear  note  in  the  covert  of  green  glades, 
dwelling  among  the  wine-dark  ivy  and  the  god's  inviolate  bowers, 
rich  in  berries  and  fruit,  unvisited  by  sun,  unvexed  by  wind  of  any 
storm ;  where  the  reveller  Dionysus  ever  walks  the  ground,  com- 
panion of  the  nymphs  that  nursed  him. 

And  fed  of  heavenly  dew,  the  narcissus  blooms  morn  by  morn, 
with  fair  clusters,  crown  of  the  great  Goddesses  2  from  of  yore ; 
and  the  crocus  blooms  with  golden  beam.  Nor  fail  the  sleepless 
founts  whence  the  waters  of  Cephissus  wander,  but  each  day  with 
stainless  tide  he  moveth  over  the  plains  of  the  land's  swelling  bosom, 
for  the  giving  of  quick  increase ;  nor  hath  the  Muses'  choir  abhorred 
this  place,  nor  Aphrodite  of  the  golden  rein. 

And  a  thing  there  is  such  as  I  know  not  by  fame  on  Asian 
ground,  or  as  ever  born  in  the  great  Dorian  isle  of  Pelops,  —  a 
growth  unconquered,  self -renewing,  a  terror  to  the  spears  of  foe- 
men,  a  growth  which  mightily  flourishes  in  this  land,  —  the  gray- 

1  The  stranger  is  (Edipus,  who  wandering  in  exile  is  now  approaching  Colonus. 
The  speaker  is  the  Chorus,  composed  of  the  elders  of  Colonus. 

2  Demeter  and  her  daughter  Persephone. 


COLONUS ;  ATHEISM 


369 


leafed  olive,  nurturer  of  children.  Youth  shall  not  mar  it  by  the 
ravage  of  his  hand,  nor  any  one  who  dwells  with  old  age ;  for  the 
sleepless  eye  of  the  Morian  Zeus  1  beholds  it,  and  the  gray-eyed 
Athena. 

And  another  praise  have  I  to  tell  for  this  the  city  of  our  mother, 
the  gift  of  a  great  god,  a  glory  of  the  land  most  high ;  the  might  of 
horses,  the  might  of  young  horses,  the  might  of  the  sea. 

For  thou,  son  of  Cronos,  our  Lord  Poseidon,2  hast  throned  her 
in  this  pride,  since  in  these  roads  first  thou  didst  show  forth  the  curb 
that  cures  the  rage  of  steeds.  And  the  shapely  oar,  apt  to  men's 
hands,  hath  a  wondrous  speed  on  the  brine,  following  the  hundred- 
footed  Nereids. 

113.  The  Gods  are  Man's  Invention 
(Critias,  Sisyphus;  Nauck.  Frag.  p.  771  sq.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  author  is  the  famous  leader  of  the  "  Thirty  "  who  governed  Athens  with 
terror  and  violence  for  a  short  time  after  the  close  of  the  Peloponnesian  war. 
Though  his  talent  was  remarkably  versatile,  he  lacked  moral  character,  wanting 
even  the  generous  impulses  of  the  friend  of  his  youth,  Alcibiades.  The  follow- 
ing passage  from  his  Sisyphus  is  a  bolder  denial  of  the  existence  of  the  gods 
than  anything  that  can  be  found  in  Euripides ;  See  Botsford,  Hellenic  History, 
ch.  xx. 

A  time  once  existed  when  unordered  was  the  life  of  men,  and 
kindred  to  the  beasts  —  a  life  enslaved  to  brute  force,  when  no 
reward  existed  for  the  good,  nor  for  the  bad  was  wrought  chastise- 
ment. Then,  methinks,  did  men  establish  laws  as  means  of  punish- 
ment, that  Justice  might  be  autocrat  .  .  .  and  have  Insolence  for 
slave ;  and  penalty  was  meted  out  to  any  who  transgressed.  When 
the  laws  restrained  them  openly  from  doing  deeds  of  force,  but 
secretly  they  did  them,  then,  methinks,  some  man,  adroit  and  wise, 
conceived  the  notion  of  devising  gods  for  mankind,  that  awe 
might  be  for  the  bad,  even  if  secretly  they  should  perform  or  say 
or  think  (some  evil) .  Thence  he  did  introduce  divinity  :  that  there 
is  a  Supernal  Being  flourishing  with  life  imperishable,  and  mind, 
hearing  and  seeing  and  thinking,  and  attending  to  these  things  and 

1  Zeus  Morios,  guardian  of  the  sacred  olives  (fxoplai)  of  the  Academy,  a  public 
garden  near  by. 

2  Poseidon,  god  of  the  sea  and  of  horses,  had  a  shrine  here. 


37° 


RELIGION 


bearing  divine  nature,  who  will  hear  all  that  is  spoken  among  mortals 
and  will  perceive  all  that  is  enacted.  Even  if  in  silence  thou  some 
evil  plannest,  this  will  not  escape  the  gods.  For  faculty  of  thought 
.  .  .  abides  in  them.  These  sayings  uttering,  he  did  bring  forward 
doctrine  winsome,  greatly  blinding  truth  with  fraudulent  discourse. 
The  gods,  he  said,  dwelt  in  that  place  by  mention  whereof  he  would 
most  terrify  mankind  —  the  region  whence  he  knew  men  had  their 
fears  ;  benefactions,  too,  (they  had)  for  their  life  of  toil  from  circular 
movement  above,  where  he  discerned  the  thunderbolts,  and  terrible 
reports  of  thunder  and  the  gleaming  stars  of  heaven,  the  fair  and 
varied  work  of  Time,  the  knowing  architect,  whence  gleams  the 
fiery  mass  of  shining  orb,  and  drenching  rain  issues  upon  the  earth. 
Such  fears  he  stationed  around  about  mankind;  with  awe  beset 
and  cleverly  he  housed  the  power  supernal  and  in  befitting  place ; 
thus  he  extinguished  lawlessness  with  fears.  ...  In  such  wise,  I 
believe,  did  some  one  first  persuade  the  mortals  that  there  was  a 
race  of  supernal  beings.1 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Prott,  J.  de,  and  Ziehen,  L.,  Leges  grcecorum  sacra  e  titulis  collectce,  I,  II.  i 
(Leipzig,  1896-1906) ;  Dinsmoor,  W.  B.,  "Attic  Building  Accounts,"  in  Am. 
Journ.  Arch.  XVII  (1913).  53-80,  242-65,  371-98;  Elderkin,  G.  W.,  Problems  in 
Periclean  Buildings  (Princeton  University  Press,  191 2);  Dorpfeld,  W.,  "Zu 
den  Bauwerken  Athens,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  XXXV  (1910).  39-72  ;  Caskey,  L.  D., 
"Die  Baurechnung  des  Erechtheion  fur  das  Jahr  409-08  v.  Chr.,"  ib.  XXXVI. 
317-43;  Goodyear,  H.,  Greek  Refinements:  Study  in  Temperamental  Archi- 
tecture (London,  1912). 

The  following  titles  are  given  as  an  aid  to  the  general  study  of  Greek  reli- 
gion. Adams,  J.,  Religious  Teachers  of  Greece.  Gifford  Lects.  (Edinburgh, 
1908);  Bischoff,  E.  R,  "Kauf  und  Verkauf  von  Priesterthumern  bei  den 
Griechen,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LIV  (1899).  9~i8;  Caird,  E.,  Evolution  of  Theology 
in  the  Greek  Philosophers,  2  vols.  (Glasgow,  1904) ;  Campbell,  L.,  Religion  in 
Greek  Literature  (Longmans,  1898) ;  Cumont,  R,  Astrology  and  Religion  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans  (Putnam,  191 2) ;  Decharme,  P.,  La  critique  des  traditions 
religieuses  chez  les  Grecs,  etc.  (Paris,  1904) ;  Farnell,  L.  R.,  Cults  of  the  Greek 
States,  5  vols.  (Clarendon  Press,  1 898-1 909) ;  Higher  Aspects  of  Greek  Religion. 
Hibbert  Lects.  (Scribner,  191 2) ;  Gardner,  E.  A.,  Religion  and  Art  in  Ancient 
Greece  (Harper,  1910) ;  Gardner,  E.  N.,  Greek  Athletic  Sports  and  Festivals 
(Macmillan,  1910) ;    Gilbert,   O.,  Griechische  Religions  philosophic  (Leipzig, 

1  The  entire  passage  is  here  presented,  the  lacunae  in  the  text  being  indicated  in  the 
usual  way. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


37i 


191 1) ;  Gruppe,  P.  O.,  Griechische  Mythologie  und  Religionsgeschichte,  2  vols. 
(Munich,  1906) ;  Hamilton,  M.,  Incubation ;  or  the  Cure  of  Disease  in  Pagan 
Temples  and  Christian  Churches  (London,  1906)  ;  Harrison,  J.  E.,  Prolegomena 
to  the  Study  of  Greek  Religion  (Cambridge,  1903) ;  Themis:  a  Study  of  the  Social 
Origins  of  Greek  Religion  (Cambridge,  191 2) ;  Ancient  Art  and  Ritual  (Holt: 
University  Library) ;  Holderman,  E.  S.,  A  Study  of  the  Greek  Priestess.  Diss. 
(Chicago:  University  Press,  1913) ;  Halliday,  W.  R.,  Greek  Divination:  a 
Study  of  its  Methods  and  Principles  (Macmillan,  1913) ;  Kern,  O.,  Ueber  die 
Anfdnge  der  hellenischen  Religion  (Berlin,  1902) ;  Lang,  A.,  Myth,  Ritual,  and 
Religion  (Longmans,  1887) ;  Mommsen,  A.,  Feste  der  Stadt  Athen  im  Altertum 
(Teubner,  1898) ;  Moore,  G.  F.,  History  of  Religions,  I.  chs.  xvii-xx;  Murray, 
G.,  Four  Stages  of  Greek  Religion  (Columbia  University  Press,  191 2) ;  Philios, 
M.  D.,  Eleusis:  her  Mysteries,  Ruins,  and  Museums  (Appleton,  1906) ;  Reitzen- 
stein,  R.  A.,  Die  hellenistischen  Mysterienreligionen,  etc.  (Teubner,  1910) ; 
Rouse,  W.  H.  D.,  Greek  Votive  Offerings  (Cambridge,  1902) ;  Wheeler,  B.  L, 
Dionysos  and  Immortality  (Houghton  Mifflin,  1899). 


CHAPTER  XII 


HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 
During  the  Period  404-337 

Chapters  xii-xv  illustrate  various  activities  of  the  Hellenes  during  the  period 
extending  from  the  close  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  404,  to  the  formation  of  the 
Hellenic  federation  under  Philip  of  Macedon  in  337,  the  year  following  the 
battle  of  Chaeroneia. 

114.  Ideal  Hellenic  Relations 

(Plato,  Republic,  470  sq.) 
The  principal  speaker  in  this  dialogue,  as  elsewhere  in  Plato,  is  Socrates. 

Neither  shall  we  offer  up  arms  at  the  temples  of  the  gods,  least 
of  all  the  arms  of  Hellenes,  if  we  care  to  maintain  good  feeling  with 
other  Hellenes ;  and  indeed,  we  have  reason  to  fear  that  the  offer- 
ing of  spoils  taken  from  kinsmen  may  be  a  pollution  unless  com- 
manded by  the  god  himself? 

Very  true. 

Again,  as  to  the  devastation  of  Hellenic  territory  or  the  burning 
of  houses,  what  is  to  be  the  practice? 

May  I  have  the  pleasure,  he  said,  of  hearing  your  opinion? 

Both  should  be  forbidden,  in  my  judgment ;  I  would  take  the 
annual  produce  and  no  more.    Shall  I  tell  you  why? 

Pray  do. 

Why,  you  see,  there  is  a  difference  in  the  names  1  discord'  and 
'war,'  and  I  imagine  that  there  is  also  a  difference  in  their  natures ; 
the  one  is  expressive  of  what  is  internal  and  domestic,  the  other  of 
what  is  foreign  and  external;  and  the  first  of  the  two  is  termed 
discord,  and  only  the  second,  war. 

That  is  a  very  proper  distinction,  he  replied. 

And  may  I  not  observe  with  equal  propriety  that  the  Hellenic 
race  is  all  united  together  by  ties  of  blood  and  friendship,  and  alien 
and  strange  to  the  barbarians? 

372 


FRIENDS  BY  NATURE 


373 


Very  good,  he  said. 

And  therefore  when  Hellenes  fight  with  barbarians  and  bar- 
barians with  Hellenes,  they  will  be  described  by  us  as  being  at  war 
when  they  fight,  and  by  nature  enemies,  and  this  kind  of  antagonism 
should  be  called  war;  but  when  Hellenes  fight  with  one  another 
we  shall  say  that  Hellas  is  then  in  a  state  of  disorder  and  discord, 
they  being  by  nature  friends;  and  such  enmity  is  to  be  called 
discord. 

I  agree. 

Consider  then,  I  said,  when  that  which  we  have  acknowledged 
to  be  discord  occurs,  and  a  city  is  divided,  if  both  parties  destroy 
the  lands  and  burn  the  houses  of  one  another,  how  wicked  does  the 
strife  appear !  No  true  lover  of  his  country  would  bring  himself 
to  tear  in  pieces  his  own  nurse  and  mother.  There  might  be  reason 
in  the  conqueror  depriving  the  conquered  of  their  harvest,  but 
still  they  would  have  the  idea  of  peace  in  their  hearts  and  would 
not  mean  to  go  on  fighting  for  ever. 

Yes,  he  said,  that  is  a  better  temper  than  the  other. 

And  will  not  the  city,  which  you  are  founding,  be  an  Hellenic 
city? 

It  ought  to  be,  he  replied. 

Then  will  not  the  citizens  be  good  and  civilized  ? 
Yes,  very  civilized. 

And  will  they  not  be  lovers  of  Hellas,  and  think  of  Hellas  as 
their  own  land,  and  share  in  the  common  temples? 
Most  certainly. 

And  any  difference  which  arises  among  them  will  be  regarded 
by  them  as  discord  only  —  a  quarrel  among  friends,  which  is  not 
to  be  called  a  war  ? 

Certainly  not. 

Then  they  will  quarrel  as  those  who  intend  some  day  to  be 
reconciled  ? 
Certainly. 

They  will  use  friendly  correction,  but  will  not  enslave  or  destroy 
their  opponents ;  they  will  be  correctors,  not  enemies  ? 
Just  so. 

And  as  they  are  Hellenes  themselves  they  will  not  devastate 
Hellas,  nor  will  they  burn  houses  nor  ever  suppose  that  the  whole 


374  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


population  of  a  city  —  men,  women,  and  children  —  are  equally 
their  enemies,  for  they  know  that  the  guilt  of  war  is  always  confined 
to  a  few  persons  and  that  the  many  are  their  friends.  And  for  all 
these  reasons  they  will  be  unwilling  to  waste  their  lands,  and  raze 
their  houses ;  their  enmity  to  them  will  only  last  until  the  many 
innocent  sufferers  have  compelled  the  guilty  few  to  give  satisfaction  ? 

I  agree,  he  said,  that  our  citizens  should  thus  deal  with  their 
Hellenic  enemies;  and  with  barbarians  as  the  Hellenes  now  deal 
with  one  another. 

115.  Monetary  Union  between  Mytilene  and  Phoclea, 
Early  Fourth  Century 

(Hicks  and  Hill,  no.   94;  Buck,  Greek  Dialects,  II.  no.  21.  Translated 

by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription  was  found  on  a  block  which  was  built  into  a  house  at 
Mytilene,  but  which  has  now  disappeared.  The  subject  is  evidently  an  agree- 
ment between  Mytilene,  on  the  island  of  Lesbos,  and  the  neighboring  city  of 
Phocaea  on  the  mainland,  to  the  effect  that  the  two  cities  should  issue  a  common 
coinage,  alternating  year  by  year;  cf.  Wroth,  Catalogue  of  the  Greek  Coins  of 
Troas,  Molis,  and  Lesbos,  pp.  lxv-lxvii  and  1 56-8.  From  the  coins  themselves 
we  learn  that  the  metal  used  was  electrum,  a  natural  or  artificial  alloy  of  gold 
with  silver,  and  that  the  denominations  were  staters  and  "  sixths,"  the  latter 
weighing  about  39  grains.  Although  this  inscription,  as  indicated  by  the  style 
of  writing,  belongs  to  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century,  the  original  agree- 
ment between  the  two  cities  may  have  been  far  earlier,  for  these  coins  were 
issued  as  early  as  480.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  in  spite  of  the  severe 
penalties  for  adulteration,  the  Phocaean  coinage  had  a  bad  reputation  and  was 
not  received  in  full  value  by  other  cities ;  Hill,  Hdb.  of  Greek  and  Roman  Coins 
(London,  1899),  70.  On  the  general  subject  of  monetary  unions,  of  which  this 
inscription  furnishes  the  best  example,  ibid.  103-6  ;  Head,  Historia  Numorum 
(Oxford,  191 1),  p.  lxxxiii  sq. 

{The  first  part  of  the  inscription  is  lost) 

If  the  two  cities  .  .  .  shall  write  anything  upon  the  [stele  or 
erase  anything],  such  change  shall  be  effectual.  One  who  [debases] 
the  gold  coinage 1  shall  be  liable  to  both  cities.    The  judges  shall  be, 

1  That  is,  a  careless  or  dishonest  director  of  the  mint.  Noteworthy  is  the  fact  that 
the  director,  not  the  state,  was  responsible.  We  notice,  also,  that  though  the  metal 
is  in  fact  electrum,  the  coinage  is  officially  termed  gold. 


A  MONETARY  UNION 


375 


in  the  case  of  one  who  [coins]  at  Mytilene,  all  the  magistrates  of 
Mytilene  for  a  majority  of  the  court ;  and  at  Phocaea  all  the  magis- 
trates of  Phocaea  for  a  majority  of  the  court.  The  trial  shall  be 
within  six  months  after  the  termination  of  the  year.1  If  he  is  con- 
victed of  purposely  making  the  alloyed  gold  too  base,2  he  shall  be 
punished  with  death ;  if  he  is  acquitted  of  doing  wrong  purposely, 
the  court  shall  determine  what  he  shall  suffer  or  pay ;  but  the  city 
shall  be  exempt  from  responsibility  and  from  loss.  The  people  of 
Mytilene  drew  the  lot  to  mint  first.  (This  agreement  shall  be  in 
effect)  beginning  (with  the  term  of)  the  prytanis  succeeding  Colonus 
(at  Mytilene)  and  the  successor  of  Aristarchus  at  Phocaea.3 


116.  The  Relation  of  Larisa,  Thessaly,  to  Macedon  and  to 
Sparta,  about  400  b.c. 

(Pseudo-Herodes  Atticus,  On  the  Constitution  —  IIepi  IioAiTeta?  Translated 

by  E.  G.  S.) 

This  curious  document,  which  has  come  down  to  us  under  the  name  of 
Herodes  (Atticus),  101-177  a.d.,  is  in  Codex  Burneianus,  no.  95,  of  the  British 
Museum,  following  the  sophistic  declamations  of  Gorgias,  Alcidamas,  and 
Lesbonax.  It  began  to  attract  the  attention  of  historians  in  1893,  when  Kohler, 
U.,  Sitzb.  Berl.  Akad.  XXVI.  489-507,  set  forth  its  value  for  the  political  rela- 
tions of  Thessaly  at  the  close  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.  In  his  judgment  Herodes, 
whom  he  accepts  as  the  author,  drew  his  historical  material  from  Thrasymachus 
of  Chalcedon,  On  the  Larisceans  —  Ilepi  AapwrcuW.  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  II 
(1897).  132,  n.  2,  advancing  a  step  farther,  decided  the  treatise  to  have  been  the 
work  of  a  sophist  resident  in  Larisa,  or  perhaps  rather  a  native  sophist,  of  about 
400.  Meyer,  Gesch.  des  Alt.  V  (1902).  56  sq.,  following  Beloch,  entertains  no 
doubt  that  it  is  the  work  of  a  Larisaean.  As  far  as  the  date  is  concerned,  this 
view  is  accepted  by  Drerup,  E.,  "  ['HpwSov]  Hepl  noAxreias :  ein  politisches 
Pamphlet  aus  Athen  404  vor  Chr.,"  in  Gesch.  u.  Kult.  des  Alt.  II.  1  (1908),  who, 
however,  prefers  to  consider  the  writer  an  Athenian  of  the  school  of  Theramenes. 
In  any  event  the  author  shows  a  far  better  acquaintance  with  the  details  of  the 
Greek  political  situation  about  400  B.C.  than  could  be  credited  to  any  sophist 
of  the  Christian  era.  The  early  date  is  favored,  too,  by  the  style.  In  the  judg- 
ment of  the  present  translator,  it  is  too  little  polished,  too  inadequate  on  the 
score  of  formal  perfection,  often  too  awkward  with  its  labored  rather  than  bril- 

1  The  year  during  which  the  accused  director  held  office. 

2  Literally,  "mixing  the  gold  too  weak,"  a  metaphor  from  the  mixing  of  wine  with 
water. 

3  I.e.,  with  the  beginning  of  the  next  official  year. 


376  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


liant  antitheses,  to  be  the  work  of  a  late  sophist ;  and  the  language  is  not 
archaizing  but  distinctly  archaic.  Although  the  dialect  is  not  ^olic  but 
pure  Attic,  this  circumstance  need  not  hinder  our  believing  it  to  have  been 
addressed  to  a  Thessalian  community,  even  by  a  Thessalian ;  for  Gorgias  of 
Chalcidic  Leontini  composed  orations  in  Attic,  and  Isocrates  addressed  the 
Doric  Dionysius  and  the  Macedonian  Philip  in  the  same  dialect.  In  favor  of 
the  early  date,  see  also  Nestle,  W.,  N.  Jahrb.  VI  (1903).  191  sqq.  (who  claims 
Thrasymachus  of  Chalcedon  as  author) ;  Pohlmann,  Griech.  Gesch.  (4th  ed. 
1909).  182,  n.  4;  Ferguson,  Greek  Imperialism,  20  sq. ;  Costanzi,  V.,  in  Studi 
italiani  di  filologia  classica,  VII  (1899).  137-59.  For  the  conservative  view, 
Schmid,  W.,  Rhein.  Mus.  LIX  (1904).  512-24;  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  U. 
v.,  in  Kultur  der  Gegenwart,  I.  8  (1905).  149  sq. ;  Adcock  and  Knox,  in  Klio, 
XIII  (1913).  249-57  (whose  contention  is  that  the  document  does  not  precisely 
fit  the  political  situation  at  any  point  of  time  in  the  neighborhood  of  400  B.C., 
and  that  the  language  is  not  early  Greek,  or  even  good  Greek  of  any  period). 

The  translation  of  the  entire  document  is  given  below,  partly  because  of  its 
unusual  nature,  and  partly  because  of  its  inaccessibility  to  the  general  student  of 
Greek  affairs.  The  peculiar  style  is  rendered  literally  into  English  in  so  far  as 
it  does  not  put  an  excessive  strain  upon  the  language.  The  best  treatment  of 
the  entire  subject  is  by  Drerup,  op.  cit.,  whose  article  includes  the  text  with  an 
introduction  and  an  elaborate  commentary. 

(1)  I  must  first  explain  that  it  is  necessary  to  speak  about  the 
present  matter  1  to  men  of  this  age  and  not  to  much  younger  per- 

1  For  an  appreciation  of  this  document  a  few  general  facts  regarding  the  political 
history  of  Thessaly,  and  its  condition  about  400  B.C.,  are  necessary.  First  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  neither  Thessaly  nor  Larisa  is  mentioned  by  name ;  and  it  is  only  from  al- 
lusions in  the  pamphlet  that  scholars  have  been  able  to  identify  as  Larisa  the  city-state 
to  which  it  was  addressed.  They  have  noticed  that  its  territory  borders  upon  Macedon 
(§  25)  and  that  the  nearest  neighbors  on  the  Hellenic  side  are  the  Phocians  (28).  The 
description  of  the  country  (14  sq.)  as  the  largest  and  most  productive  of  Hellas,  the 
reference  to  its  oligarchic  governments  (30),  and  to  its  attitude  in  the  Persian  war 
(22  sq.)  point  unmistakably  to  Thessaly;  cf.  Drerup,  in  Gesch.  u.  Kult.  des  Alt.  II.  1.  87 
sq.  It  is  known  further  that  about  400  Thessaly  was  ruled  by  a  few  great  city-states, 
of  which  Pelasgiotis  under  Larisa  lay  nearest  to  Macedon.  For  these  reasons  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Larisaeans  were  the  people  to  whom  the  pamphlet  appealed. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  the  Aleuadae,  a  noble  family  of  Larisa,  united 
all  Thessaly  under  their  royal  sway  (Hdt.  vii.  6).  They  sided  with  the  Persian  in- 
vaders, whereas  the  commons  sympathized  with  the  patriot  cause  (Hdt.  vii.  172-4). 
After  the  war  the  unity  was  broken  and  Thessaly  fell  into  great  confusion.  In  Larisa, 
as  elsewhere,  were  factions  of  the  Few  and  the  Many  in  deadly  strife  with  one 
another  (cf.  Thuc.  ii.  22.  3,  431  b.c).  On  their  conflict  hinged  the  history  of  the 
state,  not  only  in  its  domestic  affairs,  but  in  its  relations  with  outsiders.  This  fact  is 
kept  in  the  foreground  throughout  the  present  document.  Taking  advantage  of  sedi- 
tions, Archelaus,  king  of  Macedon,  413-399,  aimed  to  make  himself  master  of  Thessaly. 
The  Few,  in  their  strife  with  the  Many,  had  invited  his  aid  (§  9).    He  had  invaded 


REASONS  FOR  THE  SPEECH 


377 


sons.  That  it  is  seemly  to  be  silent  when  one  has  something  to 
say,  I  neither  can  learn  from  another  nor  do  I  find  it  so  myself. 
(2)  For  concerning  another  matter  one  might  be  able  to  censure 
those  who  speak,  charging  them  with  futility  or  with  meddlesome- 
ness, namely,  that  they  were  not  acquainted  with  the  facts  in  the 
case  before  them ;  but  in  affairs  relating  to  the  war  1  all  have  an 
interest  in  common;  and  most  necessary  and  pertinent  it  is  that 
men  in  these  stages  of  life  2  should  know  and  speak  about  them. 
They  to  whom  the  danger  comes  most  nearly  home  should  most 
necessarily  be  concerned  about  it ;  and  they  upon  whom  it  is  laid 
to  be  concerned  should  most  certainly  ascertain  the  facts.3  (3)  For 
speaking  I  find  much  need,  but  for  holding  my  peace  I  see  no 
excuse.  It  was  my  desire  that  you  yourselves,  together  with  the 
Gods,  should  be  the  causes  of  your  own  blessings.  If  however  it 
is  this  about  which  you  are  delaying,  and  if  it  is  sweet  to  you  to 
owe  your  success  to  others,  it  seems  to  me  that  whatever  takes 
place  is  due  to  the  care  of  one  of  the  Gods.  (4)  All  that  you  ought 
to  have  brought  about  by  persuading  with  money  and  by  risking 
with  your  bodies,  Fortune  has  accomplished  for  you  without 
trouble  or  money,  so  that  your  own  adversaries  willingly  pay  you 
the  penalty.  First,  then,  I  shall  teach  you  that  it  is  well  to  follow 
those  who  propose  war,  and  next  that  it  is  necessary. 

(5)  For  we  were  able  to  perceive  the  forces  that  were  naturally 
hostile  to  this  country,  and  perceiving  in  advance  before  suffering, 

Larisa,  and,  in  cooperation  with  his  partisans,  had  perpetrated  a  horrible  massacre  of  the 
commons  (16-18).  His  permanent  gain  was  the  occupation  of  the  Perrhaebian  terri- 
tory, which,  at  least  a  generation  earlier,  Larisa  had  forcibly  annexed  (6). 

In  the  Peloponnesian  war  Archelaus  had  sympathized  with  Athens.  It  was  nat- 
ural, then,  that  the  Lacedaemonians  should  feel  unfriendly  toward  him.  When  there- 
fore they  invited  Larisa  to  join  the  Hellenic  league,  the  writer  composed  this  pamphlet, 
in  the  form  of  an  address,  to  persuade  the  Larisaeans  to  accept  the  terms,  chiefly  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  guarantee  protection  from  their  northern  enemy.  The  author 
was  evidently  a  sophist,  rather  than  a  practical  statesman.  His  Oration  is  like  those  of 
Isocrates  in  general  character  and  purpose,  though  narrower  in  scope  and  relatively 
crude  in  style  and  thought. 

1  The  question  before  the  assembly  was  whether  Larisa  should  join  the  Hellenic 
league,  a  step  which  was  liable  to  involve  them  in  war  with  King  Archelaus  of  Macedon. 
1 2  Particularly  men  of  military  age,  taking  part  in  the  assembly. 

3  Notice  the  heavy,  labored  movement  of  the  style  here  and  throughout  the  docu- 
ment. The  author  seems  a  pioneer  of  prose,  feeling  his  way  with  great  difficulty 
through  an  unknown  field. 


378  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


we  would  be  on  our  guard,  rendering  their  affairs  weak  in  every 
way  and  our  own  affairs  stronger  than  theirs,  understanding  that 
whatever  is  by  nature  hostile  keeps  quiet  through  inability  to 
inflict  evil.  (6)  But  now  from  what  has  happened  we  have  our 
instruction  —  that  this  man  1  will  never  be  our  friend  nor  will 
there  be  any  reconciliation  between  him  and  us.  For  not  being 
injured  by  us  but  wishing  to  inflict  injury,  is  he  our  adversary. 
He  holds  a  territory  which  our  fathers  acquired  and  handed  down 
to  us,2  which  on  account  of  our  weakness  he  will  hold,  and  on 
account  of  our  power  will  reluctantly  restore.  (7)  This  is  one  pre- 
text for  his  ill-will  toward  us.  Another  is  that  Greek  common- 
wealths are  satisfied  to  preserve  their  own  power  for  their  descend- 
ants, while  for  autocrats  3  this  does  not  suffice,  but  they  always 
need,  in  addition,  to  subjugate  the  richest  (of  their  neighbors). 
(8)  Now  it  is  our  conviction  that  we  should  not  suffer  this  misfor- 
tune ourselves  and  should  also  prevent  others  from  suffering  it. 
Hence  that  man  has  a  grudge  against  us,  desiring  the  hopes  of 
those  who  trust  in  us  to  fail.  Beginning  then  with  a  single  device,4 
he  believes  he  will  overcome  us  and  those  whom  we  are  preventing 
him  from  ruling.  (9)  These  things  we  were  formerly  permitted  to 
conjecture  but  now  clearly  to  experience  in  fact.  Any  means 
which  gave  him  a  chance  to  conquer  community  and  territory  did 
not  escape  him  when  he  saw  us  in  civil  disruption ;  but  in  alliance 
with  the  Few  (the  aristocracy)  he  did  not  hesitate  to  assail  all  these 
people  (here  assembled).5  (10)  He  knew  when  he  came  that  should 
he  attack  the  Few  he  would  accomplish  nothing  that  he  wished ; 
for  by  beating  down  the  weaker  party  in  joint  warfare  he  would 

1  King  Archelaiis;  see  376,  n.  1. 

2  Undoubtedly  the  territory  of  the  Perrhaebians,  lying  between  Pelasgiotis  and 
Macedon,  a  region  conquered  by  Larisa  and  more  recently  taken  from  that  city  by 
Macedon;  see  376,  n.  1. 

3  Tvpdvpois,  "tyrants."  In  fact  he  was  a  king;  but  the  author  applies  to  him  the 
opprobrious  title  in  order  to  rouse  hatred  against  him.  The  contrast  between  the 
grasping  nature  of  despots  and  the  peaceful  disposition  of  city-states  is  without  his- 
torical foundation. 

4  Evidently  his  device  is  to  side  with  one  of  the  factions  found  in  every  Thessalian 
state. 

5  That  is,  he  joined  with  the  Few  against  the  Many.  The  latter  are  represented 
in  the  assembly  which  the  author  is,  in  imagination,  addressing.  The  government 
about  400  was  no  longer  a  narrow  oligarchy.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  not  a  democ- 
racy, as  it  did  not  include  the  laborers,  penestae. 


POLICY  OF  ARCHELAUS 


379 


by  no  means  gain  sway  over  the  more  numerous,  as  they  would 
have  been  able  to  ward  him  off ;  but  if  he  were  to  subjugate  the 
Many  in  alliance  with  the  Few,  he  believed  he  would  easily  have 
them  all  in  his  power.1  Thus  he  naturally  wishes  us  to  be  in  civil 
disruption.2  If  these  things  are  profitable  to  him,  you  must  believe, 
too,  that  he  will  do  them,  (n)  To  what  extent  his  advantage  is 
our  misfortune,  look  ye,  comparing  it  with  the  weightiest  of  other 
things.  Now  we  all  agree  that  war  is  the  greatest  of  evils  in  pro- 
portion as  peace  is  of  blessings.  Civil  disruption,  however,  exceeds 
war  in  the  degree  that  war  exceeds  peace.  For  in  a  foreign  war  they 
die  while  saving  their  country,  but  in  civil  strife  while  destroying 
it,  so  that  not  even  those  who  have  done  the  slaying  have  good 
repute  ;  (12)  because  in  warring  on  others  we  fight  in  behalf  of  our 
friends  ;  in  conquering  foreigners  we  acquire  others  as  friends  ;  but 
in  conquering  our  own  countrymen  we  are  deprived  even  of  the 
friends  that  exist.  The  seizure  of  territory,  the  destruction  of 
property,  the  delight  of  enemies  and  the  consequent  disaster  of 
friends,  it  is  tedious  to  recount  in  detail.  (13)  When  one  begins 
such  things,  it  is  not  easy  to  be  rid  of  them,  for  no  reconciliation  3 
can  be  found.  Men  are  not  annoyed  when  neighbors  have  civil 
broils ;  the  weaker,  that  they  may  escape  subjugation ;  the  equal, 
that  they  may  become  stronger;  and  the  strong,  that  they  may 
rule  the  more  easily.  (14)  Of  these  facts  I  think  it  unnecessary 
to  look  for  evidence  elsewhere ;  for  we  are  a  proof  to  others.  For 
possessing  the  largest  territory  of  the  Hellenes,  and  one  which  can 
furnish  most  products  not  only  to  the  inhabitants  but  also  to 
neighbors,  we  do  not  appear  to  be  richer  than  those  who  export 
from  us,  since  they  accumulate  products  for  themselves,  but  we 
spend  them  on  foreigners,4  making  the  common  property  personal, 

1  The  reasons  are  here  given  why  he  sided  with  the  aristocrats  against  the  commons. 
The  "weaker"  are  the  aristocrats. 

2  It  is  by  civil  strife  that  he  has  gained  his  power,  and  by  civil  strife  he  expects  to 
keep  the  upper  hand.  He  has  not  given  continued  support  to  the  Few,  and  the  Many 
at  present  control  the  government. 

3  The  translator  prefers  to  emend  5id\oyov  to  diaWay-^p. 

4  Tots  irapolKOLi,  evidently  aliens  who  have  taken  up  their  residence  in  the 
Thessalian  towns  for  commercial  objects.  Agriculturally  the  country  was  the  richest 
in  the  peninsula  but  was  wholly  backward  in  economy.  As  there  was  no  accumulation 
of  native  capital  adequate  to  the  needs  of  the  expanding  trade,  it  was  inevitable  that 
the  country  should  be  commercially  exploited  by  other  Greeks. 


38o  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


and  that  of  private  persons  common.  (15)  Now  is  it  not  outrageous 
to  support  at  common  expense  those  who  do  not  deliver  the  com- 
monwealth to  us  as  a  common  possession?  Furthermore,  though 
possessing  a  territory  best  adapted  to  warding  off  invaders,  and  a 
country  which  furnishes  native  allies  and  horses,1  not  only  do  we 
thereby  check  2  those  who  wish  to  injure  us,  but  we  even  bring  in 
those  who  will  defend  us,  persuading  them  with  money,3  and  we 
guard  ourselves  against  strangers,  but  at  the  same  time  the  power 
of  the  country  is  despised  and  we  are  ourselves  a  laughing-stock.4 
(16)  The  man  who  is  responsible  for  all  these  ills  and  for  many  others 
you  yourselves  saw  when  he  was  present  —  the  man  who  made 
before  all  such  a  display  that  no  one  is  so  hard  or  such  a  hater  of 
mankind  that  he  could  describe  it  without  tears.5  For  what  one 
of  the  greatest  evils  did  not  come  to  pass?  Did  not  children  and 
women  and  aged  fathers  become  witnesses  of  deaths,  some  of 
fathers,  some  of  husbands,  some  of  children,  some  of  those  who 
passed  away  in  their  own  arms,  others  destroyed  by  the  hands  of 
the  foe?  (17)  And  houses  razed  and  property  taken  away?  And 
what  was  most  terrible  of  all,  whenever  one  who  shared  in  the 
same  worship,  and  performed  the  same  sacred  rites,6  and  was  a 
member  of  the  same  tribe  —  whom  it  behoved  to  repel  according 
to  the  law,  but  not  lawlessly  to  destroy  —  when  even  to  old  men 
old  age  appeared  a  misfortune,  and  to  orphans  in  like  manner  ? 
(18)  The  man,  then,  who  was  responsible  for  these  calamities, 
ought  we  not  to  injure  when  we  can,  repelling  those  who  were  his 
aid,  avenging  the  dead,  and  lamenting  with  the  bereaved?  Not 
only  is  it  so  great  an  advantage  that  we  will  get  satisfaction  for 
the  past  but  that,  offering  this  as  an  example,  we  will  teach  others 
not  to  consider  our  disharmony  a  piece  of  sheer  luck  nor  to  plot 
against  us  in  alliance  with  our  own  countrymen. 

1  Thessaly  was  the  best  country  in  Greece  for  rearing  horses. 

2  The  translator  emends  dLaXvo/j-ev  to  KuXtiofxep. 

3  Mercenaries  are  thus  described. 

4  That  is,  through  the  interference  of  Archelaus  as  a  result  of  civil  broils. 

5  Invited  by  the  aristocrats,  Archelaus  had  intervened,  and  in  company  with  his 
partisans  had  perpetrated  a  horrible  massacre  described  below;  cf.  376,  n.  1. 

6  '0  ravra  8pwv  should  perhaps  be  6  tcl  clvtcl  bpCbv,  "who  chances  to  be  doing  the 
same  things,"  the  connection  seemingly  indicating  that  reference  is  to  the  performance 
of  sacred  rites. 


LARISA  AND  PELOPONNESE 


38i 


If  this  result  is  achieved,  I  am  hopeful  that  we  will  have  no 
more  civil  strife,  when  plotters  are  not  aided  by  allies  from  abroad. 
(19)  Thus  it  is  well  for  us  voluntarily  to  agree  to  join  in  war  with 
those  who  summon  us;  but  that  it  is  necessary  we  must  now  examine.1 
Archelaiis  did  not  march  against  the  Peloponnesians  along  with 
the  Athenians,  nor  did  he  stop  the  former  when  they  wished  to 
go  through  his  territory,2  nor  did  he  furnish  them  (the  Athenians) 
funds  against  the  others,3  nor  is  there  any  pretext  for  hostility 
except  that  he  was  unwilling  to  join  them  in  war  against  the  Athe- 
nians, but  kept  quiet.  (20)  Since  therefore  the  Peloponnesians  have 
an  adequate  pretext  for  deeming  as  enemies  those  who  did  not 
support  them  in  the  war,  let  us  be  on  our  guard  lest  they  on  the 
same  pretext  make  war  on  us,  if  being  summoned  we  shall  be  un- 
willing to  join  the  Peloponnesians  in  war,  for  he  was  not  injured 
by  the  Athenians  at  all.4  (21)  What  argument,  then,  is  left  to  us? 
Is  it  that  we  were  not  injured?  We  shall  teach  them  to  do  just 
what  he  did ;  for  it  is  not  wrong  if  he  who  did  it  is  no  wrong-doer.5 
Shall  we  say,  then,  that  we  are  wronged  but  unwilling  to  avenge 
ourselves?  Much  cowardice  indeed  we  shall  arouse  in  those  who 
wish  to  injure  us.6  (22)  But  are  we  willing  though  unable?  Who 
then  will  not  despise  our  power,  if,  having  the  Hellenes  as  allies, 

1  In  the  preceding  paragraphs  the  writer  has  been  urging  the  advantage  of  a  league 
with  the  Lacedaemonians  in  a  war  against  Macedon.  He  will  now  consider  the  neces- 
sity of  such  a  union. 

2  The  only  Peloponnesian  march  of  the  kind  known  to  us  was  the  expedition  of 
Brasidas  in  424  (Thuc.  iv.  78).  Though  at  that  time  Perdiccas,  not  Archelaiis,  was 
king,  the  principle  alone  is  important.  Notwithstanding  the  opinion  of  the  writer, 
this  permission  was  a  breach  of  neutrality  in  favor  of  the  Lacedaemonians. 

3  This  statement  is  untrue.  After  the  Sicilian  disaster  Archelaiis  supplied  Athens 
with  ship  timber  (Thuc.  viii.  4.  1 ;  Andoc.  ii.  11 ;  Xen.  Hell.  vi.  1.  n),  and  in  return 
was  aided  by  an  Athenian  force  (Diod.  xiii.  49.  1).  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Archelaiis  was 
a  great  admirer  and  patron  of  Athenian  literary  men  and  artists ;  cf.  Drerup,  op.  cit. 
98  and  n.  3.    There  was  accordingly  a  far  greater  pretext  for  war  than  the  writer  states. 

4  The  argument  is  that  we  must  either  join  with  the  Peloponnesians  against  Arche- 
laiis or  ourselves  incur  the  danger  of  being  assailed  by  the  Peloponnesians.  The  latter 
are  in  fact  so  sensitive  that  they  are  making  war  upon  Archelaiis  because  he  did  not 
join  them  against  the  Athenians,  even  though  this  king  had  suffered  no  wrong  at  the 
hands  of  the  Athenians.  The  argument  is  too  finely  spun  to  be  appreciated  at  first 
glance. 

5  That  is,  if  we  excuse  ourselves  from  the  war  on  the  ground  that  Archelaiis  has 
not  harmed  us,  we  shall  teach  the  Peloponnesians  to  treat  us  just  as  Archelaiis  has. 

6  This  is,  of  course,  ironical. 


382  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


we  shall  not  even  thus  be  able  to  repel  our  enemies  ?  The  greatest 
consideration  is,  if  we  shall  incur  for  a  second  time  from  the  Greeks 
the  accusation  that  we  did  not  join  in  the  war  against  the  Persians, 
and  secondly  the  one  now  announced.1  (23)  As  to  the  former,  we 
had  an  adequate  excuse :  in  behalf  of  ourselves  we  were  willing  to 
share  their  danger  ;  for  it  would  have  been  on  more  equitable  terms 
(to  fight  here)  than  to  abandon  our  country  and  struggle  in  defence 
of  theirs.2  Now,  however,  what  shall  we  say?  For  they  have 
themselves  arrived,  willing  to  face  danger  in  behalf  of  us  and  of 
our  country.  (24)  Is  it  not  outrageous,  too,  if  we  along  with  the 
Greeks  are  not  to  be  counted  in  with  the  Hellenic  coalition  ?  How 
great  a  thing  it  is,  this  man  himself  has  made  clear ;  for  though  eager 
and  willing  to  give  money  even  to  the  Greeks  to  become  their  ally, 
he  could  not  bring  it  about.3  His  conduct  is  a  fair  sign  of  two 
conditions :  that  it  is  a  good  thing  (to  join  the  coalition)  and  that 
it  is  difficult.  To  any  one  who  objects  to  my  view  such  is  my 
argument.  (25)  I  have  already  heard  something  said  which  is  to 
me  sufficient  proof  of  the  soundness  of  the  view  I  hold  against  my 
political  opponents.4  If  what  they  have  said  is  true,  there  is  no 
need  of  fear.  (26)  They  say  in  fact  that  Archelaiis  is  powerful  and 
that  he,  not  the  Peloponnesians,  is  our  neighbor.  Him  we  might 
keep  at  bay,  if  we  wished,  but  not  the  Peloponnesians.  Their 
idea  is  that  it  is  better  for  us  to  have  civil  broils  among  ourselves 
than  be  slaves  to  others.  If  I  saw  that  there  was  any  need  of 
choosing  one  of  the  two  alternatives,  I  should  deliberate  as  to 
which  of  the  two  I  ought  to  take  ;  but  the  restful  alternative  I  find 
is  connected  with  the  Peloponnesians.    (27)  I  marvel  also  at  those 

1  That  is,  if  we  do  not  now  join  with  the  Greeks  in  war  against  this  foreigner,  we 
shall  again  be  reproached  with  having  deserted  them  in  that  war  and  again  on  this 
similar  occasion. 

2  The  writer  means  that  in  the  Persian  invasion  the  Thessalians  would  have  fought 
against  the  foreigner  had  they  been  supported  in  their  own  country  by  the  Hellenes. 
In  the  present  instance  the  Hellenic  forces  are  on  the  ground,  ready  to  help  them. 

3  It  seems  clear  that  Archelaiis  had  recently  asked  for  admission  to  the  Hellenic 
league  but  had  been  refused.  It  is  clear,  too,  from  the  general  context  that  at  the  time 
of  the  composition  of  this  pamphlet  practically  all  Hellas,  with  the  exception  of  Larisa, 
was  in  the  Hellenic  alliance  under  Lacedaemonian  leadership.  That  could  only  have 
been  after  the  downfall  of  Athens,  404. 

4  The  opponents  of  the  speaker  (writer)  favored  friendship  with  Archelaiis  and 
opposed  alliance  with  the  Peloponnesians. 


LACEDEMONIAN  POLICY 


383 


who  set  matters  over  against  matters;  for  they  do  not  compare 
similar  things  with  similar;  in  the  first  place,  what  issues  from 
him  we  know  already,  but  the  actions  of  the  others  we  merely  sur- 
mise. One  thing  we  did  suffer,  but  the  other  we  do  not  know 
whether  we  will  suffer.  Is  it  reasonable,  then,  to  refrain  from  anger 
at  what  has  happened  and  to  fear  what  is  merely  surmised? 

(28)  From  what  precedents  ought  we  to  dread  future  events?  Do 
we  not  see  the  nearest  of  our  neighbors  among  the  Greeks,  the 
Phocians,  free,  and  those  contiguous  to  them,  the  Boeotians,  neither 
paying  tribute  nor  any  of  the  Lacedaemonians  holding  sway  there, 
and  further  away,  the  Corinthians  independent  and  governing  their 
own,  and  near  them  the  Achaeans,  neither  more  numerous  than  we 
nor  dwelling  in  more  numerous  commonwealths,  and  the  Eleians, 
and  those  of  Tegea,  and  the  other  Arcadians,  who  are  neighbors? 

(29)  No  one  has  ever  found  a  Spartan  ruling  there  or  here,  but 
everywhere,  as  we  know,  laws  and  governments  are  in  operation, 
and  these  states  enjoy  the  common  revenues  in  common.1 

(30)  But  perhaps  some  one  may  say  :  they  everywhere  establish 
oligarchy.  Yes,  such  a  form  of  government  as  we,  long  wishing  and 
yearning  for,  having  seen  for  a  short  time,  have  been  deprived  of, 
if  indeed  we  ought  to  call  those  governments  oligarchies  in  com- 
parison with  the  forms  in  operation  here.  For  where  is  there  so 
small  a  community  in  which  one  third  of  the  citizens  are  excluded 
from  political  life?  (31)  All  those  who  have  neither  arms  nor  any 
other  force  to  govern  by  were  deprived  of  the  franchise,  not  by  the 
Lacedaemonians,  but  by  fate.  Deprived  were  they  for  a  long  time, 
till  there  came  a  change  in  the  constitution.  These  things  we  have 
had  with  us.  I  believe  that  not  even  in  our  prayers  would  we 
pray  to  be  otherwise  governed ;  but  it  is  not  reasonable  that,  while 
furnishing  such  examples,  we  should  ourselves  be  in  dread  — 

1  The  favorable  view  of  the  Spartan  supremacy  was  possible  only  in  the  period 
shortly  following  the  close  of  the  war,  perhaps  after  the  fall  of  the  Thirty  at  Athens 
and  of  the  decarchies  in  the  JEge&n  cities ;  for  the  Lacedaemonians  soon  began  to  show 
themselves  tyrannical,  and  the  allies  began  accordingly  to  chafe  under  the  tyranny; 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xxi.  These  circumstances  would  favor  404,  or  perhaps 
rather  403,  as  the  date  of  the  pamphlet.  Naturally  a  political  pleader  could  not  be 
depended  upon  to  state  the  exact  facts  in  a  given  situation,  to  the  impairment  of  his 
own  cause.  Adcock  and  Knox,  in  Klio,  XIII.  249-57,  have  set  too  high  a  standard  for 
mortal  politicians  or  even  for  mortal  sophists. 


384  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


examples  whose  non-occurrence,  rather  than  whose  occurrence, 
would  be  a  grievous  thing.1 

(32)  As  for  the  Lacedaemonians,  it  is  not  in  their  natural  dis- 
position to  attack  us ;  for  they  dwell  far  from  us  and  are  unpre- 
pared to  assail  our  territory.  For  in  what  we  are  strongest  they 
are  not  a  little  inferior.2  In  the  first  place  it  is  improbable  that 
they  are  plotting  against  us ;  and  again,  if  they  undertake  it,  they 
will  be  discovered ;  and  if  we  discover  it  in  advance,  we  shall  not 
neglect  them.  (33)  If  this  argument,  too,  is  offered,  that  Arche- 
laiis  has  some  of  our  children,  and  on  account  of  the  children  it  is 
impossible  to  join  in  the  war,  in  the  first  place  we  ought  to  wonder 
at  the  man  who  would  make  mention  of  ten  children  but  says 
nothing  about  the  common  interest  or  the  community.  The 
advantage  of  all  he  takes  away  but  about  the  few  he  makes  his 
point.  If  it  were  necessary  that  the  children  should  suffer  some- 
thing, it  would  not  be  strange  to  say  it ;  but  it  is  now  clear  that  by 
overpowering  him  we  shall  gain  the  children  at  the  same  time; 
so  that  if  we  involve  him  in  difficulties,3  we  shall  easily  recover  the 
children. 

(34)  My  discourse  bids  you  beat  off  the  wrong-doer,  avenge  the 
dead,  gratify  their  kinsfolk,  receive  fate,  be  allies  to  the  Hellenes 
and  foes  to  the  barbarians,4  trust  those  who  benefit  us  and  hold 
no  dread  of  those  who  are  not  friends,  consider  as  enemies  those 
who  wrong  us  and  as  friends  those  who  defend  us,  and  in  addition, 
hold  our  insight  more  decisive  than  our  conjectures.  (35)  This  is 
my  thesis  ;  but  for  my  opponents,  who  will  go  to  that  limit  of  audac- 
ity, their  argument  is  the  opposite :  to  endure  when  wronged,  to 
benefit  the  wrong-doer,  to  flee  from  those  who  wish  to  benefit,  to 
distrust  friends,  to  trust  enemies,  to  dread  what  is  far  away,  to 

1  The  writer  strongly  favors  a  government  in  which  the  franchise  is  held  by  those 
who  have  property  qualifications  for  the  heavy  infantry,  and  contends  that  the  Lace- 
daemonians are  supporting  that  form  of  constitution  among  their  allies.  From  this 
political  view  of  the  writer,  however,  we  cannot,  with  Drerup,  deduce  the  conclusion 
that  the  writer  was  an  Athenian  of  the  school  of  Theramenes. 

2  That  is,  in  cavalry. 

3  The  reading  d0e\6vres  twc  inelvovKaK&v  makes  no  sense  whatever,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  say  how  it  should  be  emended.  The  translation  here  given,  "if  we  involve 
him  in  difficulties,"  is  a  guess  at  the  meaning. 

4  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Hellenes  of  this  time  regarded  the  Macedonians  as 
barbarians. 


UNITS  OF  REPRESENTATION 


.385 


overlook  what  is  close  at  hand,  (36)  and  then  not  to  become  allies 
of  the  Hellenes  but  of  the  barbarians,  and  they  our  most  bitter 
enemies ;  furthermore,  to  permit  the  dead  to  die  unavenged  and 
their  relatives  to  be  dishonored,  to  bring  it  about  that  there  shall 
be  no  government  or  laws  or  justice.  (37)  Such  we  must  say  is 
the  thesis  of  those  who  speak  against  my  contention.  Following 
them,  you  will  not  miss  the  results  to  which  they  lead ;  but  if  you 
receive  the  alliance  with  eagerness,  we  shall  obtain  satisfaction  for 
what  we  suffered ;  and  for  the  future  we  shall  not  suffer  such 
things. 

117.  Constitution  of  the  Bceotian  League 

(Oxyrhynchus  Hellenica,  xi,  in  Grenfell  and  Hunt,  Oxyrhynchus  Papyri,  V 
(1908).    Translated  by  Grenfell  and  Hunt) 

The  question  as  to  the  authorship  of  this  Hellenica  is  touched  upon  in  ch.  i 
of  the  present  volume.  The  most  valuable  part  of  the  recovered  fragment  is 
the  chapter  translated  below,  which  throws  a  new  and  valuable  light  on  the 
constitution  of  the  Bceotian  league  during  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century 
and  the  beginning  of  the  fourth.  The  year  which  the  author  refers  to  definitely 
is  395.  For  commentary,  see  Bonner,  R.  J.,  in  Class.  Journ.  V  (1910).  353-9; 
in  Class.  Philol.  V  (1910).  405-17;  Botsford,  G.  W.,  in  Pol.  Sci.  Quart.  XXV 
(1910).  271-96;  see  also  Bibliography  at  the  close  of  the  chapter. 

In  the  summer 1  the  Boeotians  and  Phocians  went  to  war. 
Their  enmity  was  chiefly  caused  by  a  party  at  Thebes ;  for  not 
many  years  previously  the  Boeotians  had  entered  into  a  state  of 
discord.  The  condition  of  Bceotia  at  that  time  was  as  follows. 
There  were  then  appointed  in  each  of  the  cities  four  boulai,  of 
which  not  all  the  citizens  were  allowed  to  become  members,  but 
only  those  who  possessed  a  certain  amount  of  money ;  of  these 
boulai  each  one  in  turn  held  a  preliminary  sitting  and  deliberation 
about  matters  of  policy,  and  made  proposals  to  the  other  three, 
and  a  resolution  adopted  by  all  became  valid.  Their  individual 
affairs  they  continued  to  manage  in  that  fashion,  while  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  Bceotian  league  was  this.  The  whole  population  of 
the  country  was  divided  into  eleven  units,  and  each  of  these  pro- 
vided one  Bceotarch,  as  follows.    The  Thebans  contributed  four, 


1  The  year  395. 


386  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


two  for  the  city  and  two  for  Plataea,  Scolus,  Erythrae,  Scaphae,  and 
the  other  towns  which  formerly  were  members  of  one  state  with  the 
Plataeans,  but  at  that  time  were  subject  to  Thebes.  Two  Bceo- 
tarchs  were  provided  by  the  inhabitants  of  Orchomenus  and 
Hysiae,  and  two  by  the  inhabitants  of  Thespiae  with  Eu tresis  and 
Thisbae,  one  by  the  inhabitants  of  Tanagra,  and  another  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Haliartus,  Lebadeia,  and  Coroneia,  each  of  these 
cities  sending  him  in  turn ;  in  the  same  way  one  came  from  Acrae- 
phion,  Copae,  and  Chaeroneia.  Such  was  the  proportion  in  which 
the  chief  magistrates  were  appointed  by  the  different  units,  which 
also  provided  sixty  bouleutcz  for  every  Bceotarch,  and  themselves 
defrayed  their  daily  expenses.  Each  unit  was,  moreover,  under 
the  obligation  to  supply  a  corps  of  approximately  a  thousand  hop- 
lites  and  a  hundred  horsemen.  To  speak  generally,  it  was  in 
proportion  to  the  distribution  of  their  magistrates  that  they  enjoyed 
the  privileges  of  the  league,  made  their  contributions,  sent  judges, 
and  took  part  in  everything  whether  good  or  bad.  This  nation 
then  as  a  whole  had  this  form  of  polity,  and  the  general  assemblies 
of  the  Boeotians  used  to  meet  in  the  Cadmeia. 


118.  Political  Factions  at  Thebes 

(Ox.  Hell.  xii.    The  same  translators) 

The  selection  given  below  is  useful,  not  only  for  a  view  of  the  internal  affairs 
of  Thebes  on  the  eve  of  the  Corinthian  war,  but  even  more  for  the  new  light 
thrown  upon  the  relation  of  that  city  to  Athens  in  the  Peloponnesian  war  and 
upon  the  economic  condition  of  Attica  in  the  same  period. 

At  Thebes  the  best  and  most  notable  of  the  citizens  were,  as 
I  have  already  stated,  divided  against  each  other,  one  faction  being 
led  by  Ismenias,  Antitheus,  and  Androclidas,  the  other  by  Leon- 
tiades,  Asias,  and  Corrantadas.  The  political  party  of  Leontiades 
sided  with  the  Lacedaemonians,  while  that  of  Ismenias  was  accused 
of  Atticizing,  because  it  favored  the  Athenian  democracy  when 
the  latter  was  exiled.1  Ismenias'  party,  however,  was  not  con- 
cerned for  the  Athenians  but  .  .  .    Such  being  the  condition  of 

1  Reference  is  to  the  exiles  under  the  Thirty,  404-403 ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History, 
ch.  xxi. 


GAINS   FROM  WAR 


387 


affairs  at  Thebes,  and  each  of  the  two  factions  being  powerful, 
many  people  from  the  cities  throughout  Bceotia  then  came  forward 
and  joined  one  or  the  other  of  them.  At  that  time,  and  for  a  short 
period  previously,  the  party  of  Ismenias  and  Androclides  was  the 
stronger  both  at  Thebes  itself  and  in  the  boule  of  the  Bceotians ; 
but  formerly  that  of  Asias  and  Leontiades  was  in  the  ascendant  for 
a  considerable  period  and  (had  complete  control  of?)  the  city. 
For  when  the  Lacedaemonians  in  the  war  with  the  Athenians  were 
occupying  Deceleia  1  and  collected  a  large  concourse  of  their  allies, 
this  party  prevailed  over  their  opponents  both  by  reason  of  the 
proximity  of  the  Lacedaemonians  and  because  the  latter  were  in- 
strumental in  conferring  great  benefits  upon  the  city.  The  The- 
bans  made  a  great  advance  in  the  direction  of  complete  prosperity 
as  soon  as  war  between  the  Athenians  and  Lacedaemonians  began ; 
for  when  the  Athenians  commenced  to  threaten(?)  Bceotia,  the 
inhabitants  of  Erythrae,  Scaphae,  Scolus,  Aulis,  Schcenus,  and 
Potniae,  and  many  other  similar  places  which  had  no  walls,  congre- 
gated at  Thebes,  thus  doubling  the  size  of  the  city.  But  it  never- 
theless came  to  prosper  in  a  much  higher  degree  when  the  The- 
bans  in  conjunction  with  the  Lacedaemonians  fortified  Deceleia 
against  the  Athenians;  for  they  took  over  the  prisoners  and  all 
the  other  spoils  of  the  war  at  a  small  price,  and  as  they  inhabited 
the  neighboring  country,  carried  off  to  their  homes  all  the  furnish- 
ing material  in  Attica,  beginning  with  the  wood  and  tiles  of  the 
houses.  The  country  of  the  Athenians  at  that  time  had  been 
the  most  lavishly  furnished  in  Greece,  for  it  had  suffered  but  slight 
injury  from  the  Lacedaemonians  in  the  former  invasions,  and  had 
been  adorned  and  elaborated  with  so  much  extravagance  that  .  .  . 
Such  was  the  condition  of  Thebes  and  Bceotia. 


119.  The  Olynthian  Confederacy 

(Xenophon,  Hellenica,  v.  2.  11-19) 

The  embassy  mentioned  in  this  excerpt  belongs  to  the  year  383.  The 
selection  is  offered  because  of  the  remarkable  character  of  the  confederacy  of 
which  it  treats.  See  Freeman,  History  of  Federal  Government,  I.  190-97 ; 
Grote,  History  of  Greece,  X.  50  sqq. ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xxi. 

1  In  the  later  years  of  the  war ;  op.  cit.  ch.  xix. 


388  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


Now  from  yet  another  quarter  ambassadors  arrived  in  Lace- 
daemon ;  that  is  to  say,  from  Acanthus  and  Apollonia,  the  two 
largest  and  most  important  states  of  the  Olynthian  confederacy. 
The  ephors,  after  learning  from  them  the  object  of  their  visit, 
presented  them  to  the  assembly  and  the  allies,  in  presence  of  whom 
Cleigenes  of  Acanthus  made  a  speech  to  this  effect : 

"Men  of  Lacedaemon  and  of  the  allied  states,"  he  said,  "are 
you  aware  of  a  silent  but  portentous  growth  within  the  bosom  of 
Hellas?  Few  here  need  be  told  that  for  size  and  importance 
Olynthus  now  stands  at  the  head  of  the  Thracian  cities.  But  are 
you  aware  that  the  citizens  of  Olynthus  have  already  brought  over 
several  states  by  the  bribe  of  joint  citizenship  and  common  laws; 
that  they  have  forcibly  annexed  some  of  the  larger  states ;  and 
that,  so  encouraged,  they  have  taken  in  hand  further  to  free  the 
cities  of  Macedon  from  Amyntas  1  the  king  of  the  Macedonians ; 
that,  as  soon  as  their  immediate  neighbors  had  shown  compliance, 
they  proceeded  to  attack  larger  and  more  distant  communities ; 
so  much  so,  that  when  we  started  to  come  hither,  we  left  them  mas- 
ters not  only  of  many  other  places,  but  of  Pella  itself,  the  capital 
of  Macedon?  Amyntas,  we  saw  plainly,  must  ere  long  withdraw 
from  his  cities,  was  in  fact  already  but  a  name,  an  outcast  from 
Macedon. 

"  The  Olynthians  have  actually  sent  to  ourselves  and  to  the  men 
of  Apollonia  a  joint  embassy,  warning  us  of  their  intention  to  attack 
us  if  we  refuse  to  present  ourselves  at  Olynthus  with  a  military 
contingent.2  Now,  for  our  part,  men  of  Lacedaemon,  we  desire 
nothing  better  than  to  abide  by  our  ancestral  laws  and  institu- 
tions, to  be  free  and  independent  citizens: 3  but  if  aid  from  without 

1  Archelaiis,  the  able  and  unscrupulous  king  of  Macedon  mentioned  in  no.  116,  was 
assassinated  in  399.  After  several  short  reigns  which  ended  violently,  Amyntas,  a 
member  of  the  royal  family  but  not  a  descendant  of  Archelaiis,  succeeded  to  the 
throne.  This  man,  noted  for  his  success  in  unifying  Macedon,  and  still  more  as  the 
father  of  Philip  and  the  grandfather  of  Alexander,  reigned  interruptedly  twenty-four 
years,  393-369 ;  cf.  Grote,  op.  cit.  x.  45-9.  At  the  time  of  the  Chalcidic  embassy  to 
Sparta,  described  in  the  present  excerpt,  the  fortunes  of  Amyntas  were  at  a  low  ebb ; 
he  was  obliged  to  yield  his  capital,  Pella,  to  Olynthus  and  came  near  being  driven  from 
his  kingdom. 

2  That  is,  the  Olynthians  were  planning  to  force  these  two  cities  into  the  league. 

3  This  was  the  sentiment  of  every  Hellenic  city  —  a  longing  for  absolute  political 
isolation. 


THE  CHALCIDIC  FEDERATION  389 


is  going  to  fail  us,  we  too  must  follow  the  rest  and  coalesce  with 
the  Olynthians.  Why,  even  now  they  muster  no  less  than  eight 
hundred  heavy  infantry  (?) 1  and  a  considerably  larger  body  of  light 
infantry,  while  their  cavalry,  when  we  have  joined  them,  will 
exceed  a  thousand  men.  At  the  date  of  our  departure  we  left 
embassies  from  Athens  and  Bceotia  in  Olynthus,  and  we  were  told 
that  the  Olynthians  themselves  had  passed  a  formal  resolution  to 
return  the  compliment.  They  were  to  send  an  embassy  on  their 
side  to  the  aforesaid  states  to  treat  of  an  alliance.2  And  yet,  if 
the  power  of  the  Athenians  and  the  Thebans  is  to  be  further  in- 
creased by  such  an  accession  of  strength,  look  to  it,"  the  speaker 
added,  "  whether  hereafter  you  will  find  things  so  easy  to  manage 
in  that  quarter. 

"They  hold  Potidaea,  the  key  to  the  isthmus  Pallene,  and  there- 
fore, you  can  well  believe,  they  can  command  the  states  within 
that  peninsula.  If  you  want  any  further  proof  of  the  abject  terror 
of  those  states,  you  have  it  in  the  fact  that  notwithstanding  the 
bitter  hatred  which  they  bear  to  Olynthus,  not  one  of  them  has 
dared  to  send  ambassadors  along  with  us  to  apprise  you  of  these 
matters.3 

"  Reflect  how  you  can  reconcile  your  anxiety  to  prevent  the 
unification  of  Bceotia  4  with  your  neglect  to  hinder  the  solidifying 
of  a  far  larger  power  —  a  power  destined,  moreover,  to  become 
formidable  not  on  land  only,  but  by  sea.  For  what  is  to  stop  it 
when  the  soil  itself  supplies  timber  for  shipbuilding,  and  there  are 
rich  revenues  derived  from  numerous  harbors  and  commercial 
centers  ?  5  —  it  can  not  but  be  that  abundance  of  food  and  abun- 

1  The  smallness  of  this  number  is  utterly  disproportionate  to  the  number  of  cavalry, 
to  the  actual  strength  of  the  league,  as  known  from  other  circumstances,  and  to  the 
general  tone  of  the  context.  Though  it  is  evidently  corrupt,  we  have  no  sure  means  of 
emending  it;  " eight  thousand"  is  a  mere  possibility. 

2  Remarkable  is  the  intense  diplomatic  and  military  aggressiveness  of  the  new 
league. 

3  In  a  situation  of  this  kind  we  should  not  too  confidently  rely  upon  the  speaker 
for  his  statement  as  to  the  feelings  of  others.  The  refusal  of  other  cities  to  join  the 
embassy  may  have  been  due  to  friendship  for  Olynthus. 

4  It  was  at  this  time  that,  in  fear  of  the  growing  power  of  Thebes  in  Bceotia,  the 
Lacedaemonians  violently  seized  the  acropolis  of  that  city,  and  forced  upon  it  an  oli- 
garchy devoted  to  Sparta. 

5  The  speaker  here  calls  attention  to  the  economic  advantages  of  the  Chalcidic 


HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


dance  of  population  will  go  hand  in  hand.  Nor  have  we  yet  reached 
the  limits  of  Olynthian  expansion;  there  are  their  neighbors  to 
be  thought  of  —  the  kingless  or  independent  Thracians.  These 
are  already  to-day  the  devoted  servants  of  Olynthus,  and  when  it 
comes  to  their  being  actually  under  her,  that  means  at  once  another 
vast  accession  of  strength  to  her.  With  the  Thracians  in  her  train, 
the  gold  mines  of  Pangaeus  will  stretch  out  to  her  the  hand  of  welcome.1 
"In  making  these  assertions  we  are  but  uttering  remarks  ten 
thousand  times  repeated  in  the  democracy  of  Olynthus.  Further- 
more as  to  their  confident  spirit,  who  shall  attempt  to  describe 
it?  It  is  God,  for  aught  I  know,  who,  with  the  growth  of  a  new 
capacity,  gives  increase  also  to  the  proud  thoughts  and  vast  designs 
of  humanity.  For  ourselves,  men  of  Lacedaemon  and  of  the  allied 
states,  our  task  is  completed.  We  have  played  our  parts  in  an- 
nouncing to  you  how  things  stand  there.  To  you  it  is  left  to  deter- 
mine whether  what  we  have  described  is  worthy  of  your  concern. 
One  only  thing  further  you  ought  to  recognize :  the  power  we  have 
spoken  of  as  great  is  not  as  yet  invincible,  for  those  states  which  are 
involuntary  participators  in  the  citizenship  of  Olynthus  will,  in 
prospect  of  any  rival  power  appearing  in  the  field,  speedily  fall 
away.  On  the  other  hand,  let  them  be  once  closely  knit  and  welded 
together  by  the  privileges  of  intermarriage  and  reciprocal  rights 
of  holding  property  in  land  —  which  have  already  become  enact- 
ments ;  let  them  discover  that  it  is  a  gain  to  them  to  follow  in  the 
wake  of  conquerors  (just  as  the  Arcadians,  for  instance,  find  it 
profitable  to  march  in  your  ranks,  whereby  they  save  their  own 
property  and  pillage  their  neighbor's) ;  let  these  things  come  to 
pass,  and  perhaps  you  may  find  the  knot  no  longer  so  easy  to 
unloose."  2 

towns ;  they  exported  ship  timber,  which  commanded  a  high  price  throughout  Hellas, 
and  they  were  the  medium  of  commercial  intercourse  between  the  Mediterranean 
world  and  Macedon.  It  was  chiefly  these  circumstances  which  led  Philip,  son  of  Amyn- 
tas,  to  annex  the  coast  region  to  his  kingdom. 

1  These  gold  mines  afterward  yielded  Philip  a  thousand  talents  a  year. 

2  From  the  words  of  these  ambassadors,  who  were  enemies  of  Olynthus,  we  infer 
that  this  city  was  building  up  a  league  on  a  principle  broader  and  more  generous  than 
Hellas  had  known  before  —  a  principle  so  fair  and  attractive  that  a  community  once 
adjusted  to  membership  had  no  desire  of  withdrawing.  Clearly  the  citizens  of  one 
community  had  the  rights  of  intermarriage,  commerce,  and  landholding  in  every  other. 
The  union  approached  nearly  to  a  state,  in  which  the  cities  were  municipalities. 


SECOND  ATHENIAN  CONFEDERACY 


1 20.  The  Founding  of  the  Second  Athenian  Confederacy, 

377  B.C. 

{Inscr.  grcec.  II.  17,  editio  minor,  1913,  no.  43  ;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  101 ;  Ditt. 
I.  no.  80;  Roberts  and  Gardner,  Greek  Epigraphy,  II.  no.  32.  Trans- 
lated by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription  has  been  pieced  together  from  twenty  fragments  found  at 
Athens.  It  is  of  cardinal  importance  as  the  best  authority  for  the  early  history 
of  the  so-called  Second  Athenian  Confederacy,  the  greatest  step  toward  federa- 
tion voluntarily  taken  by  the  Greek  states  in  the  fourth  century.  This  league, 
composed  chiefly  of  maritime  states  under  the  leadership  of  Athens,  was  formed 
in  378-377,  to  check  the  aggressions  of  Lacedaemon,  and  endured,  though  with 
diminishing  effectiveness,  till  the  beginning  of  Macedonian  supremacy,  338. 
The  decree  here  given,  passed  by  the  Athenians  in  377,  recognizes  the  confeder- 
acy as  already  existing,  and  is  principally  concerned  with  reaffirming  the  indepen- 
dence and  the  privileges  of  the  allies,  who  may  well  have  feared  that  Athens 
might  have  attempted  the  restoration  of  her  former  empire.  The  list  of  states 
inscribed  after  the  decree  not  only  informs  us  of  the  extent  of  the  confederacy, 
but  also  enables  us  to  trace  its  growth  as  far  as  the  year  373.  The  account 
of  the  founding  and  early  history  of  the  union  given  by  Diodorus,  xv.  28  sqq.  — 
the  chief  literary  source  —  may  be  compared.  See  also  Marshall,  F.  H.,  The 
Second  Athenian  Confederacy  (Cambridge,  1905),  chs.  ii,  iii,  where  the  results  of 
recent  investigation  are  summarized. 

IN  THE  ARCHONSHIP  OF  NAUSINICUS.     CALLIBIUS,  SON  OF 
CEPHISOPHON,  OF  P^EANIA,  WAS  SECRETARY 

In  the  seventh  prytany,1  that  of  (the  tribe)  Hippothontis, 
it  hath  pleased  the  council  and  the  people,  —  Charinus  of  Athmonon 
presided  ;  Aristoteles  made  the  motion  :  — 

That,  with  good  fortune  to  the  Athenians  and  their  allies, 
and  in  order  that  the  Lacedaemonians  may  allow  the  Greeks  to 
live  in  quiet,  free  and  autonomous,  and  to  possess  their  respective 
territories  in  security  2  ...  be  it  decreed  by  the  people  :  — 

That  if  any  of  the  Greeks  or  of  the  barbarians  dwelling  on  the 
mainland  3  or  of  the  islanders,  except  such  as  are  subjects  of  the 

1  February  or  March,  377. 

2  The  three  lines  following,  which  probably  contained  a  still  more  unfavorable 
characterization  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  were  erased  in  ancient  times,  perhaps  in  370- 
369,  when  Athens  and  Sparta  were  friendly. 

3  Thracians,  Macedonians,  and  Epeirotes  are  meant. 


392  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


King,1  wish  to  be  allies  of  the  Athenians  and  of  their  allies,  they 
may  become  such  while  preserving  their  freedom  and  autonomy, 
using  the  form  of  government  that  they  desire,  without  either 
admitting  a  garrison  or  receiving  a  commandant  or  paying  tribute,2 
and  upon  the  same  terms  as  the  Chians,3  the  Thebans,  and  the 
other  allies.  In  favor  of  those  who  make  an  alliance  with  the 
Athenians  and  with  the  allies,  the  (Athenian)  people  shall  release 
all  the  Athenians'  landed  possessions,4  whether  public  or  private, 
that  may  chance  to  be  in  the  territory  of  those  who  make  the 
alliance ;  and  [the  Athenians]  shall  give  assurances  to  this  effect. 
If  with  regard  to  the  cities  that  make  the  alliance  with  the  Athe- 
nians, there  chance  to  be  at  Athens  inscriptions  of  a  prejudicial 
character,5  the  council  holding  office  for  the  time  being  shall  have 
authority  to  destroy  them.  From  the  date  of  the  archonship  of 
Nausinicus  it  shall  not  be  allowable  for  any  Athenian,  either  in 
behalf  of  the  state  or  as  a  private  person,  to  acquire  either  a  house 
or  a  piece  of  land  in  the  territories  of  the  allies,  whether  by  purchase 
or  by  mortgage,  or  in  any  other  way.  If  anyone  shall  undertake 
to  purchase  or  acquire  or  take  property  on  mortgage,  in  any  way 
whatsoever,  any  ally  who  wishes  may  lay  an  information  against 
him  before  the  delegates  of  the  allies ; 6  and  the  delegates,  after 

1  This  provision  is  inserted  in  recognition  of  the  peace  of  Antalcidas,  387-386  B.C., 
by  the  terms  of  which  the  Hellenic  cities  in  Asia  Minor  were  made  subject  to  the  Per- 
sian king. 

2  Unlike  the  confederacy  in  the  previous  century ;  cf.  the  decrees  regarding  Ery- 
thrae  and  Chalcis,  nos.  "71,  72. 

3  Chios  was  the  first  state  to  enter  the  alliance ;  cf.  the  list  infra,  and  Diodorus  xv. 
28.  3. 

4  These  words,  though  of  general  application,  are  especially  designed  to  prevent  a 
return  to  the  practice  of  forcible  colonization  by  the  Athenians  (the  system  of  cleru- 
chies),  which  under  the  former  confederacy  had  proved  so  irritating  to  the  allies. 

5  I.e.,  copies  of  land  grants  made  by  the  allied  states,  treaties  confirming  such 
rights,  etc. 

6  Cf.  Diod.  I.e. :  "The  (Athenian)  people  .  .  .  assembled  a  joint  congress  (syne- 
drion)  of  all  the  allies;  and  delegates  (synedroi)  were  appointed  for  each  city.  It 
was  ordained  by  a  joint  resolution  that  the  congress  should  sit  at  Athens,  and  that  each 
city,  the  small  and  the  great  alike,  should  be  entitled  to  one  vote."  The  congress  of 
allies  and  the  Athenian  assembly  had  coordinate  and  independent  authority ;  cf.  Mar- 
shall, op.  cit.  22  sq.  and  note  that  throughout  this  document  the  "Athenians"  and 
the  "allies"  are  distinguished.  In  other  words,  the  system  comprised  two  equal 
powers,  (1)  the  Athenians,  (2)  the  allies,  and  was  governed  by  two  equal  coordinate  par- 
liaments, the  Athenian  assembly  and  the  congress  composed  of  delegates  from  all  the 


THE  ALLIES 


393 


selling  the  property,  shall  give  one  half  (of  the  proceeds)  to  the 
informer,  and  the  other  half  shall  belong  to  the  common  fund  of 
the  allies.  If  anyone  shall  go  to  war  against  the  members  of  the 
alliance,  whether  by  land  or  by  sea,  the  Athenians  and  the  allies 
shall  give  aid  to  the  party  attacked,  both  by  land  and  by  sea,  with 
all  their  might,  according  to  their  ability.  If  anyone,  whether 
magistrate  or  private  citizen,  shall  propose  or  put  to  vote  a  motion 
contrary  to  this  decree  with  the  effect  of  annulling  any  of  the  pro- 
visions of  this  decree,  he  himself  shall  incur  loss  of  civil  rights,  and 
his  property  shall  be  confiscated,  one  tenth  of  it  for  the  Goddess 
(Athena)  ;  and  he  shall  be  tried  before  the  Athenians  and  the 
allies  1  on  the  charge  of  destroying  the  alliance.  The  punishment 
shall  be  death  or  banishment  from  the  domain  of  the  Athenians 
and  the  allies  ;  and  if  he  is  sentenced  to  death,  he  shall  not  be  buried 
in  Attica  or  in  the  territory  of  the  allies.  The  secretary  of  the 
council  shall  inscribe  this  decree  on  a  stone  stele  and  shall  place 
it  by  (the  statue  of)  Zeus  the  Deliverer.2  The  money  for  inscribing 
the  stele,  sixty  drachmas,  shall  be  given  by  the  treasurers  of  the 
Goddess  from  the  fund  of  ten  talents.3  There  shall  be  inscribed 
on  this  stele  the  names  both  of  the  cities  now  in  the  alliance  and 
of  any  that  may  join  it.  Furthermore,  the  people  shall  choose 
immediately  three  envoys  to  go  to  Thebes  and,  so  far  as  they  can, 
to  induce  the  Thebans  to  take  good  measures.4 

The  following  were  chosen  :  Aristoteles  of  Marathon,5  Pyrrhan- 
der  of  Anaphlystus,  Thrasybulus  of  Colly tus. 

The  following  cities  6  are  allies  of  the  Athenians :  — 

allies  though  not  from  Athens.  A  resolution  adopted  by  the  two  parliaments  was 
binding  upon  the  system. 

1  This  may  possibly  refer  to  a  joint  court  of  Athenians  and  allies ;  cf.  Marshall, 
op.  cit.  35-7. 

2  On  the  west  side  of  the  Athenian  market  place;  Judeich,  Top.  von  A  then,  302. 

3  A  reserve  fund,  which,  owing  to  a  lack  of  ready  money,  may  have  been  borrowed 
from  the  treasury  of  Athena. 

4  As  the  Thebans  have  already  been  mentioned  among  the  allies,  this  embassy 
must  have  had  another  object  than  that  of  attaching  this  people  to  the  confederacy. 

5  The  mover  of  the  decree. 

6  For  the  situation  of  these  towns  —  instead  of  which  the  Greek  text  gives  the 
names  of  the  inhabitants  —  see  the  map  in  Marshall,  op.  cit.  1.  Diodorus,  xv.  30.  2, 
informs  us  that  seventy  cities  joined  the  alliance.  For  the  historical  details,  see  Dit- 
tenberger's  notes  and  Marshall,  op.  cit.  ch.  iii. 


394  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


Chios,1  Tenedos3 
Mytilene1 
Methymna1 
Rhodes,1  Poeessa3 
Byzantium 1 
Perinthus 2 
Peparethos 2 
Sciathos2 
Maronea2 
Dion3 
Paros,3  O ... 
Athenae,3  P ... 

(Here  follows  a  fragment  of  another  motion  made  by  Aristoteles .) 
(On  the  left  face  of  the  stone  the  following  names*  are  written  in  a 
single  column)  : 

The  democracy  5  of  Corcyra,  Abdera,  Thasos,  the  Chalcidians  in 
Thrace,  iEnus,  Samothrace,  Dicaeopolis,  the  Acarnanians,  Pronni 
in  Cephallenia,  Alcetas,6  Neoptolemus,  [Jason],7  Andros,  Tenos, 
Hestiaea,  Myconos,  Antissa,  Eresus,  Astraeus,  Iulis  in  Ceos,  Car- 
thaea,  Coresus,  Elaeus,  Amorgos,  Selymbria,  Siphnos,  Sicinos, 
Dion  in  Thrace,  Neapolis,  the  democracy  of  Zacynthus  living  in 
Nellus.8 

1  These  cities  were  allies  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  decree,  and  their  names 
were  then  inscribed,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Thebes. 

2  These  cities,  the  names  of  which  are  inscribed  by  two  different  hands,  joined  the 
alliance  in  377. 

3  These  cities  probably  joined  after  the  battle  of  Naxos  in  the  autumn  of  376. 

4  All  these  names  except  the  last  are  inscribed  by  the  same  hand ;  but  the  allies 
first  mentioned  (up  to  Jason)  seem  to  have  joined  in  375-374,  and  those  from  Andros 
to  Neapolis  in  373.  Kirchner,  Inscr.  grcec.  II,  ed.  minor,  I9i3,p.  28,  would  date  all 
in  375S74- 

6  This  expression  seems  to  indicate  that  the  oligarchical  and  democratic  factions 
were  then  at  variance. 

6  King  of  the  Molossians,  Neoptolemus  being  his  son. 

7  The  name  has  purposely  been  erased  but  was  probably  that  of  Jason,  tyrant  of 
Pherae,  Thessaly,  who  was  friendly  to  Athens  in  375,  but  fell  away  before  371. 

8  This  faction,  which  had  possession  of  a  fort  on  Mount  Nellus,  was  enrolled  in 
the  alliance  in  372;  Marshall,  op.  cit.  66;  but  cf.  Kirchner,  supra. 

The  formation  of  this  alliance  secured  comparative  peace  to  the  ^Egean  islands 
and  afforded  them  an  opportunity  to  regain  the  prosperity  they  had  lost  through 
recent  wars. 


Thebes 1 
Chalcis 2 
Eretria 2 
Arethusa 2 
Carystus 2 
Icos2 
Pall ... 


FORM  OF  ADMISSION 


395 


121.  Admission  of  Methymna  to  the  Confederacy,  377  b.c. 

(Inscr.  grcec.  II.  5.  no.  18  b,  editio  minor,  no.  42 ;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no. 
103  ;  Ditt.  no.  82  ;  Scala,  R.  von,  Staatsvertrage,  I.  no.  140.  Translated  by 
G.  W.  B.) 

This  inscription  is  on  a  marble  stele  found  on  the  Athenian  Acropolis. 
Methymna,  already  in  alliance  with  Athens,  desired  to  become  a  member  of  the 
new  confederacy.  The  procedure  in  admitting  this  state  was  undoubtedly 
followed  in  other  cases.  First  the  state  sent  an  embassy  to  Athens  with  a  re- 
quest for  admission.  If  the  request  was  granted,  the  name  of  the  community  was 
enrolled  in  the  list  (see  preceding  number) .  Thereupon  three  oaths  were  taken  : 
the  first  by  the  embassy  of  the  state  in  the  presence  of  the  congress  of  allies  and 
of  the  Athenian  generals  and  hipparchs,  next  by  the  three  groups  of  functionaries 
last  mentioned;  and  finally  by  a  committee  of  the  applying  state  before  a 
board  consisting  of  one  Athenian  and  a  commission  of  the  congress.  After 
these  oaths  were  taken,  the  city  was  recognized  as  a  member  ;  cf.  Pistorius,  H., 
Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  von  Lesbos,  etc.  (Bonn,  19 13).  37  sq. 

The  oath  is  given  in  the  number  next  following. 

(Be  it  resolved  by  the  Council  and  the  People.  The  tribe) 
.  .  .  is  held  the  prytany.  Call...  of  Alopece  was  secretary. 
Simon...  ius  was  chairman.    Astyphilus  moved  the  resolution: 

Concerning  the  matters  on  which  the  Methymnaeans  speak  — 
inasmuch  as  the  Methymnaeans  are  allies  and  friends  of  the  city 
of  the  Athenians  —  in  order  that  they  may  have  an  alliance  also 
with  the  other  allies  of  the  Athenians,  let  the  secretary  of  the 
council  enroll  them  in  the  same  way  that  the  other  allies  have 
been  enrolled.  Also  let  the  embassy  of  the  Methymnaeans  swear 
before  the  delegates  of  the  allies  and  before  the  generals  and  hip- 
parchs the  same  oath  which  the  rest  of  the  allies  have  taken. 
Then  let  the  delegates  of  the  allies  and  the  generals  and  hipparchs 
swear  in  the  same  terms  before  the  Methymnaeans.1  Next  let 
iEsimus  and  '  the  delegates  on  the  ships '  2  see  to  it  that  the  magis- 
trates of  the  Methymnaeans  take  the  oath  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  rest  of  the  allies.     Furthermore,  let  the  community  of  the 

1  Here  necessarily  the  ambassadors  from  Methymna  are  meant. 

2  ^Esimus  was  the  representative  of  Athens  who  accompanied  the  congressional 
committee  known  as  the  "  delegates  on  the  ships  "  to  receive  the  oath  from  the  applying 
allies.  "The  delegates  on  the  ships"  were  a  standing  committee,  and  received  their 
name  from  their  continual  voyaging  among  the  islands  of  the  ^Egean  for  the  purpose 
of  receiving  new  members. 


396  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


Methymnaeans  be  commended,  and  their  ambassadors  be  invited 
to  dinner.1 

122.  Oaths  of  the  Allies 

(Inscr.  grcec.  II.  5.  49  b.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  selection  below  is  taken  from  the  treaty  which  admitted  Corcyra  to 
the  Confederacy  in  377.  The  oaths  are  preceded  by  a  statement  that  the 
alliance  is  to  last  forever :  "  Let  there  be  an  alliance  of  the  Corcyraeans  and 
Athenians  forever.  If  any  one  in  war  shall  invade  the  country  of  the 
Corcyraeans,  ...  let  the  Athenians  bring  aid,"  etc. 

I  shall  give  aid  to  the  people  of  the  Corcyraeans  with  all  my 
strength  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  if  any  one  for  the  purpose  of 
war,  either  by  land  or  by  sea,  go  against  the  territory  of  the  Cor- 
cyraeans, in  accordance  with  whatever  notification  the  Corcyraeans 
shall  send ;  and  as  concerning  war  and  peace,  I  shall  act  in  accord- 
ance with  whatever  may  seem  good  to  the  full  body  of  the  allies,2 
and  other  things  I  shall  do  3  in  accordance  with  the  resolutions  of 
the  allies.  These  things  I  shall  do,  so  help  me  Zeus  and  Apollo 
and  Demeter.  To  me,  if  I  keep  my  oath,  may  there  be  many 
blessings ;  if  not,  the  opposite. 

1  shall  give  aid  to  the  people  of  the  Athenians  with  all  my 
strength  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  if  any  one  for  the  purpose  of 
war,  either  by  land  or  by  sea,  go  against  the  territory  of  the  Athe- 
nians, in  accordance  with  whatever  notification  the  Athenians  shall 
send ;  and  as  concerning  war  and  peace,  I  shall  act  in  accordance 
with  whatever  may  seem  good  to  the  full  body  of  the  allies,  and 
other  things  I  shall  do  in  accordance  with  the  resolutions  of  the 
Athenians  and  the  allies.  These  things  I  shall  do,  so  help  me  Zeus 
and  Apollo  and  Demeter.  To  me,  if  I  keep  my  oath,  may  there 
be  many  blessings ;  if  not,  the  opposite.4 

^E-n-i  £4via,  the  hospitality  due  to  honored  guests.  In  addition  to  the  state 
dinner  in  the  Prytaneum,  they  were  regularly  invited  to  front  seats  in  the  theater  and 
a  prominent  place  in  such  festivals  as  occurred  during  their  stay  in  Athens. 

2  The  congress  in  full  session  is  here  meant. 

3  That  is,  all  other  things  involved  in  the  relations  between  the  contracting  parties. 

4  The  obligations  contained  in  these  oaths  we  may  regard  as  typical  of  the  defensive 
alliances  of  that  period. 


A  MONOPOLY 


397 


123.  Athenian  Monopoly  of  Red  Ochre  produced  in  Ceos, 

360-350  B.C. 

(Inscr.  grcBC.  II.  no.  546;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  137;  Roberts  and  Gardner, 
Greek  Epigraphy,  II.  no.  71.    Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription,  found  on  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  contains  decrees  of  three 
towns  of  Ceos.  The  opening  portion,  now  lost,  must  have  included  an  Athenian 
decree  regarding  the  appointment  of  the  commissioners  named  at  the  close. 
From  the  position  of  the  Cean  decrees  that  are  preserved  it  seems  probable 
that  they  had  been  passed  as  the  result  of  previous  negotiations,  and  that  the 
commission  here  named  was  to  see  to  their  enforcement.  The  regulations,  the 
general  purport  of  which  is  plain  in  spite  of  the  mutilation  of  the  inscription, 
give  an  interesting  view  of  an  ancient  trade  monopoly  and  of  the  domineering 
policy  of  Athens  toward  her  weaker  allies  in  the  foarth  century.  In  spite  of  her 
promises  on  the  founding  of  the  Confederacy  (see  no.  120)  she  could  not  resist 
the  temptation  to  turn  the  league  to  her  own  advantage  as  soon  as  she  found 
herself  in  a  commanding  position.  The  island  of  Ceos,  nearest  of  the  Cyclades 
to  Athens,  was  noted  for  its  red  ochre,  or  ruddle  (niXros;  cf.  Theophrastus, 
De  lapidibus,  52),  which  was  used  both  in  medicine  and  in  the  arts.  Athens, 
therefore,  by  controlling  the  supply  of  this  raw  material,  secured  an  advantage 
for  her  manufactures.  On  account  of  the  writing,  the  inscription  is  assigned 
to  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  probably  not  long  after  363,  when  the  Cean 
towns,  which  had  seceded  from  the  Confederacy,  were  reduced  by  force;  cf. 
Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  118. 

(Only  a  few  fragments  remain  of  the  decree  of  Carthcea.)  (De- 
cree of  Coresus.)  Theogenes  moved :  —  Be  it  resolved  by  the 
council  and  the  people  of  Coresus,  with  regard  to  the  message 
of  the  Athenian  commissioners,  that  red  ochre  shall  be  exported 
to  Athens  only  ...  as  was  formerly  the  "case.  In  order  to  enforce 
the  decrees  ...  [of  the  Athenians]  and  the  Coresians  regarding 
red  ochre,  it  shall  be  exported  in  a  ship  which  the  1  .  .  .  shall 
assign,  and  not  in  any  other  ship.  The  producers  shall  pay  as 
freight  an  obol  [on  each  talent 2  to  the  shipowners].  If  anyone 
shall  export  it  in  another  ship,  he  shall  be  subject  [to  the  provisions 
of  the  law(?)].  This  decree  shall  be  inscribed  upon  a  stone  stele 
and  placed  [in  the  temple]  of  Apollo,  and  the  law,  as  it  was  formerly, 
shall  be  in  force.    A  charge  (of  violating  the  law)  shall  be  brought 

1  Perhaps  the  astynomi  mentioned  below. 
2 1*-,  3sholS' 


398  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


before  the  astynomi,1  who  shall  refer  it  to  the  vote  of  the  court 
within  [thirty]  days.  The  bringer  of  the  information  or  of  the 
charge  2  shall  have  the  half  (of  the  cargo)  ;  but  if  the  bringer  of 
the  charge  is  a  slave,  he  shall,  if  he  belongs  to  the  exporters,  re- 
ceive his  freedom  and  have  [three  fourths  ?]  (of  the  cargo)  ;  if  he 
belongs  to  someone  else,  he  shall  receive  his  freedom.  .  .  .  Both 
the  bringer  of  an  information  and  the  bringer  of  a  charge  shall 
also  have  the  right  of  appeal  to  Athens.3  Whatever  other  decrees 
the  Athenians  may  make  regarding  the  supervision  of  (the  trade 
in)  red  ochre  shall  be  in  force  (at  Coresus)  when  brought  hither. 
The  duty  of  one  fiftieth  4  shall  be  paid  to  the  collectors  by  the  [im- 
porters]. The  Athenians  shall  be  invited  to  dine  in  the  Pryta- 
neum  on  the  morrow. 

(The  decree  of  lulls  is  here  omitted  as  it  contains  substantially  the 
same  terms  as  the  preceding.) 

(Names  of  the  Athenian  commissioners)  The  following  were 
chosen:  Andron  of  Cerameicus,  Lysias  (or  Lysiades),  of  .  .  ., 
.  .  .  of  Phlya,  Euphrosynus  of  Paeania. 

124.  Athenian  Decree  in  Honor  or  Dionysius  I  or  Syracuse 

(Inscr.  grcec.  II.  no.  51,  editio  minor,  1913,  no.  103;  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  108; 
Ditt.  I.  no.  89;  also  Kohler,  "Die  griechische  Politik  Dionysius  des 
Alteren,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  I  (1876).  1-26.    Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  document  throws  an  interesting  light  upon  the  relations  of  Dionysius 
I,  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  405-367  B.C.,  with  the  states  of  peninsular  Hellas.  As  a 
friend  of  Sparta  he  had  been  opposed  to  Athens  during  the  greater  part  of  his 
rule,  although  there  is  a  fragment  of  an  Athenian  decree  in  his  honor  belonging 
to  394-393  (Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  91) ;  but  when  Sparta  and  Athens  were  drawn 
together  after  the  battle  of  Leuctra,  371,  it  was  natural  that  the  latter  state 
should  enter  into  relations  with  Dionysius,  at  that  time  the  ruler  of  the  most 

1  These  officials,  who  at  Athens  had  charge  of  the  public  highways  (Aristotle,  Const. 
Ath.  50),  must  have  been  also  port  wardens  at  Coresus. 

2  An  information  (Greek  phasis)  had  to  be  prosecuted  by  the  informer  himself ;  a 
charge  (Greek  endeixis)  might  be  prosecuted  by  the  public  authorities ;  so  that  even  a 
slave  could  bring  it;  cf.  Ziebarth,  in  Hermes,  XXXII  (1897).  609-28,  and  especially 
612  sq. 

3  Or  possibly,  "shall  have  the  right  to  bring  the  suit  at  Athens." 

4  Probably  the  duty  of  two  per  cent  collected  by  Athens  on  all  exports  and  imports. 


DIONYSIUS  I 


399 


powerful  state  in  the  Hellenic  world.  The  particular  reason  for  his  sending  an 
embassy  to  Athens  in  368  and  for  the  honors  conferred  on  him  can  only  be  con- 
jectured ;  but  as  he  is  known  to  have  assisted  the  Spartans  and  their  allies  with 
troops  on  two  occasions  (Xenophon,  Hellenica,  vii.  1.  20,  28),  either  in  369  and 
368,  or  in  368  and  367,  it  is  probable  that  the  decree  has  reference  to  one  of  these 
expeditions.  Early  in  367  a  formal  alliance  was  concluded  between  Athens  and 
Dionysius  (see  Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  112),  but  it  was  rendered  ineffectual  by  his 
death  a  few  months  later. 

In  the  archonship  of  Lysistratus,  in  the  tenth  1  prytany,  that 
of  [Erechtheis],  when  Execestus,  son  of  [Paeonides  (?)],  of  Azenia, 
was  secretary,  the  proedros2  who  put  the  question  was  Evangelus3 
.  .  .  Pandius  moved  the  resolution :  — 

That  with  regard  to  the  message  of  the  ambassadors  from 
Dionysius,  be  it  resolved  by  the  council :  — 

That  with  regard  to  the  letters  sent  by  Dionysius  concerning 
the  building  of  the  temple  4  and  the  peace,5  the  allies  6  shall  bring 
before  the  people  whatever  resolution  may  seem  best  to  them 
in  their  deliberations ;  and  that  the  proedri  after  inviting  the  allies, 
shall  introduce  the  ambassadors  to  the  people  at  the  next  assembly, 
and  shall  include  their  message  in  the  business  of  the  day,  and 
shall  also  communicate  the  proposal  of  the  council  to  the  people, 
to  the  effect  that  it  pleases  the  council : 7  — 

To  commend  Dionysius,  the  archon  8  of  Sicily,  and  his  sons 
Dionysius  and  Hermocritus,  inasmuch  as  they  are  good  and  true 
men  toward  the  Athenian  people  and  the  allies,  and  aid  the  King's 

1  June- July,  368. 

2  From  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century  nine  proedri  ("managers")  were  ap- 
pointed by  lot  to  supervise  each  meeting  of  the  assembly,  and  their  president  was  named 
in  the  heading  of  decrees  instead  of  the  president  of  the  prytaneis. 

3  In  the  obliterated  line  two  wreaths  may  have  been  carved. 

4  The  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi,  which  had  been  at  least  partially  destroyed  by  fire 
or  earthquake  in  373-372  ;  cf.  Ditt.  I.  no.  93;  Jacoby,  Marmor  Parium  (Berlin,  1904), 
18,  119. 

6  If  the  peace  congress  at  Delphi  (Xen.  Hell.  vii.  1.  27)  was  held  in  368,  as  is  gen- 
erally assumed,  the  embassy  of  Dionysius  was  probably  connected  with  it.  Niese, 
however,  in  his  "Beitrage  zur  griech.  Geschichte,"  in  Hermes,  XXXIX  (1904).  84-132? 
especially  88-93,  I25~8,  assigns  the  congress  to  the  following  year. 

6  I.e.,  the  delegates  from  the  cities  of  the  Athenian  confederacy,  who  held  their 
sessions  at  Athens;  cf.  no.  120. 

7  The  following  bill,  though  in  form  only  a  resolution  of  the  council,  must  have  been 
accepted  verbatim  by  the  assembly. 

8  The  official  title  of  Dionysius  in  the  Athenian  decrees,  "  ruler,"  "  chief  magistrate." 


4oo  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


Peace,1  which  was  made  by  the  Athenians  and  the  Lacedaemonians 
and  the  rest  of  the  Hellenes ;  and  to  send  to  Dionysius  the  crown 
(already)  decreed  to  him  by  the  people,  and  to  crown  each  of  the 
sons  of  Dionysius  with  a  golden  crown  of  the  value  of  one  thousand 
drachmas  on  account  of  their  loyalty  and  their  friendliness ;  and 
that  Dionysius  and  his  sons  shall  be  Athenian  citizens,  they  them- 
selves and  their  descendants,  (and  shall  belong)  to  the  tribe  and 
the  deme  and  the  phratry  that  they  wish.  The  prytaneis  of  (the 
tribe)  Erechtheis  shall  refer  this  matter  to  the  vote  of  the  people 

(The  remainder  of  the  inscription  is  fragmentary) 

125.  Decree  of  Amphipolis  Ordering  the  Banishment  of 
Two  Partisans  of  Athens 

(Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  125;  Ditt.  I.  113;  Buck,  Greek  Dialects,  II.  no.  12. 
Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription  was  found  near  the  site  of  ancient  Amphipolis.  The 
town,  which  was  situated  on  the  border  of  Macedon  and  Thrace  near  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Strymon  (now  Struma),  was  originally  a  colony  of  Athens,  but  had 
maintained  its  independence  many  years,  until  it  was  annexed  by  Philip  of 
Macedon,  357  B.C.  The  decree  contained  in  the  inscription  must  be  assigned 
to  the  latter  part  of  this  year ;  for  the  Stratocles  whose  banishment  is  ordered 
is  undoubtedly  the  Stratocles  who  went  as  ambassador  to  the  Athenians  to 
urge  them  to  take  possession  of  Amphipolis ;  Demosthenes,  Olynthiac  Oration, 
i.  8.  The  Athenians,  however,  refused;  for  they  relied  on  the  promise  of 
Philip,  who,  instead  of  restoring  the  town  to  them,  had  the  opponents  of  his 
rule  sent  into  exile ;  Diodorus  xvi.  8.  This  inscription,  therefore,  though  in 
form  the  decree  of  a  free  city,  is  in  reality  one  of  the  earliest  monuments  of  the 
Macedonian  supremacy. 

It  hath  pleased  the  people :  that  Philo  and  Stratocles  shall  be 
banished  from  Amphipolis  and  from  the  land  of  the  Amphipolitans 
forever,  both  they  themselves  and  their  children ;  and,  if  they  are 
captured  anywhere,  they  shall  be  treated  as  public  enemies  and 
may  be  put  to  death  with  impunity.2  Their  property  shall  be 
confiscated  and  the  tenth  part  shall  be  consecrated  to  Apollo  and 

xThe  peace  of  Antalcidas,  387-386;  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xxi. 
2  I.e.,  they  are  not  merely  exiled,  but  outlawed  as  well. 


PHILIP  OF  MACEDON 


to  Strymon.1  The  prefects  2  shall  inscribe  their  names  on  a  stone 
stele.  If  anyone  shall  demand  another  vote  upon  this  decree  or 
shall  harbor  these  men  by  any  art  or  device  whatsoever,  his  prop- 
erty shall  be  confiscated  and  he  himself  shall  be  banished  from  Am- 
phipolis  forever. 

126.  Philip's  War  upon  Olynthus 

(Demosthenes,  Olynthiac  Oration,  II.    Kennedy,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Philip,  who  came  to  the  throne  of  Macedon  in  359,  devoted  himself  (1)  to 
the  consolidation  of  his  own  kingdom  from  a  loose  aggregate  of  primitive  tribes 
to  a  highly  centralized  monarchy,  (2)  to  the  formation  of  a  more  efficient  army 
than  Europe  had  known  before,  (3)  to  the  extension  of  his  supremacy  not  only 
over  neighboring  tribes  of  barbarians,  but  also  over  peninsular  Hellas.  The 
first  object  of  his  foreign  policy  was  to  get  possession  of  the  coast  towns,  in 
order  to  gain  access  to  the  sea.  It  was  for  this  purpose  that"  he  seized  Amphip- 
olis,  as  mentioned  in  the  preceding  selection.  His  failure  to  restore  it  to  Athens 
as  promised  involved  him  in  a  war  with  that  country,  357-346.  During  the 
greater  part  of  this  period  the  war  existed  in  name  and  in  feeling  only,  though  at 
times  there  were  actual  hostilities.  Meanwhile  Philip  busied  himself  with  the 
extension  of  his  power  over  Thessaly  and  Thrace.  For  a  time  Olynthus  with 
her  Chalcidic  allies  (see  no.  125)  was  friendly  with  him  and  hostile  to  Athens ; 
but  at  length  when  the  Olynthians  found  themselves  menaced  by  the  growing 
power  and  insolence  of  Philip,  they  became  his  enemies  and  called  on  Athens 
for  an  alliance  and  immediate  aid.  The  act  of  Philip  which  precipitated  this 
war  was  his  demand  for  the  surrender  of  his  half-brother  Arrhidaeus,  who  had 
fled  to  Olynthus  to  escape  Philip's  wrath.  The  Olynthians,  true  to  their  reli- 
gious obligation,  refused  to  deliver  the  suppliant,  whereupon  Philip  began  war, 
349.  It  was  during  the  year  349-348  that  Demosthenes  delivered  his  three 
Olynthiac  Orations,  urging  the  Athenians  to  send  strong  forces  at  once  to  the 
support  of  Olynthus.  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus  concluded  that  the  oration 
numbered  the  second  was  in  reality  spoken  first,  and  this  view  was  accepted  by 
Grote,  History  of  Greece,  XI.  327 ;  see  also  Blass,  Attische  Beredsamkeit,  III.  1. 
268  sqq.  This  is  the  oration  given  below.  It  is  valuable  for  the  political 
situation  of  that  time. 

THE  SECOND  OLYNTHIAC 

(1)  On  many  occasions,  men  of  Athens,  one  may  see  the  kind- 
ness of  the  gods  to  this  country  manifested,  but  most  signally,  I 
think,  on  the  present.    That  here  are  men  prepared  for  a  war 

1  The  god  of  the  river  of  the  same  name. 

2  Greek  prostatae,  officials  whose  function  is  unknown. 


4o2  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 

with  Philip,  possessed  of  a  neighboring  territory  and  some  power, 
and  (what  is  most  important)  so  fixed  in  their  hostility,  as  to  re- 
gard any  accommodation  with  him  as  insecure,  and  even  ruinous 
to  their  country ;  this  really  appears  like  an  extraordinary  act  of 
divine  beneficence.  (2)  It  must  then  be  our  care,  Athenians,  that 
we  are  not  more  unkind  to  ourselves  than  circumstances  have 
been ;  as  it  would  be  a  foul,  a  most  foul  reproach,  to  have  abandoned 
not  only  cities  and  places  that  once  belonged  to  us,  but  also  the 
allies  and  emergencies  provided  by  fortune. 

(3)  To  dilate,  Athenians,  on  Philip's  power,  and  by  such  dis- 
course to  incite  you  to  your  duty,  I  think  improper :  and  why  ? 
Because  all  that  may  be  said  on  that  score  involves  matter  of  glory 
for  him,  and  misconduct  on  our  part.  The  more  he  has  tran- 
scended his  repute,  the  more  is  he  universally  admired ;  you,  as 
you  have  used  your  advantages  unworthily,  have  incurred  the 
greater  disgrace.  (4)  This  topic,  then,  I  shall  pass  over.  Indeed, 
Athenians,  a  correct  observer  will  rind  the  source  of  his  greatness 
here,  and  not  in  himself.  But  of  measures  for  which  those  who  have 
managed  the  government  in  his  interest,  deserve  his  gratitude  and 
your  vengeance,  I  see  no  occasion  to  speak  now.  Other  things 
are  open  to  me,  which  it  concerns  you  all  to  know,  and  which  must, 
on  a  due  examination,  Athenians,  reflect  great  disgrace  on  Philip. 
To  these  will  I  address  myself. 

(5)  To  call  him  perjured  and  treacherous,  without  showing 
what  he  has  done,  might  justly  be  termed  idle  abuse.  But  to  go 
through  all  his  actions  and  convict  him  on  the  basis  of  the  same, 
will  take,  as  it  happens,  but  a  short  time,  and  is  expedient,  I  think 
for  two  reasons :  first,  that  his  baseness  may  appear  in  its  true 
light ;  secondly,  that  they,  whose  terror  imagines  Philip  to  be  in- 
vincible, may  see  he  has  run  through  all  the  artifices  by  which  he 
rose  to  greatness,  and  his  affairs  have  reached  their  very  termina- 
tion. (6)  I  myself,  men  of  Athens,  should  most  assuredly  have 
regarded  Philip  to  be  an  object  of  fear  and  admiration,  had  I  seen 
him  exalted  by  honorable  conduct;  but  actually  observing  and 
considering,  I  find  that  in  the  beginning  when  certain  persons 
drove  away  the  Olynthians  from  here,  who  desired  a  conference 
with  us,  by  saying  that  he  was  going  to  surrender  Amphipolis,  and 
to  execute  the  secret  article  once  so  much  harped  upon ;  afterward 


PHILIP  AND  OLYNTHUS 


403 


he  got  the  friendship  of  the  Olynthians,  by  taking  Potidaea  from 
you,  wronging  you,  his  former  allies,  and  delivering  it  to  them; 
and  lastly  now  the  Thessalians,  by  promising  to  surrender  Mag- 
nesia, and  to  undertake  the  Phocian  war  on  their  behalf.1  In  short, 
none  who  have  dealt  with  him  has  he  not  fooled.  He  has  risen 
by  conciliating  and  cajoling  the  weakness  of  every  people  in  turn 
who  knew  him  not.  (8)  As,  therefore,  by  such  means  he  grew 
great  when  each  people  imagined  he  would  advance  their  interest, 
so  ought  he  by  the  same  means  to  be  pulled  down  again  when  the 
selfish  aim  of  his  whole  policy  is  exposed.2  To  this  crisis,  O  Athe- 
nians, are  Philip's  affairs  come ;  or  let  any  man  stand  forward  and 
prove  to  me,  or  rather  to  you,  that  my  assertions  are  false,  or  that 
men  whom  Philip  has  once  overreached  will  trust  him  hereafter, 
or  that  the  Thessalians  who  have  been  degraded  into  servitude 
would  not  gladly  become  free. 

(9)  But  if  any  among  you,  though  agreeing  in  these  statements, 
thinks  that  by  force  Philip  will  maintain  his  power,  by  having 
occupied  forts  and  havens  and  the  like,  this  is  a  mistake.  True, 
when  a  coalition  subsists  by  good-will,  and  all  parties  to  the  war 
have  a  common  interest,  men  are  willing  to  cooperate  and  bear 
hardships  and  persevere.  But  when  one  has  grown  strong,  like 
Philip,  by  rapacity  and  artifice,  on  the  first  pretext,  the  slightest 
reverse,  all  is  overturned  and  broken  up.  (10)  Impossible  is 
it,  —  impossible,  Athenians,  —  to  acquire  a  solid  power  by  in- 
justice and  perjury  and  falsehood.  Such  things  last  for  once,  or 
for  a  short  period;  maybe,  they  blossom  fairly  with  hope;  but 

1  During  her  ascendancy,  371-362,  Thebes  had  built  up  a  strong  federation  in  cen- 
tral Greece.  Among  the  allies  which  she  held  by  force  only  was  Phocis.  Soon  after 
the  battle  of  Mantineia,  362,  which  was  in  effect  a  defeat  for  Thebes,  Phocis  renounced 
her  allegiance.  To  regain  her  power  Thebes  persuaded  the  Amphictyonic  council  to 
fine  certain  leading  Phocians  for  sacrilege  against  the  Delphic  Apollo.  Phocis  resisted, 
and  thus  the  so-called  Sacred  War  began,  356.  With  the  aid  of  the  Delphic  treasury 
the  Phocians  hired  mercenaries,  more  than  held  their  own  against  Thebes,  and  invaded 
Thessaly.  Philip,  taking  the  side  of  the  Thessalians,  succeeded  finally  in  defeating  the 
Phocians  and  in  driving  them  from  Thessaly.  It  was  chiefly  by  these  means  that  he 
acquired  supremacy  over  that  country. 

2  The  argument  is  that  his  successes  have  been  due  chiefly  to  the  conduct  of  the 
Hellenes  themselves,  cajoled  into  friendship  or  alliance  by  his  false  promises.  Thus 
far  the  orator  is  right.  He  reasons  further  that  if  the  Hellenes,  at  length  aware  of  his 
character,  should  join  in  resisting  him,  they  would  succeed.  This,  we  may  say,  is 
possible  though  not  certain,  so  great  had  the  power  of  Philip  already  become. 


4o4  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


in  time  they  are  discovered  and  collapse.  As  a  house,  a  ship,  or 
the  like,  ought  to  have  the  lower  part  firmest,  so  in  human  conduct, 
I  ween,  the  principle  and  foundation  should  be  just  and  true.  But 
this  is  not  so  in  Philip's  conduct. 

(n)  I  say  then,  we  should  at  once  aid  the  Olynthians  (the 
best  and  quickest  way  that  can  be  suggested  will  please  me  most), 
and  send  an  embassy  to  the  Thessalians,  to  inform  some  of  our 
measures,  and  to  stir  up  the  rest ;  for  they  have  now  voted  to  de- 
mand Pagasae,  and  remonstrate  about  Magnesia.  (12)  But  look 
to  this,  Athenians,  that  our  envoys  shall  not  only  make  speeches, 
but  have  some  real  proof  that  we  have  gone  forth  as  becomes  our 
country,  and  are  engaged  in  action.  Ah  speech  without  action 
appears  vain  and  idle,  but  especially  that  of  our  commonwealth ; 
as  the  more  we  are  thought  to  excel  therein,  the  more  is  speaking 
distrusted  by  all.  (13)  You  must  show  yourselves  greatly  re- 
formed, greatly  changed,  contributing,  serving  personally,  acting 
promptly,  if  indeed  any  one  is  to  pay  attention  to  you.  If  ye  will 
perform  these  duties  properly  and  becomingly,  Athenians,  not 
only  will  it  appear  that  Philip's  alliances  are  weak  and  precarious, 
but  the  poor  state  of  his  native  empire  and  power  will  be  revealed. 

(14)  To  speak,  roundly,  the  Macedonian  power,  state,  and 
empire  are  very  well  as  a  help,  as  it  was  for  you  in  Timotheus'  time 
against  the  Olynthians ;  likewise  for  them  against  Potidaea  the 
conjunction  was  important ;  and  lately  it  aided  the  Thessalians 
in  their  broils  and  troubles  against  the  regnant  house :  and  the 
accession  of  any  power,  however  small,  is  undoubtedly  useful. 
But  the  Macedonian  state  is  feeble  of  itself,  and  full  of  defects. 

(15)  The  very  operations  which  seem  to  constitute  Philip's  great- 
ness, his  war  and  his  expeditions,  have  made  it  more  insecure  than 
it  was  originally.  Think  not,  Athenians,  that  Philip  and  his 
subjects  have  the  same  likings.  He  desires  glory,  makes  that 
his  passion,  is  ready  for  any  consequence  of  adventure  and  peril, 

(16)  preferring  to  a  life  of  safety  the  honor  of  achieving  what  no 
Macedonian  king  ever  did  before.  But  they  have  no  share  in 
the  glorious  result ;  ever  harassed  by  these  excursions  up  and 
down,  they  suffer  and  toil  incessantly,  allowed  no  leisure  for  their 
employments  or  private  concerns,  unable  even  to  dispose  of  their 
hard  earnings,  the  markets  of  the  country  being  closed  on  account 


PHILIP'S  ASSOCIATES 


405 


of  war.  (17)  By  this  then  it  may  easily  be  seen,  how  the  Mace- 
donians in  general  are  disposed  to  Philip.  His  mercenaries  and 
guards,  indeed,  have  the  reputation  of  admirable  and  well-trained 
soldiers ;  as  I  heard  from  one  who  had  been  in  the  country,  a  man 
incapable  of  falsehood,  they  are  no  better  than  others.  (18)  For 
if  there  be  any  among  them  experienced  in  battles  and  campaigns, 
Philip  is  jealous  of  such  men  and  drives  them  away,  he  says,  wish- 
ing to  keep  the  glory  of  all  actions  to  himself ; 1  his  jealousy  (among 
other  failings)  being  excessive.  Or  if  any  man  be  generally  tem- 
perate and  virtuous,  unable  to  bear  Philip's  daily  intemperances, 
drunkenness,  and  indecencies,  he  is  pushed  aside  and  accounted 
nobody.2  (19)  The  rest  about  him  are  brigands  and  parasites, 
and  men  of  that  character,  who  will  get  drunk  and  perform  dances 
which  I  scruple  to  name  before  you.  My  information  is  undoubt- 
edly true ;  for  persons  whom  all  scouted  here  as  worse  rascals 
than  mountebanks,  Callias  the  town-slave  and  the  like  of  him, 
antic-jesters,  and  composers  of  ribald  songs  to  lampoon  their 
companions,  such  persons  Philip  esteems  and  keeps  about  him. 
(20)  Small  matters  these  may  be  thought,  Athenians,  but  to  the 
wise  they  are  strong  indications  of  his  way  of  thinking  and  his 
wrongheadedness.  Success  perhaps  throws  a  shade  over  them 
now ;  prosperity  is  a  famous  hider  of  such  blemishes ;  but  on  any 
miscarriage  they  will  be  fully  exposed.  And  this  (trust  me,  Athe- 
nians) will  appear  in  no  long  time,  if  the  gods  so  will  and  you  deter- 
mine. (21)  For  as  in  the  human  body,  a  man  in  health  feels  not 
partial  ailments,  but  when  some  illness  occurs,  every  element  of 
physical  wellbeing  is  stirred  from  its  composure,  whether  it  be  a 
rupture  or  a  sprain  or  anything  else  unsound ;  so  with  states  and 
monarchs,  whilst  they  wage  external  war,  their  weaknesses  are  un- 
discerned  by  most  men,  but  the  tug  of  a  frontier  war  betrays  all. 

(22)  If  any  of  you  think  Philip  a  formidable  opponent,  because 
they  see  he  is  fortunate,  such  reasoning  is  prudent,  Athenians. 
Fortune  has  indeed  a  great  preponderance  —  nay,  is  everything  in 
human  affairs.  Not  but  that,  if  I  had  the  choice,  I  should  prefer 
our  fortune  to  Philip's,  would  you  but  moderately  perform  your 

1  In  this  matter  Demosthenes  was  misinformed ;  Philip  appreciated  those  who 
served  him  ably. 

2 There  seems  to  have  been  truth  in  this  statement;  see  no.  167. 


4o6  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


duty.  For  I  see  you  have  many  more  claims  to  the  divine  favor 
than  he  has.  But  in  fact  we  sit  doing  nothing ;  (23)  and  a  man 
who  is  himself  idle  cannot  require  even  his  friends  to  act  for  him, 
much  less  the  gods.  No  wonder  then  that  he,  marching  and  toil- 
ing in  person,  present  on  all  occasions,  neglecting  no  time  or  reason, 
prevails  over  us  delaying  and  voting  and  inquiring.  I  marvel 
not  at  that ;  the  contrary  would  have  been  marvellous  if  we, 
doing  none  of  the  duties  of  war,  had  beaten  one  doing  them  all. 
(24)  But  this  surprises  me,  that  formerly,  Athenians,  you  resisted 
the  Lacedaemonians  for  the  rights  of  Greece,  and  rejecting  many 
opportunities  of  selfish  gain  to  secure  the  rights  of  others,  expended 
your  property  in  contributions,  and  bore  the  brunt  of  the  battle ; 
yet  now  you  are  loth  to  serve,  slow  to  contribute  in  defence  of  your 
own  possessions,  and,  though  you  have  often  saved  the  other 
communities  of  Greece  collectively  and  individually,  under  your 
own  losses  you  sit  still.  (25)  This  surprises  me,  and  one  thing 
more,  Athenians ;  that  not  one  of  you  can  reckon,  how  long  your 
war  with  Philip  has  lasted,  and  what  you  have  been  doing  while 
the  time  has  passed.  You  surely  know,  that  while  you  have  been 
delaying,  expecting  others  to  act,  accusing,  and  passing  judgment  on 
one  another,  expecting  again,  doing  much  the  same  as  ye  so  do  now, 
all  the  time  has  passed  away.  (26)  Then  are  ye  so  senseless, 
Athenians,  as  to  imagine  that  the  same  measures,  which  have 
brought  the  country  from  a  prosperous  to  a  poor  condition,  will 
bring  it  from  a  poor  to  a  prosperous?  Unreasonable  were  this 
and  unnatural;  for  all  things  are  easier  kept  than  gotten.  The 
war  now  has  left  us  nothing  to  keep ;  we  have  all  to  get  and  the 
work  must  be  done  by  ourselves.  (27)  I  say  then  you  must 
contribute  money,  serve  in  person  with  alacrity,  accuse  no  one, 
till  you  have  gained  your  objects ;  then,  judging  from  facts,  honor 
the  deserving,  punish  offenders ;  for  you  cannot  harshly  scrutinize 
the  conduct  of  others,  unless  you  have  done  what  is  right  yourselves. 
(28)  Why,  think  you,  do  all  the  generals  whom  you  commission 
avoid  this  war,  and  seek  wars  of  their  own?  (for  of  the  generals 
too  must  a  little  truth  be  told).  Because  here  the  prizes  of  the 
war  are  yours ;  for  example,  if  Amphipolis  be  taken,  you  will 
immediately  recover  it ;  the  commanders  have  all  the  risk  and 
no  reward.    But  in  the  other  case  the  risks  are  less,  and  the  gains 


BE  EFFICIENT,  ATHENIANS! 


407 


belong  to  the  commanders  and  soldiers :  Lampsacus,  Sigeum,  the 
vessels  which  they  plunder.  (29)  So  they  proceed  to  secure  their 
several  interests;  you,  when  you  look  at  the  bad  state  of  your 
affairs,  bring  the  generals  to  trial ;  but  when  they  get  a  hearing 
and  plead  these  necessities,  you  acquit  them.  The  result  is  that, 
while  you  are  quarreling  and  divided,  some  holding  one  opinion, 
some  another,  the  commonwealth  goes  wrong.  Formerly,  Athenians, 
you  had  divisions  for  taxes ;  now  you  have  divisions  for  politics. 
There  is  an  orator  presiding  on  either  side,  a  general  under  him,  and 
three  hundred  men  who  will  do  the  shouting ; 1  the  rest  of  you  are 
attached  some  to  the  one  party  and  some  to  the  other.  (30)  This 
you  must  leave  off ;  be  yourselves  again ;  establish  a  general 
liberty  of  speech,  deliberation,  and  action.  If  some  are  appointed 
to  command  as  with  autocratic  authority,  some  to  be  compelled 
to  be  ship-captains,  tax-payers,  soldiers,  others  only  to  vote  against 
them,  and  help  in  nothing  besides,  no  duty  will  be  seasonably 
performed ;  the  aggrieved  parties  will  in  each  case  fail  you,  and 
you  will  have  to  punish  them  instead  of  your  enemies.  (31)  I 
say,  in  short,  you  must  all  fairly  contribute,  according  to  each 
man's  ability ;  take  your  turns  of  service  till  you  have  all  been 
afield ;  give  every  speaker  a  hearing  and  adopt  the  best  counsel ; 
then  not  only  will  you  praise  the  speaker  at  the  moment,  but  your- 
selves afterward,  when  the  universal  condition  of  things  is  improved.2 


127.  The  Condition  of  Hellas  about  346,  and  Philip's  Great 

Opportunity 

(Isocrates,  Philippus) 

The  effort  of  Demosthenes,  expressed  in  the  preceding  selection,  failed. 
The  Athenians  gave  the  Olynthians  little  aid.  Philip  conquered  Olynthus  and 
the  allies  who  remained  faithful  to  her.  These  cities  he  destroyed,  and  sold 
the  inhabitants  into  slavery,  348.    Two  years  later  Athens  concluded  with 

1  See  Calhoun,  Athenian  Clubs  in  Politics  and  Litigation,  a  work  which  has  acquired 
an  international  reputation. 

2  One  of  the  facts  most  noticeable  in  this  speech  is  the  lack  of  military  spirit  and 
political  ambition  in  the  Athenians.  Although  they  were  still  willing  to  defend  their 
country  when  attacked,  they  had  lost  all  zest  for  fighting  to  defend  distant  possessions. 
Demosthenes  here  and  elsewhere  attempts  to  inspire  them  with  their  old  military  ardor. 
Although  he  met  with  a  certain  degree  of  success,  it  came  too  late  and  was  insufficient. 


4o8  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


him  a  treaty  known  as  the  peace  of  Philocrates,  after  the  Athenian  who  moved 
the  resolution.  In  this  year  Philip,  as  champion  of  the  Delphic  amphictyony, 
crushed  the  Phocians,  destroyed  their  cities,  scattered  the  inhabitants  in  villages, 
and  imposed  upon  them  an  annual  tax  for  the  repayment  of  the  treasury  taken 
from  Delphi.  At  this  time  he  was  master  of  a  great  part  of  Greece,  and  the 
terror  of  his  name  filled  the  cities  that  were  still  free.  In  every  city  were  his 
partisans  who  worked  for  his  interest.  In  some  cases  they  may  have  been  moved 
by  farsightedness,  a  conviction  that  Philip's  lordship  over  Hellas  would  be 
best  for  the  country's  interests.  In  other  cases  they  were  bribed  or  were 
actuated  by  fear.  Isocrates,  who  formerly  in  his  Panegyricus  had  proposed  a 
union  of  all  Hellas  under  the  joint  leadership  of  Sparta  and  Athens  against 
Persia,  now  looked  to  Philip  for  this  leadership.  The  works  of  Isocrates  are 
especially  important  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Ed.  Meyer,  von  Pohlmann,  and 
other  modern  scholars  look  upon  him  as  the  truest  interpreter  of  the  social  and 
political  conditions  of  his  age. 

(2)  Seeing  that  the  war  in  which  you  and  this  state  were  in- 
volved concerning  Amphipolis  1  was  producing  many  evils,  I  (at 
that  time)  essayed  the  task  2  of  using  concerning  that  city  and  its 
territory  arguments  bearing  no  resemblance  to  those  which  were 
in  the  mouths  of  your  friends  or  the  orators  among  us,  but  as  far 
as  possible  removed  from  their  line  of  thought.  (3)  They  were 
inciting  you  to  the  war,  by  appealing  to  your  passions ;  I  on  the 
contrary  expressed  no  opinion  at  all  on  disputed  matters,  but 
devoted  my  attention  to  the  argument  which  of  all  others  I  sup- 
posed most  likely  to  produce  peace,  urging  that  both  of  you  were 
mistaken  in  your  judgment  of  affairs,  and  that  while  you,  Philip, 
were  fighting  in  furtherance  of  our  interests,  our  state  was  fighting 
in  support  of  your  power,  —  that  it  was  to  your  advantage  that 
we  should  possess  the  territory  in  dispute,  and  to  ours  not  to  ac- 
quire it  by  any  means  whatever.3    (4)  The  opinion  of  my  pupils,4 

1  This  war  between  Philip  and  Athens  is  referred  to  in  the  introduction  to  no.  126. 
It  began  in  357  and  closed  with  the  treaty  of  Philocrates  in  346,  shortly  before  the 
writing  of  the  Philippus. 

2  Before  the  peace  of  Philocrates  (see  note  supra)  Isocrates  was  engaged  in  the 
preparation  of  an  address  to  Philip  on  the  relation  between  him  and  Athens.  From  §  7 
it  appears  that  the  epistle  was  not  yet  complete  when  the  treaty  was  signed.  From  this 
and  other  sources  we  see  how  slowly  and,  we  might  say,  painfully  Isocrates  labored 
on  his  writings.    The  tenor  of  this  unfinished  letter  Isocrates  describes  in  §  2  sqq. 

3  His  argument  as  here  outlined  was  highly  sophistical,  and  could  have  had  little 
effect  on  Philip,  had  the  letter  been  completed  and  sent  to  him. 

4  Among  the  pupils  of  Isocrates  were  young  men  from  the  most  eminent  families 
in  Hellas.    Their  ideas  therefore  had  some  degree  of  weight  in  forming  public  opinion. 


AMPHIPOLIS 


too,  as  to  my  treatment  of  this  question  was  such  as  to  lead  no  one 
of  them  to  praise  the  argument  or  the  style  for  accuracy  and  clear- 
ness, as  some  are  wont  to  do,  but  to  cause  them  to  admire  the  truth 
of  the  matter  expressed,1  (5)  and  to  consider  that  the  only  way  for 
you  to  cease  on  either  side  from  your  rivalry  was  for  you,  Philip, 
to  be  convinced  that  the  friendship  of  our  state  would  be  worth 
more  to  you  than  the  revenues  accruing  from  Amphipolis,2  and  for 
our  state  to  be  able  to  recognize  the  policy  of  avoiding  the  kind 
of  colonies  which  have  brought  ruin  four  or  five  times  over  on  those 
domiciled  in  them,  and  of  looking  for  places  lying  far  from  neigh- 
bors with  a  capacity  for  ruling,  and  near  those  who  have  become 
accustomed  to  slavery,  such  as  the  place  to  which  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians have  sent  the  Cyreneans  ; 3  (6)  and  further,  you  should  recog- 
nize that  a  verbal  renunciation  of  this  territory  to  us  will  enable 
you  in  reality  to  become  master  of  it,  and  also  to  earn  our  goodwill ; 
for  all  the  colonists  that  we  send  within  reach  of  your  power  will 
be  so  many  hostages  of  friendship  for  you  from  us.  Our  people, 
too,  should  be  taught  that  if  we  take  Amphipolis,  we  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  observe  the  same  kind  of  friendliness  to  your  policy  for 
the' sake  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  place,  that  we  had  to  observe 
toward  Amadocus4  of  old  for  the  sake  of  those  who  tilled  the  soil 
of  Chersonese.  (7)  By  the  use  of  many  arguments  of  this  char- 
acter I  caused  all  who  heard  them  to  hope  that,  after  my  discourse 
had  been  circulated,5  you  would  conclude  the  war,  change  your 

1  In  the  case  of  Isocrates  it  is  always  a  question  whether  the  rhetorician  or  the 
thinker  has  the  upper  hand ;  here  he  claims  that  in  the  judgment  of  his  pupils  the 
thought  was  better  than  the  style. 

2  No  amount  of  argument  could  bring  Philip  to  this  view ;  to  his  ambitious  policy 
it  was  all-important  to  incorporate  in  his  kingdom  the  coast  cities,  so  as  to  make  Mace- 
don  a  maritime  state.  Isocrates  fails  to  recognize  this  fact.  Further,  though  Philip 
valued  the  goodwill  of  Athens,  as  he  afterward  showed,  that  consideration  could  not 
hinder  him  from  pursuing  his  own  independent  policy  of  expansion. 

3  This  statement  involves  a  criticism  on  Athens  for  having  colonized  Amphipolis. 
At  the  time  of  that  settlement,  however,  the  condition  of  the  surrounding  region  was 
very  different;  Macedon  was  still  insignificant. 

4  Amadocus  was  a  Thracian  chief  in  the  vicinity  of  Chersonese.  Early  in  the  fourth 
century  Athens  entered  into  relations  of  friendship  with  him  in  order  better  to  safe- 
guard the  interests  of  the  Athenian  colony  in  Chersonese. 

5  Undoubtedly  Isocrates  had  many  copies  of  his  Orations  (in  reality  essays)  and 
Epistles  made  and  circulated  among  his  pupils,  friends,  and  influential  men  of  Hellas. 
The  effect  of  the  epistle  under  consideration,- therefore,  would  come  not  only  directly 
to  Philip  but  also  indirectly,  through  the  force  of  public  opinion. 


4io  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


opinions,  and  adopt  some  common  policy  for  your  mutual  good.1 
Whether  they  were  foolish  or  sensible  in  thinking  thus,  they  are 
the  proper  persons  to  bear  the  responsibility ;  but  while  I  was 
engaged  in  this  business,  you  anticipated  me  by  making  peace 
before  my  discourse  was  finally  completed,  and  in  that  you  were 
wise;  for  it  were  better  that  peace  should  be  concluded  in  any 
way  whatever  2  than  that  we  should  be  exposed  to  the  evils  arising 
in  consequence  of  the  war.  (8)  Rejoicing  then  at  the  resolution 
to  which  you  had  come  concerning  peace,  and  thinking  that  they 
would  be  to  your  advantage,  and  to  that  of  all  the  rest  of  Hellas 
as  well  as  to  ours,  I  was  unable  to  divert  my  thoughts  from  what 
was  connected  with  it,  but  was  in  such  a  frame  of  mind  that  I  set 
to  work  to  consider  at  once  how  to  give  permanence  to  what  we 
had  achieved  and  to  prevent  our  state  from  again,  after  a  short 
interval,  desiring  other  wars ; 3  (9)  an  examination  of  these  ques- 
tions in  my  own  mind  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  no 
other  way  for  her  to  live  in  quiet,  except  by  the  determination 
of  the  leading  states  to  make  up  their  mutual  quarrels  and  to  carry 
the  war  into  Asia,  and  by  their  resolving  to  win  from  the  barbarians 
the  selfish  advantages  which  they  now  look  for  at  the  expense 
of  the  Hellenes.  This  is  the  policy  I  had  already  advised  in  my 
Panegyric  discourse.4 

(10)  On  these  reflections,  thinking  that  I  could  never  find  a 
subject  nobler  than  this,  or  one  of  more  general  application  or  more 
conducive  to  the  interests  of  us  all,  I  was  moved  to  write  upon 
it  again,  not  in  any  ignorance  of  my  own  deficiencies,  but  knowing 
that  this  discourse  was  not  suited  to  one  of  my  age,5  but  required 
a  man  in  the  prime  of  life  and  with  powers  far  beyond  those  of 

1  The  mutual  advantage  of  Philip  and  Athens. 

2  This  was  the  peace  of  Philocrates,  346,  referred  to  above.  It  seems  that  Isocrates 
was  for  "peace  at  any  price!"  Some  agreed  with  him,  whereas  many,  among  them 
Demosthenes,  were  determined  upon  maintaining  for  their  city  an  independent  in- 
terstate policy. 

3  At  this  time  the  line  was  sharply  drawn  between  the  Macedonian  and  anti-Mace- 
donian parties  at  Athens.  The  latter  looked  upon  the  peace  merely  as  an  opportunity 
to  prepare  for  war. 

4  The  Panegyricus,  the  ablest  of  all  the  writings  of  Isocrates,  was  published  in  380. 
In  it  he  advocated  a  union  of  all  the  Hellenes  under  the  joint  leadership  of  Athens  and 
Sparta  against  Persia ;  cf.  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xxi. 

6  Isocrates  was  now  ninety  years  old. 


THE  ORATIONS  OF  ISOCRATES 


other  men.  (n)  I  am  aware,  too,  that  it  is  difficult  to  utter  two 
discourses  on  the  same  subject  in  any  fashion  that  can  be  tolerated, 
especially  if  the  one  first  published  has  been  written  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  it  is  imitated  and  admired  even  more  by  our  detractors 
than  by  our  most  extravagant  eulogists.1  (12)  Nevertheless, 
overlooking  these  disabilities,  I  have  become  so  ambitious  in  old 
age  that  I  resolved  to  combine  with  the  observations  I  should 
address  to  you  some  hints  to  those  who  have  worked  with  me,  and 
to  make  it  clear  that  to  trouble  the  Great  Festivals  with  oratory, 
and  to  speak  to  the  crowds  who  come  together  there,  is  to  speak 
without  an  audience.  Speeches  of  this  kind  are  as  ineffectual  as 
laws  and  constitutions  written  out  by  the  sophists.2  (13)  Those 
who  wish,  on  the  contrary,  to  do  some  practical  good  instead  of 
idly  trifling,  and  those  who  think  they  have  formed  ideas  of  value 
to  the  community,  must  leave  others  to  figure  at  the  Festivals, 
and  must  take  a  champion  for  their  cause  from  among  those  who 
are  powerful  in  speech  and  action  and  who  have  great  reputations, 
if  (that  is  to  say)  anyone  is  to  pay  attention  to  them.3  (14)  Know- 
ing these  things,  I  elected  to  address  my  discourse  to  you,  not 
making  this  choice  to  win  your  favor,  although,  it  is  true,  I  should 
consider  it  of  great  importance  to  speak  in  a  manner  acceptable 
to  you,  *but  it  was  not  to  this  end  that  I  directed  my  thoughts.  In 
fact  I  saw  that  all  other  men  of  repute  were  living  under  the  rule 
of  states  and  laws,  without  power  to  do  anything  but  obey  orders, 
and  moreover  were  far  too  weak  for  the  enterprise  which  I  shall 
propose,  (15)  while  to  you  alone  had  fortune  given  full  power  to 
send  ambassadors  to  whomsoever  you  chose  and  to  receive  them 
from  whomsoever  you  pleased,4  and  to  say  whatever  you  should 

1  Here  he  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  general  subject  of  his  present  discourse  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Panegyricus:  the  union  of  the  Hellenes  for  a  war  against  Persia  is 
common  to  both,  though  the  leadership  is  different. 

2  This  is  a  confession  that  his  Panegyricus  has  had  little  effect.  For  the  first  ideal 
constitution,  such  as  Isocrates  has  in  mind,  see  no.  63.  Plato's  Republic  is  the  most 
famous  constitution  of  the  kind. 

3  Both  Plato  and  Isocrates  (see  §  81  omitted  from  this  selection)  had  appealed  in 
some  such  way  to  Dionysius,  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  but  without  result. 

4  From  this  passage  it  appears  that  Isocrates  supposed  that  the  relations  between 
Philip  and  Hellas  would  be  conducted  through  embassies  merely;  he  nowhere  gives 
evidence  of  an  idea  of  institutional  relationship  such  as  was  actually  established ;  see 
no.  128. 


4i2  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


deem  it  expedient  to  say,  and  further  that  you  were  the  possessor 
to  a  greater  degree  than  any  man  in  Hellas  of  wealth  and  power, 
the  only  two  things  in  existence  which  can  both  persuade  and  com- 
pel; things,  too,  which  I  think  will  be  required  by  the  enterprise 
which  I  am  going  to  propose.  (16)  My  intention  is  to  advise 
you  to  take  the  lead  both  in  securing  the  harmony  of  Hellas  and 
in  conducting  the  expedition  against  the  barbarians ;  and  persua- 
sion is  expedient  with  Greeks  and  force  useful  with  the  barbarians.1 
Such,  then,  is  the  general  scope  of  my  discourse.  .  .  . 

Some  of  his  friends  urge  that  Isocrates  is  too  old  for  the  task  of  advising 
Philip,  who  is  himself  too  wise  to  need  counsel,  and  who  has  also  the  advantages 
mentioned  below. 

(19)  Further,  he  has  at  his  side  the  most  competent  men  in 
Macedon,  who  though  unversed  in  other  matters,  probably  under- 
stand his  interests  at  least  better  than  you  (Isocrates)  do.  More- 
over, you  will  also  find  many  of  the  Hellenes  living  in  that  country, 
men  not  devoid  of  reputation  or  good  sense,  but  men  by  the  help 
of  whose  counsels  he  has  not  diminished  the  power  of  his  throne, 
but  has  achieved  things  worth  praying  for.  (20)  What  is  wanting 
to  complete  his  success?  Has  he  not  caused  the  Thessalians, 
whose  rule  formerly  extended  over  Macedon,  to  be  so  friendly 
disposed  to  him  that  they,  one  and  all,  have  more  confidence  in 
him  than  in  their  compatriots  ?  2  Further,  as  to  the  cities  of  that 
locality,  has  he  not  either  won  them  over  by  kindness  to  alliance 
with  him,  or  when  they  grievously  vexed  him,  has  he  not  reduced 
them  to  ruins?  (21)  Has  he  not  overthrown  the  Magnesians  and 
the  Perrhaebians  and  the  Paeonians,  and  brought  them  all  into 
subjection,  become  lord  and  master  of  the  Illyrians  excepting  those 
who  live  on  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic,  and  placed  the  whole  of 
Thrace  under  despots  of  his  own  choosing  ?  3  .  .  . 

1  Isocrates  expects  Philip  in  his  relations  with  the  Hellenes  to  use  persuasion  only ; 
compulsion  was  to  be  reserved  for  barbarians.  In  this  matter  he  was  thoroughly 
mistaken. 

2  It  was  to  such  internal  dissensions,  leading  to  the  calling  in  of  outsiders,  that  the 
Greeks  lost  their  freedom,  having  to  surrender  it  partially  to  the  Macedonians  and  after- 
ward fully  to  the  Romans. 

3  The  conduct  of  Philip  up  to  this  point  ought  to  have  convinced  Isocrates  of  Philip's 
readiness  to  use  force  against  Hellas,  and  to  make  himself  master  of  free  Hellenic  cities 
which  he  was  willing  to  spare  from  ruin. 


PHILIP  A  HERACLEID 


4i3 


In  spite  of  friends  Isocrates  persists  in  his  purpose  to  compose  a  letter  of 
advice  to  Philip. 

(30)  I  will  now  direct  my  remarks  to  the  subject  itself.  My  idea 
is  that,  while  neglecting  none  of  your  private  interests,  you  ought 
to  try  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  Argos,  Sparta,  Thebes, 
and  our  state;  for  if  you  are1  able  to  bring  these  states  together, 
you  will  have  no  difficulty  in  causing  the  other  commonwealths 
to  agree ;  (31)  for  they  are  all  under  the  influence  of  those  I  have 
mentioned,  and  when  in  fear  they  take  refuge  with  one  or  another 
of  those  states,  from  which  they  draw  their  succor.  If  therefore 
you  can  persuade  four  states  only  to  be  wise,  you  will  release  the 
others  also  from  many  evils. 

(32)  Now  you  will  feel  that  there  is  no  one  of  these  common- 
wealths that  you  should  despise,  if  you  trace  back  their  conduct 
toward  your  ancestors ; 1  for  you  will  find  that  each  one  is  to  be 
credited  with  much  friendship  and  great  kindnesses  toward  your 
house.  Argos  is  your  fatherland,  for  which  it  is  right  for  you  to 
have  as  much  regard  as  for  your  own  parents.2  The  Thebans  honor 
the  founder 3  of  your  race  with  processions  and  with  sacrifices 
more  than  all  the  other  gods.  (33)  The  Lacedaemonians  have 
bestowed  on  his  descendants  both  royalty  and  leadership  for  all 
time ;  and  our  state,  say  those  whom  we  trust  in  matters  of  ancient 
history,  contributed  to  win  immortality  for  Heracles  and  deliver- 
ance for  his  children.  .  .  . 

The  conditions  above  mentioned  are  a  ground  for  friendship  between  Philip 
and  the  four  commonwealths  respectively.  Isocrates  next  proceeds  to  discuss 
the  possibility  of  a  general  Hellenic  reconciliation. 

(39)  Someone  will  perhaps  venture  to  oppose  what  I  have 
said,  on  the  ground  that  I  am  endeavoring  to  induce  you  to  under- 

1  Down  to  this  time  the  citing  of  mythical  antecedents  formed  part  of  the  polite 
language  of  diplomacy,  and  naturally  Isocrates  indulges  in  the  practice.  Although 
Philip  may  have  been  pleased  by  this  reference  to  his  ancestors,  he  certainly  was  not 
influenced  by  it. 

2  Undoubtedly  the  story  that  the  founder  of  the  reigning  Macedonian  dynasty  was 
a  genuine  Greek,  a  colonist  from  Argos  and  descendant  of  Heracles,  was  composed  by 
one  of  the  many  Greek  literati  who  had  enjoyed  a  happy  existence  at  the  court  of  the 
Macedonian  kings.  In  the  same  way  they  made  up  stories  and  extended  pedigrees 
to  connect  the  origins  of  Rome  with  their  own  people. 

3  Heracles. 


4i4  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


take  an  impossible  task.  "The  Argives,"  he  may  say,  "can  never 
be  friends  with  the  Lacedaemonians,  or  the  Lacedaemonians  with 
the  Thebans,  nor  in  a  word  can  those  who  have  always  been  ac- 
customed to  seek  their  selfish  interests  ever  cast  in  their  lot  with 
one  another."  (40)  I  think,  however,  that  nothing  of  this  kind 
could  have  been  effected  when  our  state,  or  again  when  Lacedaemon, 
held  supremacy  in  Hellas ;  for  either  of  them  could  easily  have 
prevented  what  was  going  forward ;  but  now  I  no  longer  have  the 
same  opinion  of  them ;  for  I  know  that  they  have  all  been  brought 
to  a  level  by  their  misfortunes,  so  that  I  think  they  will  greatly 
prefer  the  benefits  of  union  to  the  selfish  advantages  of  their  former 
policy. 

(41)  Then  again  I  admit  that  there  is  no  one  else  who  could 
reconcile  these  states,  but  to  you  no  such  undertaking  is  difficult ; 
for  I  see  that  you  have  accomplished  many  things  which  others 
considered  hopeless  and  beyond  expectation,  so  that  it  would  not 
be  strange  if  you  alone  should  be  capable  of  effecting  this  union.  .  .  . 

To  prove  that  the  Hellenic  states  are  capable  of  harmony,  Isocrates  cites 
their  union  against  Persia  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of  Xerxes,  480  B.C. 

(46)  Now  I  think  the  best  way  for  you  to  learn  whether  these 
commonwealths  are  disposed  to  peace  or  to  war  among  themselves 
would  be  for  me  to  give  an  account,  not  merely  in  general  terms, 
nor  yet  too  much  in  detail,  of  the  chief  features  of  their  present 
condition.1  First  let  us  consider  the  position  of  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians. 

(47)  These  people,  not  so  long  ago  the  rulers  of  Hellas  by  land 
and  sea,  suffered  such  a  reversal  of  fortune  when  defeated  in  the 
battle  of  Leuctra,2  that  they  were  deprived  of  the  supremacy  over 
Hellas,  and  lost  such  men  among  them  as.  chose  to  die  rather  than 
live  in  subjection  to  those  whose  masters  they  formerly  were. 
(48)  Furthermore,  they  had  to  look  on  and  see  all  the  Pelopon- 
nesians  who  formerly  followed  in  their  train  against  the  rest  of 
Hellas,  joining  the  Thebans  in  invading  their  country,  against  whom 
they  were  compelled  to  fight,  not  in  the  country  for  the  harvest, 
but  in  the  midst  of  their  city,  even  at  the  seat  of  government,  to 

1  The  brief  account  of  contemporary  Greece  which  follows  is  true  and  instructive. 

2  371  B.C. 


CONTEMPORARY  HELLAS 


4i5 


save  their  wives  and  children,  —  a  struggle  in  which  failure  would 
have  been  immediate  destruction,  while  victory  has  not  released 
them  from  their  miseries.  (49)  They  were  subjected  to  war  by 
their  neighbors,  distrusted  by  all  the  Peloponnesians,  and  hated 
by  the  majority  of  Hellenes.  They  are  robbed  and  harried  night 
and  day  by  their  own  slaves,1  and  no  time  passes  but  they  are  either 
making  expeditions  or  righting  battles,  or  helping  their  perishing 
fellow-countrymen.  (50)  The  greatest  of  their  woes,  however,  is 
this :  they  continue  in  dread  lest  the  Thebans  should  settle  their 
quarrel  with  the  Phocians,2  come  against  them  again,  and  involve 
them  in  greater  disasters  than  those  they  have  already  incurred. 

How  can  one  fail  to  suppose  that  men  in  such  a  position  would 
gladly  see  negotiations  for  peace  presided  over  by  a  man  of  consid- 
eration, able  to  bring  to  a  close  the  wars  which  threaten  them  ? 

(51)  The  Argives,  moreover,  you  will  find  to  be  in  some  re- 
spects in  a  like  condition  with  those  we  have  mentioned,  and  in 
other  respects  worse  off  than  they ;  for  ever  since  they  have  occu- 
pied their  city  they  have  been  engaged  in  war  with  their  neighbors, 
as  the  Lacedaemonians  have,  but  with  this  difference,  that  the  foes 
of  the  Lacedaemonians  were  weaker  than  themselves,  those  of  the 
Argives  stronger.  Everyone  will  admit  that  this  is  the  greatest 
misfortune.  They  have  been  so  unfortunate  in  war  that  almost 
every  year  they  have  stood  by  to  see  their  territory  ravaged  and 
laid  waste.  (52)  But  the  worst  of  all  is  to  come;  whenever  their 
enemies  cease  from  injuring  them,  they  themselves  put  to  death 
the  most  distinguished  and  wealthy  of  their  citizens,  and  feel  more 
pleasure  in  doing  these  deeds  than  any  other  people  feel  in  slaying 
their  enemies.3    The  reason  of  their  living  in  such  a  state  of  con- 

1  The  helots. 

2  Isocrates  refers  to  the  Sacred  War,  which  the  Delphic  Amphictyony,  particular^ 
its  most  powerful  member  Thebes,  had  been  waging  against  Phocis  since  356.  At  the 
time  of  the  writing  of  this  letter  to  Philip  it  seems  that  the  fate  of  the  Phocians  had  not 
yet  been  determined  upon,  or  at  least  was  still  unknown  to  the  writer  (see  introduction 
supra).    Sparta  had  sympathized  with  the  Phocians  and  had  given  them  a  little  aid. 

3  The  writer  may  have  especially  in  mind  the  sedition  that  occurred  in  Argos  shortly 
after  the  battle  of  Leuctra,  371.  The  democrats,  who  controlled  the  government, 
learning  of  an  oligarchic  conspiracy,  put  to  death  thirty  of  the  leading  plotters.  Then 
arming  themselves  with  clubs,  the  populace  rose  up  against  the  wealthier  class,  and  beat 
to  death  twelve  hundred,  or  possibly  fifteen  hundred.  This  massacre  was  called 
scytalism,  cudgeling;  Diodorus  xv.  57  sq.    Grote,  History  of  Greece,  x.  199-201. 


4i 6  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


fusion  is  no  other  than  war ;  and  if  you  put  an  end  to  it,  you  will 
not  only  release  them  from  these  miseries,  but  you  will  also  cause 
them  to  be  better  advised  in  their  general  conduct. 

(53)  The  condition  of  the  Thebans  even  you  are  acquainted 
with.1  After  having  won  a  splendid  victory  and  gained  great 
glory  from  it,  through  failure  to  make  good  use  of  their  success 
they  are  no  better  situated  than  are  those  who  were  defeated  and 
unsuccessful.  For  they  had  hardly  overcome  their  enemies,  when, 
neglecting  everything,  they  proceeded  to  annoy  the  Peloponnesian 
states,  ventured  to  reduce  Thessaly  to  slavery,  threatened  their 
neighbors  the  Megarians,  robbed  our  state  of  a  portion  of  its  terri- 
tory, laid  waste  Eubcea,  and  began  to  send  triremes  to  Byzantium 
as  if  they  were  going  to  be  lords  of  land  and  sea.  (54)  Finally 
they  carried  war  against  the  Phocians  with  the  intention  of  mas- 
tering their  cities  in  a  short  time,  occupying  the  whole  of  the  sur- 
rounding region,  and  overcoming  the  Delphic  treasures  by  the 
contributions  they  could  levy  upon  their  own  resources.  None 
of  these  hopes  were  realized ;  instead  of  having  taken  the  cities 
of  the  Phocians,  they  have  lost  their  own,  and  they  inflicted  less 
injury  upon  their  enemies  by  invading  their  country  than  they 
suffer  themselves  in  returning  to  their  own;  (55)  for  in  Phocis 
they  killed  some  of  the  mercenaries,  to  whom  death  is  more  prof- 
itable than  life,  but  on  their  way  home  they  lost  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  their  own  citizens,  and  those  most  ready  to  die  for 
their  country.  Their  affairs  have  come  to  such  a  pass  that,  from 
hoping  that  all  Hellas  would  be  at  their  feet,  they  now  rest  on  you 
their  hopes  for  their  own  preservation.  I  think  therefore  that 
they,  too,  will  speedily  do  what  you  urge  and  advise. 

(56)  It  would  still  have  remained  for  me  to  speak  about  our 
own  state,  had  she  not  wisely  made  peace  before  the  others.  Now 
I  think  she  would  even  contend  in  support  of  your  policy,  especially 
if  she  can  feel  that  you  are  settling  these  matters  with  a  view  to 
the  campaign  against  the  barbarians.  .  .  . 

(68)  Consider  now  the  fitness  of  devoting  yourself  mainly  to 
enterprises  of  the  kind,  in  which  by  success  you  will  place  your 

1  The  idea  that  Philip  knew  the  condition  of  the  Thebans  but  not  that  of  the  other 
Hellenes  is  wholly  mistaken ;  he  probably  understood  the  situation  of  Hellas  far  better 
than  Isocrates. 


PHILIP  AND  HELLAS 


4i7 


reputation  in  competition  with  the  first  and  the  foremost,  and  if 
you  fail  in  your  expectation,  you  will  at  least  win  the  goodwill 
of  Hellas,  the  acquisition  of  which  is  a  far  nobler  thing  than  the 
forcible  capture  of  many  Greek  cities.  For  such  achievements 
bring  envy  and  illwill  and  much  evil  speaking,  but  the  course  which 
I  have  advised  involves  none  of  these  things.  Nay  if  some  god 
should  give  you  the  choice  of  the  kind  of  pursuit  and  occupation 
in  which  you  would  long  to  pass  your  life,  you  would  choose  no 
other,  if  you  took  my  advice,  in  preference  to  this.  (69)  For 
not  only  will  you  be  deemed  happy  by  others,  but  you  will  recog- 
nize your  own  bliss.  What  indeed  could  surpass  the  happiness 
of  your  position,  when  from  the  greatest  states  the  men  of  most 
renown  are  come  as  ambassadors  to  your  throne,  and  you  take 
counsel  with  them  about  the  common  welfare,1  for  which  no  other 
man  will  appear  to  have  entertained  such  thought;  (70)  when 
further  the  whole  of  Hellas  is  on  tiptoe  in  regard  to  the  proposals 
you  may  make,  and  no  one  is  indifferent  as  to  what  is  decided  upon 
at  your  court,  but  some  make  inquiries  concerning  the  state  of 
affairs,  others  pray  to  Heaven  that  you  may  not  fail  to  obtain 
the  object  of  your  desires,  while  others  are  afraid  that  something 
may  happen  to  you  before  you  have  accomplished  your  under- 
taking? (71)  If  you  should  succeed,  you  would  have  a  right  to 
be  proud,  and  could  not  help  feeling  highly  delighted  all  your  life 
in  the  knowledge  that  you  had  been  at  the  head  of  so  great  an 
undertaking.  .  .  . 

Next  Isocrates  takes  up  several  matters  of  less  importance.  Perhaps  the 
most  interesting  point  omitted  from  §§  72-95  is  the  statement  that  Philip  had 
many  enemies  in  Hellas,  who  assert  that  his  real  intention  is  to  make  himself 
master  of  the  Greeks  (§  73  sqq.).  Isocrates  repudiates  the  idea  as  foolish,  alleg- 
ing that  a  descendant  of  Heracles,  the  greatest  benefactor  of  Hellas,  could  not 
think  of  injuring  a  people  whom  his  ancestor  had  so  befriended.  He  then 
considers  the  expeditions  of  Cyrus  the  Younger  and  Agesilaus  into  Asia,  and 
aims  to  show  that  Philip  has  far  greater  chances  of  success. 

(96)  Further,  you  will  find  as  many  soldiers  as  you  desire  in 
readiness ;  for  such  is  the  condition  of  Hellas  that  it  is  easier  to 
get  together  a  larger  and  better  force  from  wanderers  than  from 

1  The  function  Philip  is  to  perform  in  relation  to  Greece  is  that  of  giving  advice 
through  embassies;  see  411,  n.  4  supra. 


4i8  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


settled  inhabitants.  In  those  times,  on  the  contrary,  there  were 
no  hired  forces,  so  that,  when  compelled  to  raise  mercenaries  from 
the  towns,  they  spent  more  on  presents  to  those  who  levied  them 
than  on  the  actual  pay  of  the  soldiers.1  .  .  . 

Isocrates  now  proceeds  to  give  proof  of  the  weakness  of  Persia  and  of  the 
feasibility  of  her  conquest.  Afterward  he  discusses  the  policy  of  the  Macedonian 
dynasty,  beginning  with  its  supposed  founder  Caranus,  in  relation  to  Hellas. 

(106)  Your  father  2  was  on  friendly  terms  with  all  these  states, 
to  which  I  advise  you  to  give  your  attention;  and  the  founder 
(Caranus)  of  your  empire,  whose  aspirations  were  higher  than 
those  of  his  own  countrymen,  and  who  desired  undivided  authority, 
did  not  adopt  the  same  course  of  action  as  others  whose  projects 
were  equally  ambitious.  (107)  While  they  endeavored  to  gain 
this  exalted  position  by  causing  strife,  disturbance  and  bloodshed 
in  their  cities,  he  left  Hellas  alone  altogether  and  devoted  himself 
to  establishing  his  kingdom  in  Macedon ;  for  he  knew  that  the 
Hellenes  were  not  accustomed  to  put  up  with  monarchies  while 
the  rest  were  unable  to  order  their  life  aright  without  such  a  form 
of  government.3  (108)  The  result  was  that  owing  to  his  peculiar 
views  on  these  subjects,  his  rule  was  one  of  quite  a  different  char- 
acter than  the  rest ;  for  he  alone  among  the  Hellenes  claimed  rule 
over  a  people  not  of  kindred  race,4  and  alone  was  able  to  escape 
the  dangers  that  beset  monarchy.  For  we  should  find  that  amongst 
the  Hellenes,  those  who  have  managed  to  acquire  such  an  authority 
have  not  only  been  destroyed  themselves,  but  that  their  race  has 
been  utterly  blotted  out  from  amongst  mankind,5  while  he  not 

1  It  is  implied  here,  and  from  other  indications  it  seems  to  be  true,  that  the  number 
of  Greeks  available  for  mercenary  purposes  had  increased  since  the  expedition  of  Cyrus 
the  Younger,  401 ;  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xxv. 

2  King  Amyntas;  Botsford,  op.  cit.  ch.  xxiv. 

3  The  ascription  of  these  ideas  to  Caranus,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  is  pure  fiction. 
The  passage,  however,  is  highly  important  in  showing  Isocrates'  idea  of  the  future 
relation  of  Philip  to  Hellas;  he  was  by  no  means  to  be  a  monarch. 

4  Here  Isocrates  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  Macedonians  were  not  racially 
akin  to  the  Hellenes ;  and  this  was  the  prevalent  view  during  his  lifetime.  There  can 
be  no  doubt,  however,  that  they  belonged  to  the  Hellenic  race,  and  that  they  spoke  a 
dialect  which  the  Greeks  could  understand,  naturally  with  difficulty;  see  Beloch, 
Griech.  Gesch.  III.  i.  1-9,  with  references. 

5  The  writer  has  in  mind  the  tyrannic  dynasties  of  Hellas,  all  of  which  were  short- 
lived. In  this  passage  he  draws  no  distinction  between  legitimate  monarchy  and  tyranny. 


PHILIP  AND  PERSIA 


419 


only  passed  his  own  life  in  happiness  and  prosperity,  but  bequeathed 
to  his  children  the  same  honors  as  he  himself  enjoyed.  .  .  . 

Isocrates  then  returns  to  Heracles,  the  mythical  ancestor  of  Philip,  and 
extols  at  length  the  virtues  of  that  hero  and  especially  his  goodwill  and  benefi- 
cence to  Hellas  (109-11 2).  He  sets  before  Philip  this  example  for  imitation  in 
character  and  conduct,  that  the  king  of  Macedon  may  be  filled  with  the  same 
mildness  and  love  of  mankind,  the  same  desire  to  do  good  service  to  the  Hellenes,1 
and  to  imitate  the  Olympian  gods,  who  have  showered  their  blessings  upon 
mankind,  and  in  reward  have  received  temples  and  altars  from  the  beneficiaries 
of  their  bounty  (1 13-17).  After  this  digression  the  writer  returns  to  some  of 
the  practical  aspects  of  the  campaign  against  Persia. 

(119)  You  might  learn  from  many  instances  that  this  is  the 
manner  in  which  you  ought  to  act,  but  above  all  from  the  fortunes 
of  Jason.2  Without  having  achieved  anything  like  yourself,  he 
gained  the  highest  renown,  not  from  his  deeds  but  from  his  utter- 
ances ;  for  he  spoke  as  if  he  intended  to  cross  over  from  the  con- 
tinent and  to  make  war  upon  the  King.  (120)  Since  Jason,  then, 
increased  his  power  to  such  an  extent  merely  by  words,  what  opinion 
must  we  think  all  will  have  of  you,  if  you  do  this  in  reality,  and 
endeavor  if  possible  to  destroy  the  whole  kingdom,  or  if  not,  to 
take  away  from  it  as  much  territory  as  possible,  to  separate  from 
it  Asia  from  Cilicia  to  Sinope,  as  some  describe  this  region,  and  in 
addition  to  build  cities  through  the  district,  and  to  send  thither 
as  colonists  those  who  are  now  wanderers  from  want  of  their  daily 
bread,  and  who  harass  all  whom  they  meet?3  (121)  For  if  we 
do  not  put  a  stop  to  their  massing  together  by  providing  them  with 
sufficient  to  live  upon,  they  will  imperceptibly  become  so  numerous 

1  The  teachers  of  Hellas  had  long  been  accustomed  to  use  the  heroes  of  old  as  pat- 
terns of  virtue ;  in  fact  they  had  idealized  these  heroes  to  that  end ;  Botsford,  Hellenic 
History,  ch.  xiii. 

2  Jason  was  tyrant  of  Pherae,  Thessaly,  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Leuctra,  371. 
For  his  power  and  his  projects,  see  Grote,  History  of  Greece,  x.  138  sqq.,  189  sq.,  195-8. 

3  Isocrates  has  in  mind  the  conquest  of  the  entire  Persian  empire,  or  at  least  of  Asia 
Minor,  and  the  colonization  of  the  conquered,  territory  with  the  superfluous  Hellenic 
population.  Precisely  how  far  Philip  intended  to  carry  out  this  program  we  do  not 
know.  The  fact,  however,  that  it  was  executed  to  the  full  by  Alexander  may  be  taken 
as  evidence  of  the  statesmanlike  thought  of  the  writer. 

As  indicated  by  the  notes  above,  it  is  clear  that  in  many  matters  the  judgment  of 
Isocrates  was  sound,  whereas  on  other  important  points,  particularly  in  his  idealization 
of  the  character  of  Philip  and  his  future  relations  with  Hellas,  the  ideas  of  the  writer 
seem  almost  childish. 


420  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 

that  they  will  be  as  great  a  cause  of  alarm  to  the  Hellenes  as  are 
the  barbarians.  .  .  . 

(154)  It  remains  to  summarize  what  I  have  said  before,  that 
in  as  few  words  as  possible  you  may  understand  the  chief  point 
of  my  advice.  I  say  that  you  ought  to  be  the  benefactor  of  the 
Hellenes,  the  king  of  Macedon,  and  the  ruler  over  as  many  bar1 
barians  as  possible.  If  you  succeed  in  these  matters,  all  will  be 
grateful  to  you,  the  Hellenes  by  reason  of  advantages  enjoyed, 
the  Macedonians  if  you  govern  them  like  a  king  and  not  like  a 
despot,  the  rest  of  mankind  if  they  are  freed  by  you  from  barbarian 
sway  and  gain  the  protection  of  Hellas.  .  .  . 

128.  Oath  of  Alliance  and  List  of  the  States  of  the 
Hellenic  Confederacy  Formed  under  Philip  of  Macedon 
in  337 

(Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  154;  Inscr.  grcec.  II.  editio  minor  (1913),  no.  236. 
Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

These  two  fragments  were  discovered  separately  at  Athens.  The  first 
(Inscr.  grcec.  II.  no.  160)  was  published  by  Dittenberger,  (Syl.  I.  no.  149)  ac- 
cording to  the  restoration  made  by  Wilhelm,  A.,  Archaeologisch-epigraphische 
Mittheilungen  aus  Oesterreich-Ungarn,  XVII  (1894).  35-7.  The  second  (Inscr. 
grccc.  II.  no.  184;  Ditt.  I.  no.  159)  was  formerly  thought  to  belong  to  another 
inscription,  and  was  supposed  to  refer  to  the  Lamian  war,  323-322  B.C.,  on 
account  of  its  similarity  to  the  catalogue  of  allies  given  by  Diodorus,  xviii.  11. 
1-2.  After  Wilhelm  discovered  the  connection  between  the  two  fragments,  they 
were  published  together  by  Hicks  and  Hill,  as  indicated  above.  Since  that 
time  the  inscription  has  been  discussed,  and  the  subject-matter  interpreted, 
in  great  detail,  by  Wilhelm,  in  Sitzb.  Wien.  Akad.  CLXV  (191 1).  pt.  6.  It 
is  important  as  a  record  of  the  Greek  confederacy  organized  by  Philip  at  Corinth 
in  the  winter  of  338-337  (cf.  Schafer,  Demosth.  u.  seine  Zeit,  III.  51-7)  and 
renewed  by  Alexander  late  in  336  (op.  cit.  III.  97  sq.).  From  the  fragmentary 
list  of  the  allied  states  we  learn  that  northern  Greece  was  included  in  the  con- 
federacy, a  fact  for  which  there  was  previously  no  direct  evidence ;  cf.  Beloch, 
Griech.  Gesch.  II.  573,  n.  2.  The  most  important  revelation  of  this  document, 
however,  is  the  fact  that  the  numbers  of  deputies  furnished  by  the  allies  were 
proportioned  to  their  respective  populations,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Bceotian 
federation ;  see  no.  117  supra  and  Ferguson,  Greek  Imperialism,  28  sq. 

{First  fragment,  much  mutilated.)  .  .  .  And  I  will  not  bear 
arms  for  the  purpose  of  injury  against  any  of  those  that  abide  by 
the  oaths,  either  by  land  or  by  sea.    I  will  not  seize  for  the  pur- 


HELLENIC  FEDERATION 


421 


pose  of  war  a  city  or  fort  {or  place)  or  harbor  belonging  to  any  of 
those  that  share  in  the  peace,  by  any  art  or  device  whatever.  I 
will  not  overthrow  the  kingship  of  Philip  and  his  descendants  or 
the  governments  existing  in  the  respective  states  at  the  time  when 
they  swore  the  oaths  regarding  the  peace.1  I  will  do  nothing  con- 
trary to  this  treaty  either  in  person  or  by  allowing  another,  in  so 
far  as  I  can  prevent;  and  if  any  one  shall  commit  any  violation 
of  the  agreement,  I  will  give  aid  to  those  who  need  it  at  the  time, 
according  as  they  may  demand.  I  will  make  war  upon  him  who 
violates  the  general  peace,  according  as  it  may  be  required  of  me 
and  the  commander-in-chief  may  order.2  .  .  . 

{The  second  fragment  is  a  part  of  the  list  of  the  allied  states  with 
the  number  of  votes  which  they  possessed  in  the  congress.) 

.  .  .  the  .  .  .,  5;  t 

.  .  .  the  Thessalians,3  10; 

...  the  .  .      2  ; 

...  the  Elimiotae  (?),4  1  (?); 

.  .  .  the  Thasians,5  2  ; 

.  .  .  the  .  .  .,  2 ;  the  Ambraciotae,6  .  .  .; 

.  .  .  (the  .  .  .)  of  Thrace  and 

.  .  .  the  Phocians,  3  ;  the  Locrians,  3  ; 

...  the  (Etaeans 7  and  the  Malians 7  and 

.  .  .  the  Agraeans 8  and  the  Dolopes,9  5  ; 

.  .  .  the  Perrhaebi,10  2  ; 

.  .  .  Zacynthus  and  Cephallenia,  3. 
{End  of  list.) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

On  the  interstate  relations  of  the  fourth  century,  see  the  histories  of  Greece 
by  Grote,  Curtius,  Bury,  Holm,  and  Beloch ;  also  Schomann,  G.  F.,  Griechische 
Altertumer,  II.  bk.  iv ;  Scala,  R.  von,  Die  Staatsvertrage  des  Altertums  (Leipzig, 
1898);  Hitzig,  H.  F.,  "  Altgriechische  Staatsvertrage  iiber  Rechtshilfe,"  in 

1  Cf.  Pseudo-Demosthenes,  On  the  Agreement  with  Alexander  (XVII).  10  :  "For  it  is 
provided  that,  if  any  persons  shall  overthrow  the  governments  in  the  respective  states 
at  the  time  when  they  swore  the  oaths  regarding  the  peace,  such  persons  shall  be  ene- 
mies of  all  those  who  share  in  the  peace." 

2  Greek  hegemon,  the  title  of  the  Macedonian  king  as  general-in-chief  of  the  allied 
forces. 

3  I.e.,  the  inhabitants  of  central  Thessaly.  4  North  of  Thessaly. 

5  Perhaps  joined  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  island  of  Samothrace. 

6  Of  Ambracia  in  southern  Epirus.  7  On  the  southern  border  of  Thessaly. 

8  Of  northern  ^Etolia.       9  In  southwestern  Thessaly.       10  In  northern  Thessaly. 


422  HELLENIC  INTERSTATE  RELATIONS 


Festgabe  fur  Regelsberger  (Zurich,  1907),  1-70;  Burle,  E.,  Essai  historique  sur  le 
develop pement  de  la  notion  de  droit  naturel  dans  V  antiquite  grecque  (Trevoux, 
1908)  ;  Holtzendorff,  F.  von,  and  Rivier,  A.,  Introduction  au  droit  des  gens  (1891), 
I.  ch.  ii;  Bortolucci,  J.,  "De  hire  gentium  criminali  apud  Graecos,"  in  Rivista 
di  storia  antica  (Padua),  1905,  pp.  421-35;  Bonucci,  A.,  La  legge  comune  nel 
pensiero  greco  (Perugia,  1903) ;  Barth,  B.,  De  Grcecorum  asylis  (Strassburg, 
1887)  ;  a  Columbia  University  doctorate  dissertation  on  ancient  sanctuary  by 
C.  Huth  is  nearing  completion;  Phillipson,  C,  International  Law  and  Customs 
of  Ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  2  vols.  (Macmillan,  191 1) ;  Kaerst,  J.,  "Die  Ent- 
wickelung  der  Vertragstheorie  im  Altertum,"  in  Zeitschr.  fur  Politik,  II  (1909). 
305-38 ;  Scholl,  R.,  Die  Anfange  einer  politischen  Litteratur  bei  den  Griechen, 
Festrede  Munch.  Akad.  (1890) ;  Clerc,  M.,  Les  meteques  atheniens:  Etude  sur 
la  condition  legale,  la  situation  morale  et  le  role  social  et  economique  des  etr  angers 
domicilies  a  Athenes  (Paris,  1893) ;  "De  la  condition  des  etrangers  domicilies 
dans  les  differentes  cites  grecques,"  in  Revue  des  universites  du  midi,  IV  (1898). 
1-32,  153-80,  249-74;  Freeman,  E.  A.,  History  of  Federal  Government  in  Greece 
and* Italy,  I  (London,  1893) ;  Sonne,  E.,  De  arbitris  externis,  quos  Grceci  adhi- 
buerunt  ad  lites  et  intestinas  et  peregrinas  componendas  qucestiones  epigraphies 
(Gottingen,  1888) ;  Berard,  V.,  De  arbitrio  inter  liberas  Grcecorum  civitates 
(Paris,  1894) ;  Westermann,  W.  L.,  "Interstate  Arbitration  in  Antiquity,"  in 
Class.  Journ.  II  (1906-07).  197  sqq. ;  Raeder,  A.,  ^arbitrage  international  chez 
les  Hellenes  (Putnam,  191 2) ;  Tod,  M.  N.,  International  Arbitration  amongst 
the  Greeks  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  1913) ;  Kahrstedt,  U.,  Forschungen  zur 
Geschichte  des  ausgehenden  fiinften  und  des  vierten  Jahrhunderts  (Weidmann, 
1910) ;  Kessler,  Isokrates  und  die  panhellenische  Idee  (Paderborn,  191 1) ;  Meyer, 
E.,  "Isokrates'  zweiter  Brief  an  Philipp  und  Demosthenes'  zweite  Philippika," 
in  Silz.  Berl.  Akad.  1909.  pt.  i.  758-79;  Kaerst,  J.,  "Der  korinthische  Bund," 
in  Rhein.  Mus.  LII  (1897).  519-56;  Kohler,  U.,  "Die  Eroberung  Asiens  durch 
Alexander  den  Grossen  und  der  Korinthische  Bund,"  in  Sitz.  Berl.  Akad.  1898. 
pp.  120-34. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  STATE 
In  the  Period  404-337  B.C. 

In  this  chapter  are  gathered  materials  for  illustrating  the  relation  of  the 
•  state  to  the  citizen,  state  regulation  of  social  and  economic  conditions,  and  the 
character  and  relative  value  of  various  forms  of  democracy  and  oligarchy. 

129.  A  Public-spirited  Citizen 

(Isaeus  vii.  Concerning  the  Inheritance  of  Apollodorus,  39-42.  Translated 

by  G.  W.  B.) 

The  speaker  claims  that  Apollodorus  in  his  right  mind  and  in  due  form 
adopted  him  as  heir.  His  claim  is  contested  by  several  adversaries,  among 
whom  is  Pronapes.  The  passage  below  is  typical  of  the  appeal  made  to  the 
jury  —  the  demand  for  a  favorable  verdict  on  the  ground  of  services  rendered 
in  the  past  by  the  litigant  and  his  kinsmen,  and  the  promise  of  further  services 
in  case  of  a  favorable  decision.  In  general  the  jury  seems  to  have  been  swayed 
more  by  a  consideration  of  the  character  and  usefulness  of  the  parties  to  the 
trial  than  by  the  letter  of  the  law. 

Apollodorus  himself  did  not,  like  Pronapes,  have  his  property- 
assessed  at  a  small  value ;  but  as  a  member  of  the  knightly  class 
he  took  upon  himself  the  duty  of  holding  office.1  He  did  not  seek 
violent  possession  of  other  men's  property  nor  fancied  it  no  busi- 
ness of  his  to  benefit  you,2  but  rendering  his  whole  estate  visible 
to  you,  he  patriotically  carried  out  all  your  orders  and  tried  to 
live  in  such  wise  that  no  harm  could  come  from  him  or  his  own, 
thinking  it  right  to  spend  upon  himself  but  a  moderate  amount 
and  to  place  the  rest  at  the  disposal  of  the  state  that  it  might  have 
enough  to  meet  expenses.    With  these  resources  what  liturgy  did 

1  The  knightly,  or  hippie,  class,  was  the  next  to  the  wealthiest  of  the  four  property 
classes  continuing  from  before  the  time  of  Solon  (Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vii. 
§  2  sq.).    To  what  offices  the  knights  alone  were  eligible  is  unknown. 

2  "You,"  the  jurors,  are  identified  with  the  whole  body  of  citizens  and  with  the 
state. 

423 


424 


THE  STATE 


he  not  perform,  or  what  war- tax  did  he  not  help  contribute  among 
the  foremost  of  the  citizens  ?  1  Or  what  duty  did  he  evade  ?  he 
who  won  a  victory  in  a  boys'  chorus,  in  which  a  memorial  of  his 
public  spirit  is  the  tripod  standing  there.  Now  what  ought  to 
be  the  conduct  of  a  sober  citizen?  Was  it  not  his  duty,  where 
others  were  wont  violently  to  seize  property  not  their  own,  to  do 
nothing  of  the  kind  but  to  attempt  to  secure  his  own?  and  where 
the  city  needs  money,  to  contribute  among  the  foremost  and  not 
to  conceal  his  possessions?  Such  a  man  was  he,  in  return  for 
which  conduct  it  would  be  just  for  you  to  grant  him  this  favor  — 
leaving  his  own  judgment  to  be  master  of  his  estate.2  As  to  me, 
too,  so  far  as  my  early  age  permitted,  you  will  find  me  neither  base 
nor  useless.  I  have  taken  part  in  military  campaigns  for  the  state  ; 
I  attend  to  whatever  is  ordered,  for  that  is  the  task  of  men  of  my 
age.  On  the  ground  of  these  services  it  would  be  reasonable  of 
you  to  exercise  a  foresight  in  our  interest,  particularly  as  these 
adversaries  have  seized  an  estate  worth  five  talents  and  capable 
of  performing  the  trierarchy,  and  have  sold  it  and  rendered  it 
masterless,  whereas  we  have  already  performed  liturgies,  and  will 
continue  to  perform  them,  if  you  will  approve  the  intention  of 
Apollodorus  by  granting  us  this  inheritance. 

130.  State  Aid  to  the  Disabled 

(Lysias  xxiv.  Concerning  the  Cripple,  6-8,  15-17,  22  sq.    Translated  by 

G.  W.  B.) 

A  certain  cripple  has  been  receiving  an  allowance  of  one  obol  (about  three 
cents)  daily  from  the  state.  Another  citizen  brings  before  the  Council  the 
charge  that  he  does  not  deserve  it,  (1)  because  he  is  really  of  sound  body, 
(2)  because  he  has  a  trade,  (3)  because  he  associates  with  rich  men,  and  must 
therefore  be  well-to-do,  (4)  because  he  is  a  man  of  bad  character,  violent, 
insolent,  and  of  loose  morals,  (5)  because  his  shop  is  the  resort  of  evil  men. 
The  excerpts  given  below  have  a  varied  interest. 

My  father  left  me  nothing,  and  I  ceased  to  support  my  mother 
only  three  years  ago  when  she  died,  and  my  children  are  not  yet 
old  enough  to  support  me.  I  have  a  trade  which  brings  me  scant 
returns,  which  I  now  carry  on  with  great  difficulty,  and  am  unable 

1  On  the  liturgies,  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xii. 

2  That  is,  approving  of  his  adoption  of  a  son. 


THE  CRIPPLE'S  PENSION 


425 


to  find  any  one  to  take  it  off  my  hands.  I  have  no  income  besides 
this  (allowance),  and  if  you  take  it  from  me,  I  shall  run  the  risk  of 
falling  into  the  direst  straits.  ...  It  would  be  unreasonable, 
Council,  if  when  my  misfortune  was  single  I  should  receive  this 
dole  but  should  be  deprived  of  it  when  old  age  and  diseases  and 
their  attendant  evils  have  been  added  to  my  lot.  .  .  . 

(My  adversary)  asserts  that  I  am  insolent  and  violent  and 
possessed  of  an  excessively  unbridled  temper,  as  though  he  could 
only  speak  the  truth  if  he  used  terrible  words,  and  could  not  do 
so  if  he  used  only  mild  words  and  abstained  from  exaggeration. 
But  I  fancy,  Council,  that  you  know  well  how  to  distinguish  be- 
tween men  whose  part  it  is  to  be  insolent  and  men  to  whom  such 
a  thing  is  unbecoming.  It  is  not  reasonable  that  the  poor  and  the 
desperately  needy  should  be  insolent;  that  rather  falls  to  the  lot  of 
those  who  possess  far  more  than  a  competence ;  nor  the  disabled 
in  body  but  those  rather  who  trust  to  their  physical  strength ;  nor 
those  who  have  far  advanced  in  age,  but  the  young  and  the  pos- 
sessors of  youthful  dispositions.  For  the  wealthy  with  their 
money  purchase  exemption  from  the  danger  of  punishment,1 
whereas  the  poor  are  forced  to  sobriety  by  their  present  need.  .  .  . 

Do  not  because  of  this  man  (my  accuser)  deprive  me  of  the 
only  part  or  lot  in  my  country  that  fortune  has  granted  me.  .  .  . 
For  since,  Council,  the  deity  (Daimon)  has  debarred  us  from  the 
highest  offices,  the  state  has  voted  us  this  money,  considering  that 
the  chances  of  good  and  ill  are  common  to  all.2  How  then  should 
I  not  be  the  most  wretched  of  all  men,  if  through  my  misfortune 
I  should  be  deprived  of  the  noblest  and  greatest  things,  and  then 
through  my  accuser  should  lose  what  the  state  has  bestowed  in 
its  forethought  for  men  who  are  situated  as  I  am  ? 

1  Here  we  get  the  point  of  view  of  the  poor  man  —  that  wealth  is  a  shield  against 
prosecution.  Had  more  needy  Greeks  thus  spoken  to  us,  we  should  probably  have  had 
material  to  counterbalance  the  charge  that  the  wealthy  were  often  condemned  that 
their  property  might  fall  to  the  state  and  be  paid  out  to  the  jurors  as  fees ;  cf.  p.  466 
and  n.  2. 

2  This  is  a  peculiar  theory,  that  as  the  state  cannot  bestow  office  upon  the  poor  and 
the  crippled,  it  is  under  obligation  to  grant  them  a  money  allowance  as  a  substitute. 


426 


THE  STATE 


131.  State  Regulation  of  the  Grain  Trade 
(Lysias  xxii.  Against  the  Grain-Dealers.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

One  of  the  first  objects  of  an  Athenian  statesman  was  to  provide  for  an 
adequate  supply  of  imported  grain,  seeing  that  the  country  produced  scarcely 
half  the  amount  needed  for  consumption.  Two-thirds  of  every  cargo  brought 
to  Peiraeus  had  to  be  sold  in  the  country ;  the  rest  might  be  carried  farther. 
State  regulations  were  established  to  prevent  cornering  the  market  and  un- 
reasonable profits  of  dealers.  Among  the  regulations  was  one  which  forbade  a 
profit  of  more  than  an  obol  to  the  basket,  phormos,  holding  about  a  medimnus, 
i.e.,  a  bushel  and  a  half.  It  was  ordered  further  that  no  one  should  buy  more 
than  fifty  phormi  at  a  time.  To  enforce  these  regulations  a  board  of  Grain 
Inspectors  (3iTo<£uAa/<es,  Sitophylaces)  was  instituted.  Death  was  the  pen- 
alty for  the  violation  of  these  laws. 

The  case  represented  by  the  subjoined  oration  is  made  clear  by  the  docu- 
ment itself.  From  this  source,  and  from  many  others,  we  infer  that  the  Hellenic 
state  took  far  greater  care  of  the  citizens  in  general  than  does  any  modern 
state,  in  which  any  such  care  would  be  resented  as  an  interference  with  business. 

(1)  Many  have  approached  me,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  won- 
dering that  I  attacked  the  grain  dealers  in  the  Council  and  saying 
that  if  you  were  ever  so  convinced  of  their  acting  wrongfully,  you 
would  none  the  less  consider  those  who  compose  addresses  about 
them,  to  be  blackmailers.  Why  then  I  have  been  constrained  to 
accuse  them,  I  wish  to  explain  first. 

(2)  When  the  prytaneis  reported  to  the  Council  about  them, 
the  members  were  so  enraged  at  them,  that  some  said  they  ought 
to  hand  them  over  to  the  Eleven  without  trial  and  punish  them 
with  death.  But  thinking  it  awful  that  the  Council  should  fall 
into  the  habit  of  doing  such  things,  I  arose  and  said  that  it  seemed 
best  to  me  to  try  the  grain  dealers  according  to  the  law,  considering 
that  if  they  have  done  what  is  worthy  of  death,  you  wjll  none  the 
less  arrive  at  a  just  verdict ;  but  if  they  are  no  wrong  doers,  they 
ought  not  to  perish  without  trial  ...  (3)  And  when  the  Council 
was  convinced  thereof  they  undertook  to  calumniate  me,  saying 
that  I  am  making  these  discourses  in  order  to  save  the  grain  dealers.1 
As  pertains  to  the  Council  then,  I  made  my  actual  defence  when 

1  Charges  against  these  grain  dealers  were  first  brought  into  the  Council,  many 
members  of  which  were  for  putting  the  accused  to  death  without  trial.  The  present 
speaker,  however,  persuaded  that  body  to  allow  the  case  to  come  before  an  ordinary 
court.  That  resolution  prevailed ;  and  the  present  oration  was  delivered  before  a 
jury  in  accusation. 


PURCHASES  RESTRICTED 


427 


they  had  the  trial;  for  while  the  others  were  keeping  quiet,  I 
arose  and  accused  them  and  made  it  clear  to  all,  that  I  did  not 
speak  in  behalf  of  them  but  supported  the  established  laws.  (4)  I 
began  therefore  because  I  feared  the  charges ;  and  I  consider  it 
disgraceful  to  cease  before  you  give  about  it  whatever  verdict  you 
desire. 

(5)  First,  stand  up  and  tell  me,  are  you  a  metic?1  "Yes." 
And  are  you  a  metic  with  the  expectation  of  obeying  the  laws  of 
the  commonwealth,  or  of  doing  what  you  like?  "Of  obeying." 
Do  you  deserve  anything  else  but  death,  if  you  have  done  anything 
contrary  to  the  laws  —  any  act  on  which  the  death-penalty  is 
set?  "I  do  not."  Answer  me  then,  whether  you  admit  having 
bought  up  more  grain  than  fifty  phormi,  which  the  law  allows? 
"I  bought  it  up  under  orders  of  the  officials." 

(6)  If  then  he  demonstrates,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that  a 
statute  exists,  which  orders  the  grain  dealers  to  buy  up  the  grain 
in  case  the  officials  order  them  to  do  so,  acquit  him;  but  if  not, 
it  is  just  that  you  should  find  him  guilty.  For  we  presented  to 
you  the  statute  which  prohibits  anyone  in  the  commonwealth  from 
buying  up  more  grain  than  fifty  phormi.2 

(7)  This  charge  then,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  ought  to  be  suffi- 
cient, since  this  man  admits  that  he  bought  it  up,  but  the  law 
appears  as  prohibiting  that,  and  you  have  sworn  to  give  your  ver- 
dict according  to  the  laws.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  speak  more 
at  length  about  them.  (8)  When  these  men  shifted  the  blame  upon 
the  grain  inspectors,  we  called  upon  the  latter  and  interrogated 
them.  Two  of  them  said  they  knew  nothing  of  the  matter,  but 
Anytus  explained  that  last  winter  when  grain  was  high,  and  when 
these  men  bid  up  the  price  against  one  another,  and  fought  among 
themselves,  he  had  advised  them  to  cease  wrangling,  thinking  it  ad- 
vantageous to  you  who  bought  from  them,  that  they  should  make 
their  purchases  at  as  fair  a  figure  as  possible  :  for  it  was  necessary 
for  them  to  sell  at  a  rise  of  no  more  than  one  obol.  (9)  That  he  did 
not  order  them  to  buy  up  and  store  away,  but  not  to  outbid  one 
another  in  the  buying,  I  shall  produce  Anytus  himself  as  witness, 
and  that  this  man  made  these  statements  in  the  term  of  the  former 

1  Metic,  alien  resident.    Much  of  the  trade  was  in  the  hands  of  this  class. 

2  Phormi,  see  introduction. 


428 


THE  STATE 


Council,  but  the  accused  appear  as  having  formed  a  corner  in  the 
time  of  the  present  Council.1 

(10)  That  they  bought  up  the  grain  without  an  order  of  the 
officials,  you  have  heard ;  and  I  hold  that  if  their  statements  about 
these  things  are  ever  so  true,  they  will  not  produce  a  defence  of 
themselves,  but  will  accuse  these  officials ;  for  where  statutes 
are  specifically  written,  why  should  not  the  penalty  be  paid 
both  by  those  who  do  not  obey  (the  statutes)  and  those  who 
bid  them  act  contrary  to  the  same?  (n)  But,  gentlemen  of 
the  jury,  I  think  they  will  not  resort  to  this  plea ;  yet 
perhaps  they  will  say,  as  they  did  in  the  Council,  that  they 
bought  up  the  grain  from  devotion  to  the  community,  in  order 
to  sell  it  to  you  at  as  fair  a  price  as  possible.  I  will,  however, 
bring  before  you  a  very  great  and  very  lucid  proof  that  they 
lie.  (12)  For  they  ought,  if  indeed  it  was  for  your  sake  that  they 
did  these  things,  to  appear  selling  at  the  same  price  for  many  days, 
until  the  grain  which  they  had  bought  up,  failed  them,  whereas  in 
fact  sometimes  in  the  course  of  the  same  day  they  sold  it  one 
drachma  higher,  just  as  though  they  had  bought  it  up  at  the  rate 
of  a  singie  medimnus.2  And  for  these  facts  I  shall  offer  you  wit- 
nesses. .  .  . 

(13)  It  seems  outrageous  to  me,  if  whenever  a  tax  is  to  be  paid, 
of  which  all  are  bound  to  have  knowledge,  they  are  unwilling  but 
allege  poverty  as  a  pretext,  yet  in  a  matter  in  which  death  is  set 
as  a  penalty  and  it  is  profitable  for  them  to  escape  notice,  they  say 
they  committed  these  illegal  acts  from  devotion  to  you.  Still  you 
all  know  that  it  behooves  these  men  least  of  all  to  make  such 
statements.  For  their  advantage  is  the  opposite  to  that  of  others : 
their  gains  are  largest  when  upon  the  arrival  of  some  bad  news 
they  sell  their  grain  to  the  community  at  a  high  figure.  (14)  So 
gladly  therefore  do  they  see  your  troubles  that  some  of  them  they 
ascertain  earlier  than  others,  and  some  they  invent  themselves, 
either  that  the  ships  in  the  Black  Sea  have  perished,  or  while  sailing 
out  were  captured  by  the  Lacedaemonians,  or  that  the  harbors  are 
closed,  or  that  the  truce  is  about  to  be  cancelled,  and  they  have 

1  A  Council  held  office  one  year ;  the  trouble  regarding  these  grain  merchants 
began  therefore  in  the  preceding  year. 

2  Medimnus,  see  introduction. 


A  CORNER  IN  GRAIN 


429 


advanced  to  that  point  of  enmity  toward  you,  that  they  plot  against 
you  in  precisely  the  same  emergencies  in  which  the  public  enemy  do. 
(15)  For  when  you  happen  to  be  most  in  want  of  grain,  they  grab  it 
and  are  unwilling  to  sell,  and  you  may  be  well  satisfied  to  buy 
from  them  at  any  price  whatever  and  take  your  leave  of  them,  so 
that  sometimes  when  there  is  peace  we  are  reduced  to  a  state  t>f 
siege  by  them. 

(16)  For  this  reason  the  community  long  ago  came  to  such  a 
determination  about  their  cunning  and  evil-mindedness  that  over 
all  the  other  wares  you  appointed  the  marketmasters  as  guardians, 
but  for  this  craft  alone,  separately,  you  appoint  grain  inspectors 
by  lot ;  and  of ttimes  you  imposed  upon  them,  citizens  though  they 
were,  the  most  severe  penalties,  because  they  were  unable  to  master 
the  scoundrellism  of  these  dealers.  What  then  should  the  male- 
factors themselves  suffer  at  your  hands,  when  you  even  put  to 
death  those  who  are  not  able  to  maintain  a  watch  over  them  ? 

(17)  You  ought  to  ponder  on  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  for 
you  to  acquit  them.  For  if  you  shall  find  them  guiltless  when 
they  themselves  admit  that  they  made  a  combination  against  the 
importers,  you  will  seem  to  plot  against  the  skippers  who  come 
here.  If  they  make  some  other  defence,  no  one  could  find  fault 
with  those  who  acquitted  them ;  for  it  lies  with  you  to  give  credence 
to  whichsoever  of  the  two  sides  you  choose ;  but  in  the  actual  situa- 
tion how  would  you  not  seem  to  act  outrageously  if  you  are  to  let 
go  scotfree  the  men  who  confess  that  they  have  been  acting  illegally  ? 

(18)  Remember,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that  you  have  condemned 
to  death  many  men  already  who  were  subject  to  this  charge  and 
furnished  witnesses,  deeming  more  reliable  the  statements  of  the 
accusers.  Why  would  it  not  be  strange,  if  while  sitting  in  judg- 
ment on  the  same  misdemeanors  you  are  eager  to  impose  penalty 
on  those  who  make  denial?  (19)  In  fact,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I 
think  it  is  clear  to  all  that  the  contests  about  such  things  happen  to 
be  of  the  widest  concern  in  common  to  every  one  in  the  community, 
so  that  they  are  going  to  discover  what  opinion  you  entertain 
about  them,  thinking,  if  you  condemn  them  to  death,  the  others 
will  be  more  seemly ;  but  if  you  let  them  go  scotfree,  you  will  have 
voted  them  ample  immunity  to  do  what  they  like. 

(20)  But  it  is  necessary,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  to  chastise  them 


43° 


THE  STATE 


not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  past,  but  also  as  an  example  for  the 
future ;  for  as  things  now  are,  they  will  be  hardly  endurable.  And 
consider  that  in  consequence  of  this  vocation  very  many  already 
have  stood  trial  for  their  life;  and  so  great  are  the  emoluments 
which  they  derive  from  it  that  they  prefer  to  risk  their  life  every 
dfty  rather  than  cease  to  draw  from  you  unjust  profits.  (21)  And 
indeed  not  even  if  they  entreat  you  and  supplicate,  would  you 
justly  pity  them,  but  much  rather  the  citizens  who  perished  on 
account  of  their  wickedness,  and  the  importers  against  whom 
they  made  a  combination.  The  importers  you  will  gratify  and 
cheer,  if  you  impose  a  penalty  on  the  dealers.  Otherwise  what 
opinion  do  you  think  they  will  have,  when  they  learn  that  you 
acquitted  the  retailers  who  admitted  plotting  against  the  skippers  ? 

(22)  I  do  not  know  what  I  should  say  further;  for  concerning 
other  evildoers  one  must  learn  from  the  prosecutors  at  the  time  of 
trial,  but  the  wickedness  of  these  men  you  all  know.  If  then  you 
shall  condemn  them,  you  will  act  justly  and  you  will  buy  grain 
cheaper;  otherwise,  dearer. 

132.  A  Plan  for  Increasing  the  Revenues  of  Athens 

(Xenophon,  Ways  and  Means.  Dakyns,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 
In  ancient  times  no  doubt  was  expressed  as  to  the  authenticity  of  this  work. 
Among  modern  scholars,  however,  there  are  some  who  wish  to  remove  it  from 
the  list  of  Xenophon's  genuine  writings  on  the  supposition,  (1)  that  according 
to  internal  evidence  it  was  composed  as  late  as  346,  and  therefore  after  Xeno- 
phon's death ;  (2)  that  the  views  expressed  in  the  treatise  were  repugnant  to 
the  author's  well-known  convictions.  Others  argue  on  the  contrary  that  inter- 
nal evidence  points  to  355  as  the  date  of  composition.  In  favor  of  its  authentic- 
ity we  may  say  further  that  the  style  seems  to  be  that  of  Xenophon,  and  that  it 
was  perfectly  possible  for  Xenophon  in  old  age  to  modify  his  political  and  social 
views.  If  then  we  accept  the  pamphlet  as  a  genuine  work  of  Xenophon,  it  is  in 
place  to  notice  the  powerful  influence  of  fourth-century  socialism  upon  the 
intellectual  class,  to  extort  such  concessions  from  a  pronounced  conservative. 
The  entire  pamphlet  is  here  presented,  partly  because  of  the  light  which  it 
throws  upon  the  economic  resources  of  Athens  at  that  time  and  partly  because 
of  its  unique  ideas,  which  though  utterly  impracticable,  cannot  help  attracting 
at  least  the  curiosity  of  all  who  are  interested  in  social  history. 

I.  (1)  For  myself  I  hold  to  the  opinion  that  the  qualities  of 
the  men  in  charge  of  the  government,  whatever  they  be,  are  re- 
produced in  the  character  of  the  constitutions  themselves. 


NATURAL  RESOURCES 


It  has  been  maintained  of  certain  leading  statesmen  in  Athens 
that  they  know,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  mankind,  what  is  just,  but 
that,  owing  to  the  pressure  of  poverty  on  the  masses,  a  certain 
measure  of  injustice  in  their  dealing  with  the  allied  states  could 
not  be  avoided.  I  set  myself  therefore  to  discover  whether  by  any 
manner  of  means  it  were  possible  for  the  citizens  of  Athens  to  be 
supported  solely  from  the  soil  of  Attica  itself,  which  would  obviously 
be  the  most  equitable  solution.  For  if  so,  herein  lay,  as  I  believed, 
the  antidote  at  once  to  their  own  poverty  and  to  the  feeling  of 
suspicion  with  which  they  are  regarded  by  the  rest  of  Hellas.  (2)  I 
had  no  sooner  begun  my  investigation  than  one  fact  presented 
itself  clearly  to  my  mind,  which  is  that  the  country  itself  is  made 
by  nature  to  provide  the  amplest  resources.  And  with  a  view  to 
establishing  the  truth  of  this  initial  proposition  I  will  describe  the 
physical  features  of  Attica. 

(3)  In  the  first  place,  the  extraordinary  mildness  of  the  climate 
is  proved  by  the  actual  products  of  the  soil.  Numerous  plants 
which  in  many  parts  of  the  world  appear  as  stunted  leafless  growths 
are  here  fruit-bearing.  As  with  the  soil,  so  too  with  the  sea  in- 
denting our  coasts,  the  varied  productivity  of  which  is  exceptionally 
great.  Again  with  regard  to  those  boons  which  the  gods  bestow 
on  man  in  the  seasons,  one  and  all  they  commence  very  early  and 
end  very  late  in  this  land.1  (4)  Nor  is  the  supremacy  of  Attica 
shown  only  in  those  products  which  year  after  year  flourish  and 
grow  old,  but  the  land  contains  treasures  of  a  more  perennial  kind. 
Within  its  folds  lies  imbedded  by  nature  an  unstinted  store  of 
marble,  out  of  which  are  chiselled  temples  and  altars  of  rarest 
beauty  and  the  most  comely  images  of  worship  for  the  gods.  This 
marble,  moreover,  is  an  object  of  desire  to  many  foreigners,  Hellenes 
and  barbarians  alike.  (5)  Then  there  is  land  which,  although  it 
yields  no  fruit  to  the  sower,  needs  only  to  be  mined  in  order  to  feed 
many  times  more  mouths  than  it  could  as  corn-land.  Doubtless 
we  owe  it  to  a  divine  dispensation  that  our  land  is  veined  with 
silver ;  if  we  consider  how  many  neighboring  states  lie  round  us  by 

1  These  remarks  on  the  productivity  of  the  soil  of  Attica  are  significant  in  view  of 
the  fairly  grounded  opinion  that  it  was  inferior  to  the  average  soil  of  Hellas.  Not- 
withstanding the  ravages  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  and  the  later  growth  of  industry, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  intelligent  farming  was  still  profitable ;  cf.  499  and  n.  1. 


432 


THE  STATE 


land  and  sea  and  yet  into  none  of  them  does  a  single  thinnest  vein 
of  silver  penetrate. 

(6)  Further  it  would  be  scarcely  irrational  to  maintain  that  the 
city  of  Athens  lies  at  the  navel,  not  of  Hellas  merely,  but  of  the 
habitable  world.  So  true  is  it  that  the  farther  we  remove  from 
Athens  the  greater  the  extreme  of  heat  or  cold  to  be  encountered ; 
or  to  use  another  illustration,  the  traveller  who  desires  to  traverse 
the  confines  of  Hellas  from  end  to  end  will  find  that,  whether  he 
voyages  by  sea  or  by  land,  he  is  describing  a  circle,  the  centre  of 
which  is  Athens.  (7)  Once  more,  this  land  though  not  literally  sea- 
girt has  all  the  advantages  of  an  island,  being  accessible  to  every 
wind  that  blows,  and  can  invite  to  its  bosom  or  waft  from  its  shore 
all  products,  since  it  is  peninsular  ;  whilst  by  land  it  is  the  emporium 
of  many  markets,  as  being  a  portion  of  the  continent. 

(8)  Lastly,  whilst  the  majority  of  states  have  barbarian  neigh- 
bors, the  source  of  many  troubles,  Athens  has  as  her  next-door 
neighbors  civilized  states  which  are  themselves  far  remote  from  the 
barbarians. 

II.  (1)  All  these  advantages,  to  repeat  what  I  have  said,  may, 
I  believe,  be  traced  primarily  to  the  soil  and  position  of  Attica 
itself.  But  these  native  blessings  may  be  added  to :  in  the  first 
place,  by  a  careful  handling  of  our  resident  alien  population.  For 
my  part,  I  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  more  splendid  source  of  revenue 
than  lies  open  in  this  direction.  Here  you  have  a  self-supporting 
class  of  residents  conferring  large  benefits  upon  the  state,  and 
instead  of  receiving  payment  themselves,  contributing  on  the  con- 
trary to  the  gain  of  the  exchequer  by  the  sojourners'  tax.  (2)  Nor 
under  the  term  of  careful  handling  do  I  demand  more  than  the 
removal  of  obligations  which,  while  they  confer  no  benefit  on  the 
state,  have  an  air  of  inflicting  various  disabilities  on  the  resident 
aliens.  I  would  further  relieve  them  from  the  obligation  of  ser- 
ving as  hoplites  side  by  side  with  the  citizens  proper ;  since  beside  the 
personal  risk,  which  is  great,  the  trouble  of  quitting  trades  and 
homesteads  is  no  trifle.  (3)  Incidentally  the  state  itself  would  be 
benefited  by  this  exemption,  if  the  citizens  were  more  in  the  habit 
of  campaigning  with  one  another,1  rather  than  shoulder  to  shoulder 

1  The  dislike  of  the  Athenians  for  military  service  is  one  of  the  most  significant 
factors  of  their  political  history  during  the  fourth  century. 


ALIEN  RESIDENTS 


433 


with  Lydians,  Phrygians,  Syrians,  and  barbarians  from  all  quarters 
of  the  world,  who  form  the  staple  of  our  resident  alien  class.  (4)  Be- 
sides the  advantage  of  so  weeding  the  ranks,  it  would  add  a  positive 
lustre  to  our  city,  were  it  admitted  that  the  men  of  Athens,  her 
sons,  have  reliance  on  themselves  alone  for  their  battles  rather  than 
on  foreigners.  (5)  I  think,  too,  if  we  were  to  give  to  the  alien  res- 
idents a  share  in  the  other  things  which  it  is  honorable  to  bestow 
a  share  in,  and  in  the  right  of  cavalry  service,  we  should  render  them 
more  loyal  and  at  the  same  time  render  the  city  stronger  and  greater. 

(6)  In  the  next  place,  seeing  that  there  are  at  present  numer- 
ous building  sites  within  the  city  Walls  as  yet  devoid  of  houses,1 
supposing  the  state  were  to  make  free  grants  of  such  land  to  for- 
eigners for  building  purposes  in  cases  where  there  could  be  no  doubt 
as  to  the  respectability  of  the  applicant,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  the 
result  of  such  a  measure  will  be  that  a  larger  number  of  persons, 
and  of  a  better  class,  will  be  attracted  to  Athens  as  a  place  of 
residence.  (7)  Lastly,  if  we  could  bring  ourselves  to  appoint,  as  a 
new  government  office,  a  board  of  guardians  of  foreign  residents 
like  our  Guardians  of  Orphans,  with  special  privileges  assigned  to 
those  guardians  who  should  show  on  their  books  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  resident  aliens,  —  such  a  measure  would  tend  to  improve 
the  goodwill  of  the  class  in  question,  and  in  all  probability  all 
people  without  a  city  of  their  own  would  aspire  to  the  status  of 
foreign  residents  in  Athens,  and  so  further  increase  the  revenues  of 
the  city. 

III.  (1)  At  this  point  I  propose  to  offer  some  remarks  in  proof 
of  the  attraction  and  advantages  of  Athens  as  a  center  of  commer- 
cial enterprise.  In  the  first  place,  it  will  hardly  be  denied  that  we 
possess  the  finest  and  safest  harborage  for  shipping,  where  vessels 
of  all  sorts  can  come  to  moorings  and  be  laid  up  in  absolute  security 
as  far  as  stress  of  weather  is  concerned.  (2)  But  farther  than  that, 
in  most  states  the  trader  is  under  the  necessity  of  lading  his  vessel 
with  some  merchandise  or  other  in  exchange  for  his  cargo,  since 
the  current  coin  has  no  circulation  beyond  the  frontier.    But  at 

1  The  total  citizen  population  of  Attica  was  less  in  the  fourth  than  in  the  fifth 
century,  and  the  tendency  of  business  men  and  of  artisans  was  to  gather  in  Peiraeus, 
leaving  Athens  with  a  dwindling  population.  Aliens  could  not  acquire  land  in  Attica 
without  especial  permission. 


434 


THE  STATE 


Athens  he  has  a  choice  ;  he  can  either  in  return  for  his  wares  export 
a  variety  of  goods,  such  as  human  beings  seek  after,  or  if  he  does 
not  desire  to  take  goods  in  exchange  for  goods,  he  has  simply  to 
export  silver,  and  he  cannot  have  a  more  excellent  freight  to  export, 
since  wheresoever  he  likes  to  sell  it,  he  everywhere  realizes  more 
than  his  capital  investment.  (3)  Or  again,  supposing  prizes  were 
offered  to  the  market  officials  for  equitable  and  speedy  settle- 
ments of  points  in  dispute,  to  enable  any  one  so  wishing  to  proceed 
on  his  voyage  without  hindrance,  the  result  would  be  that  far 
more  merchants  would  trade  with  us  and  with  greater  satisfaction. 

(4)  It  would  indeed  be  a  'good  and  noble  institution  to  pay 
special  marks  of  honor,  such  as  the  privilege  of  the  front  seat,  to 
merchants  and  shipowners,  and  on  occasion  to  invite  to  hospitable 
entertainment  those  who,  through  something  notable  in  the  quality 
of  ship  or  merchandise,  may  claim  to  have  done  the  state  a  service. 
The  recipients  of  these  honors  would  be  devoted  to  us  as  friends, 
not  only  under  the  incentive  of  gain,  but  of  distinction  also. 
(5)  Now  the  greater  the  number  of  people  attracted  to  Athens 
either  as  visitors  or  as  residents,  clearly  the  greater  the  develop- 
ment of  imports  and  exports.  More  goods  will  be  sent  out  of  the 
country,  there  will  be  more  buying  and  selling,  with  a  consequent 
influx  of  money  in  the  shape  of  rents  to  individuals  and  dues  and 
customs  to  the  state  exchequer.  (6)  To  secure  this  augmentation 
of  the  revenues,  mark  you,  not  the  outlay  of  one  single  penny; 
nothing  is  needed  beyond  one  or  two  philanthropic  measures  and 
certain  details  of  supervision. 

With  regard  to  the  other  sources  of  revenue  which  I  contem- 
plate, I  admit,  it  is  different.  For  them  I  recognize  the  necessity 
of  a  capital  to  begin  with.  (7)  I  am  not,  however,  without  good 
hope  that  the  citizens  of  this  state  will  contribute  heartily  to  such 
an  object,  when  I  reflect  on  the  large  sums  subscribed  by  the  state 
on  various  late  occasions,  as,  for  instance,  when  reinforcements 
were  sent  to  the  Arcadians  under  the  command  of  Lysistratus,1 
and  again  at  the  date  of  the  generalship  of  Hegesileos.2  (8)  I  am 
well  aware  that  ships  of  war  are  frequently  despatched  and  that 
too  although  it  is  uncertain  whether  the  venture  will  be  for  the 

1  This  expedition  was  made  in  366 ;  Xen.  Hell.  vii.  4.  3. 

2  In  362;  Xen.  Hell.  vii.  5.  15. 


A  FINANCIAL  SCHEME 


435 


better  or  for  the  worse,  and  the  only  certainty  is  that  the  contributor 
will  not  recover  the  sum  subscribed  nor  have  any  further  share  in 
the  object  for  which  he  gave  his  contribution. 

(9)  For  a  sound  investment  I  know  of  nothing  comparable  with 
the  initial  outlay  to  form  this  fund.  Any  one  whose  contribution 
amounts  to  ten  minae  may  look  forward  to  a  return  as  high  as  he 
would  get  on  bottomry,  of  nearly  one-fifth,  as  the  recipient  of  three 
obols  a  day.1  The  contributor  of  five  minae  will  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple get  more  than  a  third,  (10)  while  the  majority  of  Athenians 
will  get  more  than  cent  per  cent  on  their  contribution.  That  is  to 
say,  a  subscription  of  one  mina  will  put  the  subscriber  in  possession 
of  nearly  double  that  sum,  and  that,  moreover,  without  setting  foot 
outside  Athens,  which,  as  far  as  human  affairs  go,  is  as  sound  and 
durable  a  security  as  possible.  (11)  Moreover  I  am  of  opinion 
that  if  the  names  of  contributors  were  to  be  inscribed  as  bene- 
factors for  all  time,  many  foreigners  would  be  induced  to  contrib- 
ute, and  possibly  not  a  few  states,  in  their  desire  to  obtain  the 
right  of  inscription ;  indeed  I  anticipate  that  some  kings,  princes 
and  satraps  would  display  a  keen  desire  to  share  in  such  a  favor. 

(12)  To  come  to  the  point :  were  such  a  capital  once  furnished, 
it  would  be  a  magnificent  plan  to  build  lodging-houses  for  the  benefit 
of  shipmasters  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  harbors,  in  addition  to 
those  which  exist;  and  again  on  the  same  principle,  if  suitable 
places  of  meeting  for  merchants  —  for  the  purposes  of  buying  and 
selling  —  and  thirdly,  (13)  if  public  lodging-houses  and  stores  for 
vending  goods,  were  fitted  up  for  retail  dealers  in  Peiraeus  and  the 
city,  they  would  at  once  be  an  ornament  to  the  state  and  a  fertile 
source  of  revenue.  (14)  Also  it  seems  to  me  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  to  try  to  see  if,  on  the  principle  on  which  at  present  the 
state  possesses  public  warships,  it  would  not  be  possible  to  secure 
public  merchant  vessels  to  be  let  out  on  the  security  of  guarantors 
just  like  any  other  public  property.  If  the  plan  were  found  feasi- 
ble, this  public  merchant  navy  would  be  a  large  source  of  extra 
revenue. 

1  The  idea  is  that  every  Athenian  will  receive  three  obols  daily,  whatever  he  sub- 
scribes. One  who  contributes  ten  minas,  or  1000  drachmas,  will  receive  for  the  year 
3  X  360  obols,  or  1080  obols,  which  equals  180  drachmas.  That  is,  his  return  will  be 
18  per  cent.  The  contributor  of  half  that  sum  will  receive  double  the  rate  of  interest, 
and  so  on. 


436 


THE  STATE 


IV.  (i)  I  come  to  a  new  topic.  I  am  persuaded  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  silver  mines  on  a  proper  footing  would  be  followed 
by  a  large  increase  of  wealth  apart  from  other  sources  of  revenue. 
I  should  like,  therefore,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  be  ignorant, 
to  point  out  what  the  capacity  of  these  mines  really  is.  You  will 
then  be  in  a  position  to  decide  how  to  turn  them  to  better  account. 
(2)  It  is  clear,  I  presume,  to  every  one  that  these  mines  have  for 
a  very  long  time  been  in  active  operation ;  at  any  rate  no  one  will 
venture  to  fix  the  date  at  which  they  first  began  to  be  worked. 
Now  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  silver  ore  has  been  dug  and  carried 
out  for  so  long  a  time,  I  would  ask  you  to  note  that  the  mounds  of 
rubbish  so  shovelled  out  are  but  a  fractional  portion  of  the  series  of 
hillocks  containing  veins  of  silver,  and  as  yet  unquarried.  (3)  Nor 
is  the  silver-bearing  region  gradually  becoming  circumscribed.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  evidently  extending  in  wider  area  from  year  to 
year.  That  is  to  say,  during  the  period  in  which  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  workers  have  been  employed  within  the  mines,  no  hand  was 
ever  stopped  for  want  of  work  to  do.  Rather,  at  any  given  moment, 
the  work  to  be  done  was  more  than  enough  for  the  hands  employed. 
(4)  Thus  it  is  today  with  the  owners  of  slaves  working  in  the  mines  ; 
no  one  dreams  of  reducing  the  number  of  his  hands.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  object  is  perpetually  to  acquire  as  many  additional 
hands  as  the  owner  possibly  can.  The  fact  is  that  with  few  hands 
to  dig  and  search,  the  find  of  treasure  will  be  small,  but  with  an 
increase  of  labor  the  discovery  of  the  ore  itself  is  more  than  pro- 
portionally increased.  So  much  so  that  of  all  operations  with 
which  I  am  acquainted,  this  is  the  only  one  in  which  no  sort  of 
jealousy  is  felt  at  a  further  development  of  the  industry.  (5)  I 
may  go  a  step  farther :  every  proprietor  of  a  farm  will  be  able  to 
tell  you  exactly  how  many  yoke  of  oxen  are  sufficient  for  the  estate, 
and  how  many  farm  hands.  To  send  into  the  field  more  than  the 
exact  number  requisite  every  farmer  would  consider  a  dead  loss. 
But  in  silver  mining  [operations]  the  universal  complaint  is  the 
short  supply  of  hands.  Indeed  there  is  no  analogy  between  this 
and  other  industries.  (6)  With  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
bronze-workers  articles  of  bronze  may  become  so  cheap  that  the 
bronze-workers  are  ruined.  And  so  again  with  ironfounders.  Or 
again,  in  a  plethoric  condition  of  the  corn  and  wine  market  these 


UNLIMITED  NEED  OF  SILVER 


fruits  of  the  soil  will  be  so  depreciated  in  value  that  the  particular 
husbandries  cease  to  be  remunerative,  and  many  a  farmer  will 
give  up  his  tillage  of  the  soil  and  betake  himself  to  the  business  of 
a  merchant,  or  of  a  shopkeeper,  to  banking  or  money-lending.1 
But  the  converse  is  the  case  in  the  working  of  silver ;  there  the 
larger  the  quantity  of  ore  discovered  and  the  greater  the  amount 
of  silver  extracted,  the  greater  the  number  of  persons  ready  to 
engage  in  the  operation.  (7)  One  more  illustration  :  take  the  case 
of  movable  property.  No  one  when  he  has  got  sufficient  furniture 
for  his  house  dreams  of  making  further  purchases  on  this  head,  but 
of  silver  no  one  ever  yet  possessed  so  much  that  he  was  forced  to 
cry  "enough."  On  the  contrary,  if  ever  anybody  does  become 
possessed  of  an  immoderate  amount  he  finds  as  much  pleasure  in 
digging  a  hole  in  the  ground  and  hoarding  it  as  in  the  actual  employ- 
ment of  it.  (8)  And  from  a  wider  point  of  view ;  when  a  state  is 
prosperous  there  is  nothing  which  people  so  much  desire  as  silver. 
The  men  want  money  to  expend  on  beautiful  armor  and  fine  horses, 
and  houses,  and  sumptuous  outfittings  of  all  sorts.  The  women 
betake  themselves  to  expensive  apparel  and  ornaments  of  gold. 
(9)  Or  when  states  are  sick,  either  through  barrenness  of  corn  and 
other  fruits  or  through  war,  the  demand  for  current  coin  is  even 
more  imperative  (whilst  the  ground  lies  unproductive),  to  pay  for 
necessaries  or  military  aid.  (10)  Furthermore  if  it  be  asserted  that 
gold  is  after  all  just  as  useful  as  silver,  without  gainsaying  the 
proposition  I  may  note  this  fact  about  gold,  that,  with  a  sudden 
influx  of  this  metal,  it  is  the  gold  itself  which  is  depreciated  whilst 
causing  at  the  same  time  a  rise  in  the  value  of  silver. 

(11)  The  facts  given  above  are,  I  think,  conclusive.  They  en- 
courage us  not  only  to  introduce  as  much  human  labor  as  possible 
into  the  mines,  but  to  extend  the  scale  of  operation  within,  by 
increase  of  plant,  etc.,  in  full  assurance  that  there  is  no  danger 
either  of  the  ore  itself  being  exhausted  or  of  silver  becoming  depre- 
ciated.2   In  advancing  these  views  I  am  merely  following  a  pre- 

1  This  was  precisely  the  tendency  of  the  farming  population  of  Attica  at  the  time 
when  this  pamphlet  was  being  written ;  the  cheapness  of  imported  grain  and  the  at- 
tractions of  an  expanding  city  economy  were  drawing  many  agriculturists  from  their 
fields. 

2  On  both  these  points  the  writer  is  wholly  wrong :  in  fact  the  amount  of  silver 
remaining  in  the  mines  was  then  very  limited,  and  further  the  production  of  unlimited 


438 


THE  STATE 


cedent  set  me  by  the  state  herself.  (12)  So  it  seems  to  me,  since 
the  state  permits  any  foreigner  who  desires  it  to  undertake  mining 
operations  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  her  own  citizens. 

(13)  But  to  make  my  meaning  clearer  on  the  question  of  main- 
tenance, I  will  at  this  point  explain  in  detail  how  the  silver  mines 
may  be  furnished  and  extended  so  as  to  render  them  much  more 
useful  to  the  state.  Only  I  would  premise  that  I  claim  no  sort 
of  admiration  for  anything  which  I  am  about  to  say,  as  though  I 
had  hit  upon  some  recondite  discovery.  Since  half  of  what  I  have 
to  say  is  at  the  present  moment  patent  to  the  eyes  of  all  of  us,  and 
as  to  what  belongs  to  past  history,  if  we  are  to  believe  the  testimony 
of  our  fathers,  things  were  then  much  of  a  piece  with  what  is  going 
on  now.  (14)  No,  what  is  really  marvellous  is  that  the  state,  with 
the  fact  of  so  many  private  persons  growing  wealthy  at  her  expense 
and  under  her  very  eyes,  should  have  failed  to  imitate  them.  It  is 
an  old  story,  trite  enough  to  those  of  us  who  have  cared  to  attend 
to  it,  how  once  on  a  time  Nicias,1  the  son  of  Niceratus,  owned  a 
thousand  men  in  the  silver  mines,  whom  he  let  out  to  Sosias,  a 
Thracian,  on  the  following  terms.  Sosias  was  to  pay  him  a  net 
obol  a  day,  without  charge  or  deduction,  for  every  slave  of  the 
thousand,  and  be  responsible  for  keeping  up  the  number  perpetually 
at  that  figure.  (15)  So  again  Hipponicus  had  six  hundred  slaves 
let  out  on  the  same  principle,  which  brought  him  in  a  net  mina  a 
day  without  charge  or  deduction.  Then  there  was  Philemonides, 
with  three  hundred,  bringing  him  in  half  a  mina,  and  others  doubt- 
less there  were,  making  profits  in  proportion  to  their  respective 
resources  and  capital.  (16)  But  there  is  no  need  to  revert  to  ancient 
history.  At  the  present  moment  there  are  hundreds  of  human 
beings  in  the  mines  let  out  on  the  same  principle.  (17)  Supposing 
therefore  that  my  proposal  were  carried  into  effect,  the  only  novelty 
in  it  is  that,  just  as  the  individual  in  acquiring  the  ownership  of  a 
gang  of  slaves  finds  himself  at  once  provided  with  a  permanent 
source  of  income,  so  the  state,  in  like  fashion,  should  possess  herself 
of  a  body  of  public  slaves,  to  the  number,  say,  of  three  for  every 

quantities  would  have  greatly  depreciated  the  value.  The  depreciation  of  gold,  which 
he  mentions  just  above,  ought  to  have  taught  him  better. 

1  Nicias,  the  famous  Athenian  general  in  the  Peloponnesian  war ;  Botsford,  Hellenic 
History,  chs.  xviii,  xix. 


A  SPECULATION  IN  SLAVES 


439 


Athenian  citizen.  (18)  As  to  the  feasibility  of  our  proposals,  I 
challenge  any  one  whom  it  may  concern  to  test  the  scheme  point 
by  point,  and  to  give  his  verdict. 

With  regard  to  the  price  then  of  the  men  themselves,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  public  treasury  is  in  a  better  position  to  provide 
funds  than  any  private  individual.  What  can  be  easier  than  for 
the  Council  to  invite  by  public  proclamation  all  whom  it  may  con- 
cern to  bring  their  slaves,  and  to  buy  up  those  produced  ?  (19)  As- 
suming the  purchase  to  be  effected,  is  it  credible  that  people  will 
hesitate  to  hire  from  the  state  rather  than  from  the  private  owner, 
and  actually  on  the  same  terms?  People  have  at  all  events  no 
hesitation  at  present  in  hiring  consecrated  grounds,  sacred  victims, 
houses,  etc.,  or  in  purchasing  the  right  of  farming  taxes  from  the 
state.  (20)  To  ensure  the  preservation  of  the  purchased  property, 
the  treasury  can  take  the  same  securities  precisely  from  the  lessee 
as  it  does  from  those  who  purchase  the  right  of  farming  its  taxes. 
In  fact  fraudulent  dealing  is  easier  on  the  part  of  the  man  who  has 
purchased  such  a  right  than  of  a  man  who  hires  slaves;  (21)  for 
it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  misappropriation  of  public  money 
is  to  be  detected,  when  it  differs  in  no  way  from  private  money. 
It  will  however  take  a  clever  thief  to  make  off  with  these  slaves 7 
marked  as  they  will  be  with  the  public  stamp,  and  in  face  of  a  heavy 
penalty  attached  at  once  to  the  sale  and  exportation  of  them.  Up 
to  this  point  then  it  would  appear  feasible  enough  for  the  state  to 
acquire  property  in  men  and  to  keep  a  safe  watch  over  them. 

(22)  But  with  reference  to  an  opposite  objection  which  may 
present  itself  to  the  mind  of  some  one ;  what  guarantee  is  there 
that,  along  with  the  increase  in  the  supply  of  laborers,  there  will 
be  a  corresponding  demand  for  their  services  on  the  part  of  con- 
tractors? It  may  be  reassuring  to  note,  first  of  all,  that  many  of 
those  who  have  already  embarked  on  mining  operations  will  be 
anxious  to  increase  their  staff  of  laborers  by  hiring  some  of  these 
public  slaves,  for  they  have  a  large  capital  at  stake;  and  again, 
many  of  the  actual  laborers  now  engaged  are  growing  old ;  and 
secondly,  there  are  many  others,  Athenians  and  foreigners  alike, 
who,  though  unwilling  and  indeed  incapable  of  working  physically 
in  the  mines,  will  be  glad  enough  to  earn  a  livelihood  by  their  wits 
as  superintendents. 


440 


THE  STATE 


(23)  Let  it  be  granted,  however,  that  at  first  a  nucleus  of  twelve 
hundred  slaves  is  formed.  It  is  hardly  too  sanguine  a  supposition 
that  out  of  the  profits  alone,  within  five  or  six  years  this  number 
may  be  increased  to  at  least  six  thousand.  Again,  out  of  that 
number  of  six  thousand  —  supposing  each  slave  to  bring  in  an  obol 
a  day  clear  of  all  expenses  —  we  get  a  revenue  of  sixty  talents  a 
year.  (24)  Supposing  further  twenty  talents  out  of  this  sum  laid 
out  on  the  purchase  of  more  slaves,  there  will  be  forty  talents  left 
for  the  state  to  apply  to  any  other  purpose  it  may  find  advisable. 
By  the  time  the  round  number  of  ten  thousand  is  reached,  the 
yearly  income  will  amount  to  a  hundred  talents.  (25)  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  state  will  receive  much  more  than  these  figures  repre- 
sent, as  any  one  here  will  bear  me  witness  who  can  remember  what 
the  dues  derived  from  slaves  realized  before  the  troubles  at  Deceleia.1 
Testimony  to  the  same  effect  is  borne  by  the  fact,  that  in  spite  of 
the  countless  number  of  human  beings  employed  in  the  silver 
mines  within  the  whole  period,  the  mines  present  exactly  the  same 
appearance  today  as  they  did  within  the  recollection  of  our  fore- 
fathers. (26)  Once  more,  everything  that  is  taking  place  today 
tends  to  prove  that,  whatever  the  number  of  slaves  employed,  you 
will  never  have  more  than  the  works  can  easily  absorb.  The  miners 
find  no  limit  of  depth  in  sinking  shafts  or  laterally  in  piercing  gal- 
leries. (27)  To  open  cuttings  in  new  directions  today  is  just  as 
possible  as  it  was  in  former  times.  In  fact  no  one  can  take  on 
himself  to  say  whether  there  is  more  silver  ore  in  the  regions  already 
cut  into,  or  in  those  where  the  pick  has  not  yet  struck.  (28)  Well 
then,  it  may  be  asked,  why  is  it  that  there  is  not  the  same  rush  to 
make  new  cuttings  now  as  in  former  times?  The  answer  is,  be- 
cause the  people  concerned  with  the  mines  are  poorer  nowadays. 
The  attempt  to  restart  operations,  renew  plant,  and  the  like,  is  of 
recent  date,  and  any  one  who  ventures  to  open  up  a  new  area  runs 
a  considerable  risk.  (29)  Supposing  he  hits  upon  a  productive 
field,  he  becomes  a  rich  man,  but  supposing  he  draws  a  blank,  he 
loses  the  whole  of  his  outlay ;  and  that  is  a  danger  which  people 
of  the  present  time  are  shy  of  facing. 

(30)  It  is  a  difficulty,  but  it  is  one  on  which,  I  believe,  I  can 
offer  some  practical  advice.    I  have  a  plan  to  suggest  which  will 

1  In  the  last  years  of  the  Peloponnesian  war ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xix. 


THE  MINES  INEXHAUSTIBLE 


441 


reduce  to  a  minimum  the  risk  of  opening  up  new  cuttings.  The 
citizens  of  Athens  are  divided,  as  we  all  know,  into  ten  tribes.1 
Let  the  state  then  assign  to  each  of  these  ten  tribes  an  equal  num- 
ber of  slaves,  and  let  the  tribes  agree  to  associate  their  fortunes  and 
proceed  to  open  new  cuttings.  What  will  happen?  Any  single 
tribe  hitting  upon  a  productive  lode  will  be  the  means  of  discover- 
ing what  is  advantageous  to  all.  (31)  Or  supposing  two  or  three, 
or  possibly  the  half  of  them,  hit  upon  a  lode,  clearly  these  several 
operations  will  proportionally  be  more  remunerative  still.  That 
the  whole  ten  will  fail  is  not  at  all  in  accordance  with  what  we  should 
expect  from  the  history  of  the  past.  (32)  It  is  possible  of  course 
for  private  persons  to  combine  in  the  same  way,  and  share  their 
fortunes  and  minimize  their  risks.  Nor  need  you  apprehend,  sirs, 
that  a  state  mining  company,  established  on  this  principle,  will 
prove  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  private  owner,  or  the  private  owner 
prove  injurious  to  the  state.  But  rather  like  allies  who  render 
each  other  stronger  the  more  they  combine,  so  in  these  silver  mines, 
the  greater  number  of  companies  at  work  the  larger  the  riches  they 
will  discover  and  carry  off. 

(33)  This  then  is  a  statement,  as  far  as  I  can  make  it  clear,  of 
the  method  by  which,  with  the  proper  state  organization,  every 
Athenian  may  be  supplied  with  ample  maintenance  at  the  public 
expense.  (34)  Possibly  some  of  you  may  be  calculating  that  the 
capital  requisite  will  be  enormous.  They  may  doubt  if  a  sufficient 
sum  will  ever  be  subscribed  to  meet  the  needs.  All  I  can  say  is, 
even  so,  do  not  despond.  (35)  It  is  not  as  if  it  were  necessary  that 
every  feature  of  the  scheme  should  be  carried  out  at  once  or  else 
there  is  to  be  no  advantage  in  it  at  all.  On  the  contrary,  what- 
ever number  of  houses  are  erected,  or  ships  built,  or  slaves  pur- 
chased, or  the  like,  these  portions  will  begin  to  pay  at  once.  (36)  In 
fact,  the  bit-by-bit  method  of  proceeding  will  be  more  advantageous 
than  a  simultaneous  carrying  into  effect  of  the  whole  plan,  to  this 
extent :  if  we  set  about  erecting  buildings  wholesale  we  shall  make 
a  more  expensive  and  worse  job  of  it  than  if  we  finish  them  off 
gradually.  Again,  if  we  set  about  bidding  for  hundreds  of  slaves 
at  once,  we  shall  be  forced  to  purchase  an  inferior  type  at  a  higher 

1  On  the  tribal  organization  of  the  citizens  by  Cleisthenes,  see  Aristotle,  Const.  Ath. 
21  (no.  30) ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vi.  §  5. 


442 


THE  STATE 


cost.  (37)  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  proceed  tentatively,  as  we  find 
ourselves  able,  we  can  complete  any  well-devised  attempt  at  our 
leisure,  and,  in  case  of  any  obvious  failure,  take  warning  and  not 
repeat  it.  (38)  Again,  if  everything  were  to  be  carried  out  at  once, 
it  is  we,  sirs,  who  must  make  the  whole  provision  at  our  expense, 
whereas  if  part  were  proceeded  with  and  part  stood  over,  the  por- 
tion of  revenue  in  hand  will  help  to  furnish  what  is  necessary  to  go 
on  with. 

(39)  But  to  come  now  to  what  every  one  probably  will  regard 
as  a  really  grave  danger,  lest  the  state  may  become  possessed  of 
an  over-large  number  of  slaves,  with  the  result  that  the  works  will 
be  overstocked.  That  again  is  an  apprehension  which  we  may 
escape  if  we  are  careful  not  to  put  into  the  works  more  hands  from 
year  to  year  than  the  works  themselves  demand.  (40)  Thus  I  am 
persuaded  that  the  easiest  method  of  carrying  out  this  scheme,  as 
a  whole,  is  also  the  best.  If,  however,  you  are  persuaded  that, 
owing  to  the  extraordinary  property  taxes  to  which  you  have  been 
subjected  during  the  present  war,1  you  will  not  be  equal  to  any 
further  contributions  at  present,  what  you  should  do  is  this  :  during 
the  current  year  resolve  to  carry  on  the  financial  administration  of 
the  state  within  the  limits  of  a  sum  equivalent  to  that  which  your 
dues  realized  before  the  peace.  That  done,  you  are  at  liberty  to 
take  any  surplus  sum,  whether  directly  traceable  to  peace  itself, 
or  to  the  more  courteous  treatment  of  our  resident  aliens  and 
traders,  or  to  the  growth  of  the  imports  and  exports,  coincident 
with  the  collecting  together  of  large  masses  of  human  beings,  or 
to  an  augmentation  of  harbor  and  market  dues :  this  surplus,  I 
say,  however  derived,  you  should  take  and  invest  so  as  to  bring  in 
the  greatest  revenue. 

(41)  Again,  if  there  is  an  apprehension  on  the  part  of  any  that 
the  whole  scheme  will  crumble  into  nothing  on  the  first  outbreak 
of  war,  I  would  only  beg  these  alarmists  to  note  that,  under  the 
condition  of  things  which  we  propose  to  bring  about,  war  will  have 
more  terrors  for  the  attacking  party  than  for  this  state.  (42)  What 
possession,  I  should  like  to  know,  can  be  more  serviceable  for  war 

1  If  this  pamphlet  was  written  in  355,  as  is  generally  supposed,  the  war  referred  to 
was  the  Social  war,  357-354,  in  which  Athens  lost  her  more  important  allies;  Beloch, 
Griech.  Gesch.  II.  313-19. 


IN  TIME  OF  WAR 


443 


than  that  of  men?  Think  of  the  many  ships  which  they  will  be 
capable  of  manning  on  public  service.  Think  of  the  number  who 
will  serve  on  land  as  infantry  and  will  bear  hard  upon  the  enemy. 
Only  we  must  treat  them  with  courtesy.  (43)  For  myself,  my 
calculation  is  that  even  in  the  event  of  war,  we  shall  be  quite  able 
to  keep  a  firm  hold  of  the  silver  mines.  I  may  take  it,  we  have  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  mines  certain  fortresses  —  one  on  the 
southern  slope  in  Anaphlystus  ;  and  we  have  another  on  the  northern 
side  in  Thoricus,  the  two  being  about  seven  and  a  half  miles  apart. 
(44)  Suppose  then  a  third  breastwork  were  to  be  placed  between 
these  two,  on  the  highest  point  of  Besa,  that  would  enable  the 
operatives  to  collect  into  one  out  of  all  the  fortresses,  and  at  the 
first  perception  of  a  hostile  movement  it  would  only  be  a  short 
distance  for  each  to  retire  into  safety.  (45)  In  the  event  of  an 
enemy  advancing  in  large  numbers  they  might  certainly  make  off 
with  whatever  corn  or  wine  or  cattle  they  found  outside.  Even 
if  they  did  get  hold  of  the  silver  ore,  it  would  be  little  better  to  them 
than  a  heap  of  stones.  (46)  But  how  is  an  enemy  ever  to  march 
upon  the  mines  in  force?  The  nearest  state,  Megara,  is  distant, 
I  take  it,  a  good  deal  over  sixty  miles  ;  and  the  next  closest,  Thebes, 
a  good  deal  nearer  seventy.  (47)  Supposing  then  an  enemy  to 
advance  from  some  such  point  to  attack  the  mines,  he  cannot 
avoid  passing  Athens ;  and  presuming  his  force  to  be  small,  we 
may  expect  him  to  be  annihilated  by  our  cavalry  and  frontier  police. 
I  say,  presuming  his  force  to  be  small,  since  to  march  with  any- 
thing like  a  large  force,  and  thereby  leave  his  own  territory  denuded 
of  troops,  would  be  a  startling  achievement.  Why,  the  fortified  city 
of  Athens  will  be  much  closer  to  the  states  of  the  attacking  parties 
than  they  themselves  will  be  by  the  time  they  have  got  to  the  mines. 
(48)  But  for  the  sake  of  argument,  let  us  suppose  an  enemy  to  have 
arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Laurium ;  how  is  he  going  to  stop 
there  without  provisions?  To  go  out  in  search  of  supplies  with  a 
detachment  of  his  force  would  imply  risk,  both  for  the  foraging 
party  and  for  those  who  have  to  do  the  fighting ;  whilst,  if  they  are 
driven  to  do  so  in  force  each  time,  they  may  call  themselves  be- 
siegers, but  they  will  be  practically  in  a  state  of  siege  themselves. 

(49)  It  is  not  the  income  derived  from  the  slaves  alone  to  which 
we  look  to  help  the  state  toward  the  effective  maintenance  of  her 


444 


THE  STATE 


citizens,  but  with  the  growth  and  concentration  of  a  dense  popu- 
lation in  the  mining  district  various  sources  of  revenue  would 
accrue,  whether  from  the  market  at  Sunium,  or  from  the  various 
state  buildings  in  connection  with  the  silver  mines,  from  furnaces 
and  all  the  rest.  (50)  We  must  expect  a  thickly  populated  city 
to  spring  up  here,  if  organized  in  the  way  proposed,  and  plots  of 
land  will  become  as  valuable  to  owners  out  there  as  they  are  to 
those  who  possess  them  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  capital. 

(51)  If  at  this  point  I  may  assume  my  proposals  to  have  been 
carried  into  effect,  I  think  I  can  promise,  not  only  that  our  city 
will  be  relieved  from  a  financial  strain,  but  that  she  will  make  a 
great  stride  in  orderliness  and  in  tactical  organization;  she  will 
grow  in  martial  spirit  and  readiness  for  war.  (52)  I  anticipate  that 
those  who  are  under  orders  to  go  through  gymnastic  training  will 
devote  themselves  with  a  new  zeal  to  the  details  of  the  training 
school,  now  that  they  will  receive  a  large  maintenance  while  under 
the  orders  of  the  trainer  in  the  torch  race.  So  again  those  on 
garrison  duty  in  the  various  fortresses,  those  enrolled  as  peltasts, 
or  again  as  frontier  police  to  protect  the  rural  districts,  one  and 
all  will  carry  out  their  respective  duties  more  ardently  when  the 
maintenance  appropriate  to  these  several  functions  is  duly  forth- 
coming. 

V.  (1)  If  it  is  evident  that,  in  order  to  get  the  full  benefit  of 
all  these  sources  of  state  revenue,  peace  is  an  indispensable  con- 
dition, —  if  that  is  plain,  I  say,  the  question  suggests  itself,  would 
it  not  be  worth  while  to  appoint  a  board  to  act  as  guardians  of 
peace?  Since  no  doubt  the  election  of  such  a  magistracy  would 
enhance  the  charm  of  this  city  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world,  and 
add  largely  to  the  number  of  our  visitors.  (2)  But  if  any  one  is 
disposed  to  take  the  view,  that  by  adopting  a  persistent  peace  policy, 
this  city  will  be  shorn  of  her  power,  that  her  glory  will  dwindle  and 
her  good  name  be  forgotten  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Hellas,  the  view  so  taken  by  our  friends  here  is  in  my  poor  judg- 
ment somewhat  unreasonable.  For  they  are  surely  the  happy 
states ;  they,  in  popular  language,  are  most  fortune-favored,  which 
endure  in  peace  the  longest  season.  And  of  all  states  Athens  is 
pre-eminently  adapted  by  nature  to  flourish  and  wax  strong  in 
peace.    (3)  The  while  she  abides  in  peace  she  cannot  fail  to  exer- 


COMMERCIAL  VALUE  OF  PEACE 


cise  an  attractive  force  on  all.  From  the  mariner  and  the  merchant 
upward,  all  seek  her,  flocking  they  come ;  the  wealthy  dealers  in 
corn  and  wine  and  oil,  the  owner  of  many  cattle.  Not  these  only, 
but  the  man  who  depends  upon  his  wits,  whose  skill  is  to  do  busi- 
ness and  make  gain  out  of  money  and  its  employment.  (4)  Here 
another  crowd,  artificers  of  all  sorts,  artists  and  artisans,  professors 
of  wisdom,  philosophers,  and  poets,  with  those  who  exhibit  and 
popularize  their  works.  Next  a  new  train  of  pleasure-seekers, 
eager  to  feast  on  everything  sacred  or  secular,  which  may  capti- 
vate and  charm  eye  and  ear.  Or  once  again,  where  are  all  those 
who  seek  to  effect  a  rapid  sale  or  purchase  of  a  thousand  com- 
modities to  find  what  they  want,  if  not  at  Athens? 

(5)  If  there  is  no  desire  to  gainsay  these  views  —  only  that 
certain  people,  in  their  wish  to  recover  that  headship  which  was 
once  the  pride  of  our  city,  are  persuaded  that  the  accomplishment  of 
their  hopes  is  to  be  found,  not  in  peace  but  in  war,  I  beg  them  to 
reflect  on  some  matters  of  history,  and  to  begin  at  the  beginning, 
the  Median  war.  (6)  Was  it  by  high-handed  violence,  or  as  bene- 
factors of  Hellenes,  that  we  obtained  the  headship  of  the  naval 
forces,  and  the  trusteeship  of  the  treasury  of  Hellas?  Again, 
when  through  the  too  cruel  exercise  of  her  presidency,  as  men 
thought,  Athens  was  deprived  of  her  empire,  is  it  not  the  case  that 
even  in  those  days,  as  soon  as  we  held  aloof  from  injustice  we  were 
once  more  reinstated  by  the  islanders,  of  their  own  free  will,  as 
presidents  of  the  naval  force?  (7)  Nay,  did  not  the  very  Thebans, 
in  return  for  certain  benefits,  grant  to  us  Athenians  to  exercise 
leadership  over  them?  And  at  another  date  the  Lacedaemonians 
suffered  us  Athenians  to  arrange  the  terms  of  hegemony  at  our 
discretion,  not  as  driven  to  such  submission,  but  in  requital  of  kindly 
treatment.  (8)  Again  today,  owing  to  the  chaos  which  reigns  in 
Hellas,  if  I  mistake  not,  an  opportunity  has  fallen  to  this  city  of 
winning  back  our  fellow-Hellenes  without  pain  or  peril  or  expense 
of  any  sort.  It  is  given  to  us  to  try  to  harmonize  states  which 
are  at  war  with  one  another :  it  is  given  to  us  to  reconcile  the  dif- 
ferences of  rival  factions  within  those  states  themselves,  wherever 
existing. 

(9)  Make  it  but  evident  that  we  are  minded  to  preserve  the 
independence  of  the  Delphic  shrine  in  its  primitive  integrity,  not 


446 


THE  STATE 


by  joining  in  any  way  but  by  the  moral  force  of  embassies  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  Hellas,  —  and  I  for  one  shall  not  be 
astonished  if  you  find  our  brother  Hellenes  of  one  sentiment  and 
eager  under  seal  of  solemn  oaths  to  proceed  against  those,  who- 
ever they  may  be,  who  shall  seek  to  step  into  the  place  vacated  by 
the  Phocians1  and  to  occupy  the  sacred  shrine.  (10)  Make  it 
but  evident  that  you  intend  to  establish  a  general  peace  by  land 
and  sea,  and  if  I  mistake  not,  your  efforts  will  find  a  response  in 
the  hearts  of  all.  There  is  no  man  but  will  pray  for  the  salvation 
of  Athens  next  to  that  of  his  own  fatherland,  (n)  Again,  is  any 
one  persuaded  that,  looking  solely  to  riches  and  money-making, 
the  state  may  find  war  more  profitable  than  peace?  If  so,  I  can- 
not conceive  a  better  method  of  deciding  that  question  than  to 
allow  the  mind  to  revert  to  the  past  history  of  the  state  and  to  note 
well  the  sequence  of  events.  (12)  He  will  discover  that  in  times 
long  gone  by,  during  a  period  of  peace,  vast  wealth  was  stored  up 
in  the  Acropolis,  the  whole  of  which  was  lavishly  expended  during 
a  subsequent  period  of  war.  He  will  perceive,  if  he  examines 
closely,  that  even  at  the  present  time  we  are  suffering  from  its  ill 
effects.  Countless  sources  of  revenues  have  failed;  or  if  they 
have  still  flowed  in,  they  have  been  lavishly  expended  on  a  mul- 
tiplicity of  things.  Whereas  now  that  peace  is  established  by  sea, 
our  revenues  have  expanded  and  the  citizens  of  Athens  have  it  in 
their  power  to  turn  them  to  account  as  they  like  best. 

(13)  If  you  turn  on  me  with  the  question,  "Do  you  really 
mean  that  even  in  the  event  of  unjust  attacks  upon  our  city  on 
the  part  of  any,  we  are  still  resolutely  to  observe  peace  toward  that 
offender?"  I  answer  distinctly,  No!  On  the  contrary,  I  main- 
tain that  we  shall  all  the  more  promptly  retaliate  on  such  aggres- 
sion in  proportion  as  we  have  done  no  wrong  to  any  one  ourselves, 
for  that  will  be  to  rob  the  aggressor  of  his  allies. 

VI.  (1)  If  none  of  these  proposals  be  impracticable  or  even 
difficult  of  execution ;  if  rather  by  giving  them  effect  we  may  con- 
ciliate further  the  friendship  of  Hellas,  whilst  we  strengthen  our 

1  The  author  refers  to  the  Sacred  war,  which  closed  in  346  with  the  expulsion  of  the 
Phocians  from  the  Amphictyonic  league.  Some  have  thought  therefore  that  this 
treatise  must  have  been  composed  after  that  date;  but  perhaps  the  writer  is  merely 
looking  forward  to  the  end  of  the  war. 


GOD  BLESS  THE  PLAN  ! 


447 


own  administration  and  increase  our  fame ;  if  by  the  same  means 
the  people  shall  be  provided  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  our 
rich  men  be  relieved  of  expenditure  on  war ;  if  with  the  large  sur- 
plus to  be  counted  on,  we  are  in  a  position  to  conduct  our  festivals 
on  an  even  grander  scale  than  heretofore,  to  restore  our  temples, 
to  rebuild  our  forts  and  docks,  and  to  reinstate  in  their  ancient 
privileges  our  priests,  our  senators,  our  magistrates,  and  our  knights 
—  surely  it  were  but  reasonable  to  enter  upon  this  project  speedily, 
so  that  we  too,  even  in  our  own  day,  may  witness  the  unclouded 
dawn  of  prosperity  in  store  for  our  city. 

(2)  But  if  you  are  agreed  to  carry  out  this  plan,  there  is  one 
further  counsel  which  I  would  urge  upon  you.  Send  to  Dodona 
and  to  Delphi,  I  would  beg  you,  and  consult  the  will  of  Heaven 
whether  such  provision  and  such  a  policy  on  our  part  be  truly  to 
the  interest  of  Athens  both  for  the  present  and  for  the  time  to 
come.  (3)  If  the  consent  of  Heaven  be  thus  obtained,  we  ought 
then,  I  say,  to  put  a  further  question :  whose  special  favor  among 
the  gods  shall  we  seek  to  secure  with  a  view  to  the  happier  execu- 
tion of  these  measures  ?  1 

In  accordance  with  that  answer,  let  us  offer  a  sacrifice  of  happy 
omen  to  the  deities  so  named,  and  commence  the  work ;  for  if 
these  transactions  be  so  carried  out  with  the  will  of  God,  have  we 
not  the  right  to  prognosticate  some  further  advance  in  the  path  of 
political  progress  for  this  whole  state? 

133.  The  Political  Capacity  of  Women 

(Plato,  Republic,  451-7) 

Toward  the  close  of  the  fifth  century  at  Athens  some  members  of  the  intel- 
lectual class  began  to  talk  of  the  political  capacity  of  women,  and  even  to  sug- 
gest that  they  might  be  given  the  suffrage.  To  some  extent  this  idea  must 
have  interested  the  public,  to  have  called  for  the  presentation  of  Aristophanes, 
Lysistrate  (no.  100).  While  ridiculing  the  idea  in  his  usual  manner,  Aristoph- 
anes invests  it  with  a  considerable  sympathy.  Early  in  the  fourth  century 
(389,  or,  according  to  some,  392)  he  presented  his  Ecclesiazusce,  which  treats 
satirically  of  "  woman's  rights,"  and  the  communism  of  wives  and  of  property. 
Although  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  views  were  then  agitated  in  intellec- 
tual circles,  we  have  no  reason  for  believing  that  Aristophanes  was  attacking 

1  This  advice  to  seek  the  wisdom  of  the  oracle  and  the  blessings  of  the  gods  is  in  the 
true  Xenophontic  spirit.  • 


448 


THE  STATE 


Plato,  whose  Republic  was  certainly  not  composed  earlier  than  the  decade 
380-370  ;  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  I.  646.  The  view  presented  by  "  Socrates  "  in  the 
dialogue  below  is  in  all  earnest. 

For  men  born  and  educated  like  our  citizens,  the  only  way,  in 
my  opinion,  of  arriving  at  a  right  conclusion  about  the  possession 
and  use  of  women  and  children  is  to  follow  the  path  on  which  we 
originally  started,  when  we  said  that  the  men  were  to  be  the  guar- 
dians and  watchdogs  of  the  herd. 

True. 

Let  us  further  suppose  the  birth  and  education  of  our  women 
to  be  subject  to  similar  or  nearly  similar  regulations  ;  then  we  shall 
see  whether  the  result  accords  with  our  design. 

What  do  you  mean? 

What  I  mean  may  be  put  into  the  form  of  a  question,  I  said : 
Are  dogs  divided  into  hes  and  shes,  or  do  they  both  share  equally 
in  hunting  and  in  keeping  watch  and  in  the  other  duties  of  dogs? 
or  do  we  entrust  to  the  males  the  entire  and  exclusive  care  of  the 
flocks,  while  we  leave  the  females  at  home,  under  the  idea  that  the 
bearing  and  suckling  of  their  puppies  is  labor  enough  for  them? 

No,  he  said,  they  share  alike ;  the  only  difference  between  them 
is  that  the  males  are  stronger  and  the  females  weaker. 

But  can  you  use  different  animals  for  the  same  purpose,  unless 
they  are  bred  and  fed  in  the  same  way? 

You  cannot. 

Then  if  women  are  to  have  the  same  duties  as  men,  they  must 
have  the  same  nurture  and  education? 
Yes. 

The  education  which  was  assigned  to  the  men  was  music  and 
gymnastic  ? 
Yes. 

Then  women  must  be  taught  music  and  gymnastic  and  also 
the  art  of  war,  which  they  must  practice  like  the  men?  .  .  . 

Can  you  mention  any  pursuit  of  mankind  in  which  the  male 
sex  has  not  all  these  gifts  and  qualities  in  a  higher  degree  than  the 
female?  Need  I  waste  time  in  speaking  of  the  art  of  weaving, 
and  the  management  of  pancakes  and  preserves,  in  which  woman- 
kind does  really  appear  great,  and  in  which  for  her  to  be  beaten  by 
a  man  is  of  all  things  the  most  absurd  ? 


WOMEN  ARE  LIKE  MEN 


449 


You  are  quite  right,  he  replied,  in  maintaining  the  general  in- 
feriority of  the  female  sex :  although  many  women  are  in  many 
things  superior  to  many  men,  yet  on  the  whole  what  you  say  is  true. 

And  if  so,  my  friend,  I  said,  there  is  no  special  faculty  of  ad- 
ministration in  a  state  which  a  woman  has  because  she  is  a  woman, 
or  which  a  man  has  by  virtue  of  his  sex,  but  the  gifts  of  nature  are 
alike  diffused  in  both ;  all  the  pursuits  of  men  are  the  pursuits  of 
women  also,  but  in  all  of  them  a  woman  is  inferior  to  a  man. 

Very  true. 

Then  are  we  to  impose  all  our  enactments  on  men  and  none  of 
them  on  women  ? 

That  will  never  do. 

One  woman  has  a  gift  of  healing,  another  not ;  one  is  a  musician, 
and  another  has  no  music  in  her  nature? 
Very  true. 

And  one  woman  has  a  turn  for  gymnastic  and  military  exercises, 
and  another  is  unwarlike  and  hates  gymnastics  ? 
Certainly. 

And  one  woman  is  a  philosopher,  and  another  is  an  enemy  of 
philosophy ;  one  has  spirit,  and  another  is  without  spirit  ? 
That  is  also  true. 

Then  one  woman  will  have  the  temper  of  a  guardian,  and  another 
not.  Was  not  the  selection  of  the  male  guardians  determined  by 
differences  of  this  sort? 

Yes. 

Men  and  women  alike  possess  the  qualities  which  make  a  guar- 
dian ;  they  differ  only  in  their  comparative  strength  or  weakness. 
Obviously. 

And  those  women  who  have  such  qualities  are  to  be  selected  as 
the  companions  and  colleagues  of  men  who  have  similar  qualities 
and  whom  they  resemble  in  capacity  and  character? 

Very  true. 

Then  ought  not  the  same  natures  to  have  the  same  pursuits? 
They  ought. 

Then,  as  we  were  saying  before,  there  is  nothing  unnatural  in 
assigning  music  and  gymnastic  to  the  wives  of  the  guardians  —  to 
that  point  we  come  round  again. 

Certainly  not. 


45° 


THE  STATE 


The  law  which  we  then  enacted  was  agreeable  to  nature,  and 
therefore  not  an  impossibility  or  mere  aspiration  ;  and  the  contrary 
practice,  which  prevails  at  present,  is  in  reality  a  violation  of  na- 
ture. 

That  appears  to  be  true. 

We  had  to  consider  first,  whether  our  proposals  were  possible, 
and  secondly  whether  they  were  the  most  beneficial? 
Yes. 

And  the  possibility  has  been  acknowledged  ? 
Yes. 

The  very  great  benefit  has  next  to  be  established  ? 
Quite  so. 

You  will  admit  that  the  same  education  which  makes  a  man  a 
good  guardian  will  make  a  woman  a  good  guardian ;  for  their  orig- 
inal nature  is  the  same  ? 

Yes. 

I  should  like  to  ask  you  a  question. 
What  is  it  ? 

Would  you  say  that  all  men  are  equal  in  excellence,  or  is  one 
man  better  than  another  ? 
The  latter. 

And  in  the  commonwealth  which  we  were  founding  do  you  con- 
ceive the  guardians  who  have  been  brought  up  on  our  model  system 
to  be  more  perfect  men,  or  the  cobblers  whose  education  has  been 
cobbling  ? 

What  a  ridiculous  question  ! 

You  have  answered  me,  I  replied  :  Well,  and  may  we  not  further 
say  that  our  guardians  are  the  best  of  citizens  ? 
By  far  the  best. 

And  will  not  their  wives  be  the  best  women  ? 
Yes,  by  far  the  best. 

And  can  there  be  anything  better  for  the  interests  of  the  state 
than  that  the  men  and  women  of  a  State  should  be  as  good  as  pos- 
sible ? 

There  can  be  nothing  better. 

And  this  is  what  the  arts  of  music  and  gymnastic,  when  present 
in  such  a  manner  as  we  have  described,  will  accomplish  ? 
Certainly. 


COMMUNISM 


45i 


Then  we  have  made  an  enactment  not  only  possible  but  in  the 
highest  degree  beneficial  to  the  state  ? 
True.1  .  .  . 

The  law,  I  said,  which  is  the  sequel  of  this  and  of  all  that  has 
preceded,  is  to  the  following  effect,  —  that  the  wives  of  our  guar- 
dians are  to  be  common,  and  their  children  are  to  be  common,  and 
no  parent  is  to  know  his  own  child,  nor  any  child  his  parent.2 

134.  The  Muckraker  versus  the  Patriot 

(Plato,  Protagoras,  346) 

Bad  men,  when  their  parents  or  country  have  any  defects,  look 
on  them  with  malignant  joy,  and  find  fault  with  them  and  expose 
and  denounce  them  to  others,  under  the  idea  that  the  rest  of  man- 
kind will  be  less  likely  to  take  themselves  to  task  and  accuse  them 
of  neglect ;  and  they  blame  their  defects  far  more  than  they  deserve, 
in  order  that  the  odium  which  is  necessarily  incurred  by  them  may 
be  increased ;  but  the  good  man  dissembles  his  feelings,  and  con- 
strains himself  to  praise  them ;  and  if  they  have  wronged  him  and 
he  is  angry,  he  pacifies  his  anger  and  is  reconciled,  and  compels 
himself  to  praise  his  own  flesh  and  blood. 

135.  A  Critique  of  the  Statesmen  of  Athens 

(Plato,  Gorgias,  515-19) 

It  is  well  known  that  Plato  had  no  sympathy  with  democracy ;  and  in  the 
subjoined  passage  he  denounces  the  statesmen  of  Athens  both  past  and  present. 
His  contention  is  that  a  statesman  ought  to  improve  the  moral  character  of 
his  people,  and  within  the  few  years  of  his  career  to  make  them  so  virtuous 
that  the  great  majority  will  appreciate  his  services  and  render  him  due  gratitude. 
If  they  fail  in  this  respect,  if  they  turn  against  him  and  fine  him  or  ostracize  him, 
as  they  did  in  the  case  of  Cimon,  Themistocles,  and  Pericles,  the  statesman  has 
only  himself  to  blame.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  Plato  thus  imposes 
upon  the  statesman  an  utterly  impossible  task. 

1  The  part  here  omitted,  though  interesting,  is  too  long  for  inclusion  in  this  volume. 

2  With  the  view  of  Plato  regarding  the  qualitative  equality  of  women  with  men  we 
may  contrast  that  of  Xenophon,  Economicus  (no.  154).  In  the  judgment  of  Xenophon 
women  are  the  equals  of  men  (each  sex  has  its  points  of  superiority  to  the  other),  but 
they  are  unlike  in  nature.  It  is  clear  that  in  this  treatise  Xenophon  is  consciously 
opposing  the  doctrine  of  those  who,  like  Plato,  contend  for  the  qualitative  equality  of 
the  sexes. 


452 


THE  STATE 


Socrates.  Now,  my  friend,  as  you  are  already  beginning  to  be 
a  public  character,  and  are  admonishing  and  reproaching  me  for 
not  being  one,  suppose  that  we  ask  a  few  questions  of  one  another. 
Tell  me,  then,  Callicles,  how  about  making  any  of  the  citizens 
better?  Was  there  ever  a  man  who  was  once  vicious  or  unjust  or 
intemperate  or  foolish,  and  became  by  the  help  of  Callicles  good 
and  noble  ?  Was  there  ever  such  a  man,  whether  citizen  or  stranger, 
slave  or  freeman  ?  Tell  me,  Callicles,  if  a  person  were  to  ask  these 
questions  of  you,  what  would  you  answer?  Whom  would  you  say 
that  you  had  improved  by  your  conversation?  There  may  have 
been  good  deeds  of  this  sort  which  were  done  by  you  as  a  private 
person,  before  you  came  forward  in  public.    Will  you  not  answer? 

Callicles.  You  are  contentious,  Socrates. 

Soc.  Nay,  I  ask  you,  not  from  a  love  of  contention,  but  be- 
cause I  really  want  to  know  in  what  way  you  think  that  affairs 
should  be  administered  among  us  —  whether,  when  you  come  to 
the  administration  of  them,  you  have  any  other  aim  but  the  im- 
provement of  the  citizens  ?  Have  we  not  already  admitted  many 
times  over  that  such  is  the  duty  of  a  public  man  ?  Nay,  we  have 
surely  said  so  ;  for  if  you  will  not  answer  for  yourself  I  must  answer 
for  you.  But  if  this  is  what  the  good  man  ought  to  effect  for  the 
benefit  of  his  own  state,  allow  me  to  recall  to  you  the  names  of 
those  whom  you  were  just  now  mentioning,  Pericles,  Cimon, 
Miltiades,  and  Themistocles,  and  ask  whether  you  still  think  that 
they  were  good  citizens. 

Cal.  I  do. 

Soc.  But  if  they  were  good,  then  clearly  each  of  them  must 
have  made  the  citizens  better  instead  of  worse  ? 
Cal.  Yes.1 

Soc.  Therefore  when  Pericles  first  began  to  speak  in  the  as- 
sembly, the  Athenians  were  not  so  good  as  when  he  spoke  last? 
Cal.  Very  likely. 

Soc.  Nay,  my  friend,  'likely'  is  not  the  word ;  for  if  he  was  a 
good  citizen,  the  inference  is  certain. 

1  Callicles  loses  his  case  by  his  too  hasty  admission :  in  fact  the  primary  object  of 
the  state  cannot  be  the  moral  regeneration  of  the  citizens;  that  end,  if  it  is  to 
be  achieved,  must  be  reached  by  other  agencies,  as  the  family,  social  intercourse,  educa- 
tion, and  the  church. 


THE  TEST  OF  A  STATESMAN 


453 


Cal.  And  what  difference  does  that  make  ? 

Soc.  None ;  only  I  should  like  further  to  know  whether  the 
Athenians  are  supposed  to  have  been  made  better  by  Pericles,  or  on 
the  contrary  to  have  been  corrupted  by  him ;  for  I  hear  that  he 
was  the  first  who  gave  the  people  pay,1  and  made  them  idle  and 
cowardly,  and  encouraged  them  in  love  of  talk  and  of  money. 

Cal.  You  heard  that,  Socrates,  from  the  laconizing  set  who 
bruise  their  ears. 

Soc.  But  what  I  am  going  to  tell  you  now  is  not  mere  hearsay, 
but  well  known  both  to  you  and  to  me :  that  at  first  Pericles  was 
glorious  and  his  character  unimpeached  by  any  verdict  of  the 
Athenians  —  this  was  during  the  time  when  they  were  not  so  good 
—  yet  afterward,  when  they  had  been  made  good  and  gentle  by  him, 
at  the  very  end  of  his  life,  they  convicted  him  of  theft  and  almost 
put  him  to  death,  clearly  under  the  notion  that  he  was  a  malefactor. 

Cal.  Well,  how  does  that  prove  Pericles'  badness? 

Soc.  Why,  surely,  you  would  say  that  he  was  a  bad  manager  of 
asses  or  horses  or  oxen,  who  had  received  them  originally  neither 
kicking  nor  butting  nor  biting  him,  and  implanted  in  them  all  these 
savage  tricks  ?  Would  he  not  be  a  bad  manager  of  any  animals  who 
received  them  gentle,  and  made  them  fiercer  than  they  were  when 
he  received  them  ?    What  do  you  say  ? 

Cal.  I  will  do  you  the  favor  of  saying  yes. 

Soc.  And  will  you  also  do  me  the  favor  of  saying  whether  man 
is  an  animal? 

Cal.  Certainly  he  is. 

Soc.  And  was  not  Pericles  a  shepherd  of  men  ? 
Cal.  Yes. 

Soc.  And  if  he  was  a  good  political  shepherd,  ought  not  the 
animals  who  were  his  subjects,  as  we  were  just  now  acknowledging, 
to  have  become  more  just,  and  not  more  unjust  ?  2 

Cal.  Quite  right. 

1  Pay  for  naval  and  military  service,  also  probably  for  some  civil  services,  was 
introduced  by  Aristeides;  for  jury  service,  by  Pericles;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History, 
chs.  xii,  xv. 

2  Here  again  Socrates  favors  an  utterly  erroneous  theory :  it  is  a  simple  thing 
for  a  man  to  train  animals  to  certain  tricks  or  habits  but  altogether  a  different  matter 
to  reform  as  many  human  beings,  not  to  speak  of  the  population  of  an  entire 
state. 


454 


THE  STATE 


Soc.  And  are  not  just  men  gentle,  as  Homer  says  ?  —  or  are 
you  of  another  mind? 
Cal.  I  agree. 

Soc.  And  yet  he  really  did  make  them  more  savage  than  he 
received  them,  and  their  savageness  was  shown  toward  himself; 
which  he  must  have  been  very  far  from  desiring. 

Cal.  Do  you  want  me  to  agree  with  you  ? 

Soc.  Yes,  if  I  seem  to  you  to  speak  the  truth. 

Cal.  Granted  then. 

Soc.  And  if  they  were  more  savage,  must  they  not  have  been 
more  unjust  and  inferior  ? 
Cal.  Granted  again. 

Soc.  Then  upon  this  view,  Pericles  was  not  a  good  statesman  ? 
Cal.  That  is,  upon  your  view. 

Soc.  Nay,  the  view  is  yours,  after  what  you  have  admitted. 
Take  the  case  of  Cimon  again.  Did  not  the  very  persons  whom  he 
was  serving  ostracize  1  him,  in  order  that  they  might  not  hear  his 
voice  for  ten  years  ?  And  they  did  just  the  same  to  Themistocles, 
adding  the  penalty  of  exile;  and  they  voted  that  Miltiades,  the 
hero  of  Marathon,  should  be  thrown  into  the  pit  of  death,  and  he 
was  only  saved  by  the  prytanis.2  And  yet,  if  they  had  really  been 
good  men,  as  you  say,  these  things  would  never  have  happened  to 
them.  For  the  good  charioteers  are  not  those  who  at  first  keep 
their  place,  and  then,  when  they  have  broken  in  their  horses,  and 
themselves  become  better  charioteers,  are  thrown  out  —  that  is 
not  the  way  either  in  charioteering  or  in  any  other  profession.  What 
do  you  think  ? 

Cal.  I  should  think  not. 

Soc.  Well,  but  if  so,  the  truth  is  as  I  have  already  said,  that  in 
the  Athenian  state  no  one  has  ever  shown  himself  to  be  a  good  states- 
man. You  admitted  that  this  was  true  of  our  present  statesmen, 
but  not  true  of  former  ones,  and  you  preferred  them  to  the  others ; 
yet  they  have  turned  out  to  be  no  better  than  our  present  ones. 
If  therefore  they  were  rhetoricians,  they  did  not  use  the  true  art 

1  On  ostracism,  see  no.  31;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vii;  Gilbert,  Consti- 
tutional Antiquities  of  Sparta  and  Athens,  309. 

2  President,  the  individual  drawn  by  lot  from  the  fifty  prytaneis  to  act  as  presi- 
dent of  the  prytaneis,  of  the  entire  council,  and  of  the  assembly.  On  the  prytaneis,  see 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vii. 


SHORTCOMINGS  OF  STATESMEN  455 


of  rhetoric  or  of  flattery,  or  they  would  not  have  fallen  out  of 
favor. 

Cal.  But  surely,  Socrates,  no  living  man  ever  came  near  any 
one  of  them  in  his  achievements. 

Soc.  O,  my  dear  friend,  I  say  nothing  against  them  regarded 
as  the  serving-men  of  the  state ;  and  I  do  think  that  they  were 
certainly  more  serviceable  than  those  who  are  living  now,  and 
better  able  to  gratify  the  wishes  of  the  state.  But  as  to  transform- 
ing those  desires  and  not  allowing  them  to  have  their  own  way,  and 
using  the  powers  which  they  had,  whether  of  persuasion  or  of  force, 
in  the  improvement  of  their  fellow  citizens,  which  is  the  prime  object 
of  the  truly  good  citizen,  I  do  not  see  that  in  these  respects  they  were 
a  whit  superior  to  our  present  statesmen,  although  I  do  admit 
that  they  were  more  clever  at  providing  ships  and  walls  and  docks 
and  all  that.  .  .  . 

You  praise  the  men  who  feasted  the  citizens  and  satisfied  their 
desires,  and  the  people  say  that  they  have  made  the  city  great,  not 
seeing  that  the  swollen  and  ulcerated  condition  of  the  state  is  to  be 
attributed  to  these  elder  statesmen ;  for  they  have  filled  the  city 
full  of  harbors  and  docks  and  walls  and  revenues  and  all  that,  and 
have  left  no  room  for  justice  and  temperance.  When  therefore  the 
crisis  of  the  disorder  comes,  the  people  will  blame  the  advisers  of 
the  hour,  and  applaud  Themistocles  and  Cimon  and  Pericles,  who 
are  the  real  authors  of  their  calamities ;  and  if  you  are  not  careful, 
they  may  assail  you  and  my  friend  Alcibiades,  when  they  are  losing 
not  only  their  new  acquisitions  but  also  their  original  possessions  — 
not  that  you  are  the  authors  of  these  misfortunes  of  theirs,  although 
you  may  perhaps  be  accessories  to  them.  A  foolish  ado  is  al- 
ways being  made,  as  I  see  and  am  told,  now  as  of  old,  about  our 
statesmen.  When  the  state  treats  any  of  them  as  malefactors,  I 
observe  that  there  is  a  great  uproar  and  indignation  at  the  supposed 
wrong  that  is  done  to  them;  " after  all  their  many  services  to  the 
state,  that  they  should  unjustly  perish"  —  so  the  tale  runs.  But 
the  cry  is  all  a  falsehood ;  for  no  statesman  ever  could  be  unjustly 
put  to  death  by  the  city  of  which  he  is  the  head.1 

1  By  the  same  argument  Socrates  could  have  been  proved  useless  for  his  inability 
to  reform  Alcibiades  and  Critias,  and  these  pupils  might  have  justly  punished  him  for 
his  failure. 


456  THE  STATE 


136.  A  Reason  for  Caution  in  the  Bestowal  of  Citizenship 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  v.  3.  11 -13,  1303  a) 

The  illiberality  of  Greek  states  in  the  admission  of  aliens  to  the  citizenship 
has  generally  been  set  down  as  strangely  shortsighted.  In  the  subjoined  excerpt 
Aristotle  gives  a  reason  for  such  caution.  From  it  we  learn  that  the  question 
involves  a  consideration,  not  only  of  the  character  of  the  state  but  also  of  the 
compatibility  of  the  persons  to  be  admitted.  Generally  the  latter  were  so 
difficult  of  social  and  political  assimilation  that  the  admission  of  any  large 
number  proved  disastrous  to  the  state.  In  early  Italy  conditions  were  differ- 
ent ;  and  in  modern  times  they  are  so  utterly  dissimilar  tfrat  it  is  impossible 
for  us  without  great  effort  to  appreciate  the  attitude  of  the  Greek  state. 

Another  cause  of  revolution  is  difference  of  races  which  do  not  at 
once  acquire  a  common  spirit ;  for  a  state  is  not  the  growth  of  a  day, 
neither  is  it  a  multitude  brought  together  by  accident.  Hence  the 
reception  of  strangers  in  colonies,  either  at  the  time  of  their  foun- 
dation or  afterward,  has  generally  produced  revolution ;  for  ex- 
ample, the  Achaeans  who  joined  the  Trcezenians  in  the  foundation 
of  Sybaris,  being  the  more  numerous,  afterward  expelled  them; 
hence  the  curse  fell  upon  Sybaris.  At  Thurii  the  Sybarites  quar- 
relled with  their  fellow-colonists  ;  thinking  that  the  land  belonged  to 
them,  they  wanted  too  much  of  it,  and  were  driven  out.  At  By- 
zantium the  new  colonists  were  detected  in  a  conspiracy,  and  were 
expelled  by  force  of  arms ;  the  people  of  Antissa,  who  had  received 
the  Chian  exiles,  fought  with  them  and  drove  them  out ;  and  the 
Zancleans,  after  having  received  the  Samians,  were  driven  by  them 
out  of  their  own  city.  The  citizens  of  Apollonia  on  the  Euxine, 
after  the  introduction  of  a  fresh  body  of  colonists,  had  a  revolution  ; 
the  Syracusans,  after  the  expulsion  of  their  tyrants,  having  ad- 
mitted strangers  and  mercenaries  to  the  rights  of  citizenship,  quar- 
relled and  came  to  blows  ;  the  people  of  Amphipolis,  having  received 
Chalcidian  colonists,  were  nearly  all  expelled  by  them. 

137.  The  Kind  of  Equality  underlying  Oligarchy  and 
Democracy  Respectively 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  v.  1.  12-15,  1301  b  sq.) 

In  the  period  now  under  consideration  kingship  had  long  disappeared  from 
the  progressive  states  of  Hellas.  Tyranny  was  less  common  than  it  had  been 
in  the  seventh  and  sixth  centuries,  and  was  always  temporary.    Few  traces  of 


TWO  KINDS  OF  EQUALITY 


457 


aristocracy  remained.  The  prevailing  forms  of  government,  accordingly,  were 
oligarchy  and  democracy.  These  are  the  two  forms  of  government  therefore 
which  require  illustration  in  the  present  chapter. 

Each  of  these  two  forms  of  government  is  based  on  a  peculiar  idea  of 
equality. 

Equality  is  of  two  kinds,  numerical  and  proportional.  By  the 
first  I  mean  sameness  or  equality  in  number  or  size ;  by  the  second, 
equality  of  ratios.  For  example,  the  excess  of  three  over  two  is 
equal  to  the  excess  of  two  over  one ;  whereas  four  exceeds  two  in 
the  same  ratio  in  which  two  exceeds  one ;  for  two  is  the  same  part 
of  four  that  one  is  of  two,  namely,  the  half.  As  I  was  saying  before, 
men  agree  about  justice  in  the  abstract,  but  they  differ  about  pro- 
portion : 1  some  think  that  if  they  are  equal  in  any  respect  they  are 
equal  absolutely ;  others  that  if  they  are  unequal  in  any  respect, 
they  are  unequal  in  all.  Hence  there  are  two  principal  forms  of 
government,  democracy  and  oligarchy ; 2  for  good  birth  and  virtue 
are  rare,  but  wealth  and  numbers  are  more  common.  In  what  city 
shall  we  find  a  hundred  persons  of  good  birth  and  of  virtue  ? 3 
whereas  the  poor  everywhere  abound.  That  a  state  should  be  or- 
dered simply  and  wholly  according  to  either  kind  of  equality  is  not 
a  good  thing ;  the  proof  is  that  such  forms  of  government  never 
last.  They  are  originally  based  on  a  mistake,  and  as  they  begin 
badly,  cannot  fail  to  end  badly.  The  inference  is  that  both  kinds 
of  equality  should  be  employed,  numerical  in  some  cases  and  pro- 
portionate in  others. 

1  Cf.  Politics,  v.  i.  2. 

2  On  the  "mixed  constitution"  Aristotle  writes  as  follows  (ii.  6.  17  sq.  1265  b  sq.)  : 
"  Some  say  that  the  best  constitution  is  a  combination  of  all  existing  forms,  and  they 
praise  the  Lacedaemonian  because  it  is  made  up  of  oligarchy,  monarchy,  and  democ- 
racy —  the  king  forming  the  monarchy,  the  council  of  elders  the  oligarchy,  while  the 
democratic  element  is  represented  by  the  ephors;  for  the  ephors  are  selected  by  the 
people.  .  .  .  They  are  near  the  truth  who  combine  many  forms;  for  the  state  is 
better  which  is  made  up  of  more  numerous  elements."  Thus  the  ideal  of  a  mixed  con- 
stitution, existing  before  Aristotle,  was  accepted  by  him. 

3  The  Greek  word  for  virtue  (dper^),  as  Aristotle  uses  it,  is  much  broader  than 
the  idea  of  moral  excellence ;  it  signifies  rather  capacity  or  ability  combined  with  moral 
excellence.  It  was  in  this  sense  only  that  there  could  have  been  so  few  as  a  hundred 
men  of  virtue  in  a  large  community. 


458 


THE  STATE 


138.  The  Principal  Forms  of  Government  and  their 
Perversions 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  iii.  7.  1-5,  1279  a  sq.) 

We  have  next  to  consider  how  many  forms  of  government  there 
are,  and  what  they  are ;  and  in  the  first  place  what  are  the  true 
forms,  for  when  they  are  determined,  the  perversions  of  them  will 
at  once  be  apparent.  The  words  '  constitution '  and  '  form  of  gov- 
ernment '  have  the  same  meaning ; 1  and  the  government,  which  is 
the  supreme  authority  in  states,  must  be  in  the  hands  of  one,  or 
of  the  few  or  of  many.  The  true  forms  of  government  therefore 
are  those  in  which  the  one  or  the  few  or  the  many  govern  with  a 
view  to  the  common  interest ;  but  governments  which  rule  with  a 
view  to  the  private  interest,  whether  of  the  one  or  of  the  few  or  of 
the  many,  are  perversions.2  For  citizens,  if  they  are  truly  citizens, 
ought  to  participate  in  the  advantages  of  the  state.  Of  forms  of 
government  in  which  one  rules  we  call  that  which  regards  the  com- 
mon interest  kingship  or  royalty ;  that  in  which  more  than  one, 
but  not  many,  rule,  aristocracy ;  and  it  is  so  called,  either  because 
the  rulers  are  the  best  men,  or  because  they  have  at  heart  the  best 
interests  of  the  state  and  of  the  citizens.  When  however  the  citi- 
zens at  large  administer  the  state  for  the  common  interest,  the  gov- 
ernment is  called  by  the  generic  name  politeia  (constitution,  polity) . 
There  is  a  reason  for  this  use  of  language.  One  man  or  a  few  may 
excel  in  virtue ;  but  of  virtue  there  are  many  kinds ;  and  as  the 
number  increases  it  becomes  more  difficult  for  them  to  attain  per- 
fection in  every  kind,  though  they  may  in  military  virtue,  for  this 
quality  is  found  in  the  masses.  Hence  in  a  politeia  the  fighting 
men  have  the  supreme  power,  and  those  who  possess  arms  are  the 
citizens.3 

1  The  words  here  used  are  iroXirela  and  iroXirev/jLa  respectively. 

2  Such  ethical  distinctions  are  no  longer  held ;  the  truth  is  now  recognized  that  no 
man  or  political  party,  when  unrestrained  by  constitutional  checks  and  by  the  force 
of  public  opinion,  can  be  trusted  to  conduct  the  government  in  the  common  interest. 

3  Here  is  implied  the  theory  that  originally  there  were  few  men  of  virtue  capacity 
in  a  state,  and  that  as  the  number  increased,  the  government  expanded  to  an  aristoc- 
racy and  then  to  a  politeia.  With  the  latter  constitutional  change  the  idea  of  civic 
virtue  narrowed  to  military  capacity.  In  Aristotle's  opinion  the  politeia  was  a  form  of 
government  in  which  those  qualified  for  heavy-infantry  service  enjoyed  the  franchise,  as 
in  Athens  before  Solon,  and  again  for  a  brief  period  after  the  fall  of  the  Four  Hundred. 


OLIGARCHY  AND  DEMOCRACY 


459 


Of  the  forms  mentioned  above,  the  perversions  are  as  follows : 
of  royalty,  tyranny  ;  of  aristocracy,  oligarchy  ;  of  politeia,  democ- 
racy. For  tyranny  is  a  kind  of  monarchy  which  has  in  view  the 
interest  of  the  monarch  only ;  oligarchy  has  in  view  the  interest 
of  the  wealthy  ;  democracy,  of  the  needy  ;  none  of  them  the  common 
good  of  all. 

139.  Prevalence  of  Oligarchy  and  Democracy 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  iv.  11.  16-19,  1296  a  sq.) 

Before  coming  to  the  passage  given  below  Aristotle  calls  attention  to  the 
middle  class  —  the  people  of  moderate  wealth  —  as  the  chief  element  of  stabil- 
ity in  a  state. 

These  considerations  will  help  us  understand  why  most  gov- 
ernments are  either  democratical  or  oligarchical.  The  reason  is 
that  the  middle  class  is  seldom  numerous  in  them,  and  whichever 
party,  whether  the  rich  or  the  common  people,  transgresses  the 
mean  and  predominates,  draws  the  government  to  itself,  and  thus 
arises  either  oligarchy  or  democracy.  There  is  another  reason  — 
the  poor  and  the  rich  quarrel  with  one  another,  and  whichever  side 
gets  the  better,  instead  of  establishing  a  just  or  popular  govern- 
ment, regards  political  supremacy  as  the  prize  of  victory,  and  the 
one  party  sets  up  a  democracy  and  the  other  an  oligarchy.  Both 
the  parties  which  had  the  supremacy  in  Hellas  looked  only  to  the 
interest  of  their  own  form  of  government,  and  established  in  states, 
the  one  democracies,  the  other  oligarchies ;  they  thought  of  their 
own  advantage,  of  the  public  not  at  all.1  ...  It  has  now  become  a 
habit  among  the  citizens  of  states,  not  even  to  care  about  equality ; 
all  men  are  seeking  for  dominion,  or  if  conquered,  are  willing  to 
submit. 

140.  Laudable  and  Blameworthy  Forms  of  Democracy 
and  of  Oligarchy 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  v.  9.  7-15,  1309  a  sq.) 

Those  who  think  that  all  virtue  is  to  be  found  in  their  own  party 
principles  push  matters  to  extremes ;  they  do  not  consider  that  dis- 
proportion destroys  a  state.    A  nose  which  varies  from  the  ideal  of 

1  Here  he  is  thinking  of  Athens  and  Lacedaemon  respectively  in  the  preceding  cen- 
tury. 


460 


THE  STATE 


straightness  to  a  hook  or  a  snub  may  still  be  of  very  good  shape  and 
agreeable  to  the  eye ;  but  if  the  excess  be  very  great,  all  symmetry 
is  lost,  and  the  nose  at  last  ceases  to  be  a  nose  at  all  on  account  of 
some  excess  in  one  direction  or  defect  in  the  other ;  and  this  is  true 
of  every  other  part  of  the  human  body.  The  same  law  of  propor- 
tion equally  holds  in  states.  Oligarchy  or  democracy,  although  a 
departure  from  the  most  perfect  form,  may  be  at  the  same  time  a 
good  enough  government ;  but  if  any  one  attempts  to  push  the 
principles  of  either  to  an  extreme,  he  will  begin  by  spoiling  the 
government  and  end  by  having  none  at  all.1  The  legislator  and  the 
statesman  ought  therefore  to  know  what  democratical  measures 
save  and  what  destroy  a  democracy,  and  what  oligarchical  measures 
save  or  destroy  an  oligarchy.  For  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  can 
exist  or  continue  to  exist  unless  both  rich  and  poor  are  included  in  it. 
If  equality  of  property  is  introduced,  the  state  must  of  necessity 
take  another  form ;  for  when  by  laws  carried  to  excess  one  or  other 
element  in  the  state  is  ruined,  the  constitution  is  ruined.2 

There  is  an  error  common  both  to  oligarchies  and  to  democracies  : 
in  the  latter  the  demagogues,3  when  the  multitude  are  above  the 
law,  are  always  cutting  the  city  in  two  by  quarrels  with  the  rich, 
whereas  they  should  always  profess  to  be  maintaining  their  cause ; 
just  as  in  oligarchies,  the  oligarchs  should  profess  to  maintain  the 
cause  of  the  people,  and  should  take  oaths  the  opposite  of  those 
which  they  now  take.  For  there  are  cities  in  which  they  swear : 
"I  will  be  an  enemy  to  the  people,  and  will  devise  all  the  harm 
against  them  which  I  can;"  but  they  ought  to  exhibit  and  to  en- 
tertain the  very  opposite  feeling ;  in  the  form  of  their  oath  there 
should  be  an  express  declaration:  "I  will  do  no  wrong  to  the 
people." 

But  of  all  the  things  which  I  have  mentioned,  that  which  most 

1  In  brief,  Aristotle  totally  condemns  neither  oligarchy  nor  democracy,  but  only 
the  extreme  forms  of  each ;  both  forms  of  government  are  blameworthy  in  the  degree 
that  they  approach  the  extreme. 

2  Throughout  the  Politics,  Aristotle  constantly  calls  attention  to  the  necessity  of 
governmental  checks  and  balances,  not  only  in  the  organization  of  the  constitution, 
but  also  in  the  proportion  of  the  social  classes. 

3  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  Aristotle  nowhere  blames  the  masses  for  the  evils  of 
democracy,  but  fastens  the  fault  upon  the  demagogues.  This  attitude  of  mind,  here 
suggested,  is  illustrated  in  his  treatment  of  political  education  a  few  lines  below,  and 
still  further  in  selection  no.  143. 


POLITICAL  EDUCATION 


461 


contributes  to  the  permanence  of  constitutions  is  the  adaptation  of 
education  to  the  form  of  government,  and  yet  in  our  own  day  this 
principle  is  neglected.  The  best  laws,  though  sanctioned  by  every 
citizen  of  the  state,  will  be  of  no  avail  unless  the  young  are  trained 
by  habit  and  education  in  the  spirit  of  the  constitution  :  if  the  laws 
are  democratical,  democratically,  or  oligarchically  if  the  laws  are 
oligarchical.  For  there  may  be  a  want  of  self -discipline  in  states  as 
well  as  in  individuals.  Now  to  have  been  educated  in  the  spirit  of 
the  constitution,  is  not  to  perform  the  actions  in  which  oligarchs 
or  democrats  delight,  but  those  by  which  the  existence  of  a  democ- 
racy or  an  oligarchy  is  made  possible.  Whereas  among  ourselves 
the  sons  of  the  ruling  class  in  an  oligarchy  live  in  luxury,  but  the 
sons  of  the  poor  are  hardened  by  exercise  and  toil,  and  hence  they 
are  both  more  inclined  and  better  able  to  make  a  revolution.  In 
democracies  of  the  more  extreme  type  also  there  has  arisen  a  false 
idea  of  freedom  which  is  contradictory  to  the  true  interests  of  the 
state.  For  two  principles  are  characteristic  of  democracy,  the 
government  of  the  majority  and  freedom.  Men  think  that  what 
is  just  is  equal ;  and  that  equality  is  the  supremacy  of  the  popular 
will ;  and  that  freedom  and  equality  mean  the  doing  what  a  man 
likes.  In  such  democracies  every  one  lives  as  he  pleases,  or  in  the 
words  of  Euripides,  'according  to  his  fancy.'  But  this  is  all  wrong ; 
men  should  not  think  it  slavery  to  live  according  to  the  rule  of  the 
constitution ;  for  it  is  their  salvation. 

141.  Growth  of  Democracy 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  iii.  15.  12,  1286  b) 

Aristotle  understands  very  clearly  that  there  was  a  constitutional  develop- 
ment of  Hellas  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  fourth  century.  It  was  due  (1)  to 
the  increase  of  wealth  and  its  distribution  among  an  increasing  number  of 
citizens,  (2)  to  the  spread  of  virtue  (intelligence,  capacity)  among  the  citizens, 
(3)  to  the  deterioration  of  the  parties  successively  in  power.  It  was  thus  that 
kingship  developed  into  an  aristocracy.  From  that  stage  he  traces  the  growth 
of  democracy  in  the  following  passage. 

The  ruling  class  (aristocracy)  soon  deteriorated  and  enriched 
themselves  out  of  the  public  treasury.  Riches  became  the  path  to 
honor,  and  thus  oligarchies  grew  up.  These  governments  passed 
into  tyrannies  and  tyrannies  into  democracies ;  for  the  love  of  gain 


462 


THE  STATE 


in  the  ruling  classes  was  always  tending  to  diminish  their  number, 
and  so  to  strengthen  the  masses,  who  in  the  end  set  upon  their 
masters  and  established  democracies.  Since  cities  have  increased 
in  size,  no  other  form  of  government  appears  to  be  any  longer  pos- 
sible. 

(Ibid.  iv.  6.  5  sq.,  1293  a) 

In  our  own  day,  when  cities  have  far  outgrown  their  original 
size,  and  their  revenues  have  increased,  all  the  citizens  have  a  share 
in  the  government  through  the  great  preponderance  of  their  num- 
bers ;  and  they  all,  including  the  poor  who  receive  pay  and  there- 
fore have  leisure  to  exercise  their  rights,  share  in  the  administration. 
In  fact  when  they  are  paid,  the  common  people  have  the  most 
leisure,  for  they  are  not  hindered  by  the  care  of  their  property, 
which  often  fetters  the  rich,  who  are  thereby  prevented  from  taking 
part  in  the  assembly  or  in  the  courts ; 1  hence  the  state  is  governed 
by  the  poor,  who  are  a  majority,  and  not  by  the  laws. 

142.  Agricultural  and  Pastoral  Democracies 
(Aristotle,  Politics,  vi.  4.  1-15,  13 18  b  sq.) 

All  democracies  are  not  to  be  treated  alike,  to  be  equally  praised  or  con- 
demned. There  are  among  the  various  forms  many  degrees  of  excellence  or  the 
reverse.  The  more  nearly  a  democracy  approaches  the  politeia,  the  better  it  is. 
In  iv.  4.  22-6,  1292  b  sq.  Aristotle  enumerates  five  kinds  of  democracy.  Of  four 
kinds  he  approves,  as  they  are  all  under  the  laws ;  but  the  fifth  form  is  that  in 
which  not  the  laws  but  the  multitude  rule,  in  which  the  law  is  superseded  by 
decrees.  This  is  a  condition  of  affairs  brought  about  by  demagogues,  and  of 
this  form  only  he  disapproves. 

Again  (iv.  14.  3-7,  1298  a)  he  classifies  democracy  on  the  basis  of  the  extent 
to  which  the  people  participate  in  the  deliberative  function.  Thus  arise  four 
forms  of  democracy,  the  last  being  that  in  which  all  the  people  are  consulted 
on  all  subjects.  This  form  he  denounces.  Furthermore  (iv.  6.  1-6,  1292  b  sq.) 
he  enumerates  four  classes  of  democracy  based  on  the  matter  of  revenues. 

1  The  author  here  refers  to  a  bourgeoisie,  largely  composed  of  men  from  the  poorer 
classes,  including  even  some  freedmen,  who  had  enriched  themselves  through  fortunate 
business  operations,  and  who  cared  more  for  their  wealth,  and  for  the  comforts  it 
brought,  than  for  the  state.  In  like  manner  there  was  a  considerable  class,  including 
even  eupatrids,  addicted  to  gambling  and  sensual  pleasures.  There  had  grown  up, 
too,  a  smaller  but  more  influential  class  wholly  devoted  to  intellectual  pleasures,  in- 
cluding philosophers  and  other  literary  men.  All  these  people  alike,  for  their  several 
individualistic  reasons,  held  aloof  from  politics,  and  thus  contributed  to  the  growth  of 
extreme  democracy,  and  ultimately  to  the  decay  of  the  city-state. 


FARMERS  AND  SHEPHERDS 


463 


Under  the  .first  three  forms,  as  there  is  a  lack  of  revenue,  the  people  have  to 
work  for  a  living;  and  the  offices,  being  unpaid,  are  filled  by  the  well-to-do 
only.  The  constitution  therefore,  though  democratic  in  name,  is  in  fact  a 
government  by  the  competent.  These  three  forms  are  earlier  stages  of  growth, 
developing  into  the  form  described  in  no.  141.  The  most  approved  forms  of 
democracy  are  described  in  the  selection  here  given. 

Of  the  four  forms  of  democracy,  as  was  said  in  the  previous  dis- 
cussion, the  best  is  that  which  comes  first  in  order ;  it  is  also  the 
oldest  of  them  all.1  I  am  speaking  of  them  according  to  the  natural 
classification  of  their  inhabitants.  For  the  best  material  of  democ- 
racy is  an  agricultural  population.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  form- 
ing a  democracy  where  the  mass  of  the  people  live  by  agriculture 
or  by  pasturing  cattle.  Being  poor,  they  have  no  leisure,  and  there- 
fore do  not  often  attend  the  assembly ;  and  not  having  the  nec- 
essaries of  life,  they  are  always  at  work,  and  do  not  covet  the  prop- 
erty of  others.  In  fact  they  find  their  employment  pleasanter 
than  the  cares  of  government  or  office  where  no  great  gains  can  be 
made  from  them,  for  the  many  are  more  desirous  of  gain  than  of 
honor.  A  proof  is  that  even  the  ancient  tyrannies  were  patiently 
endured  by  them,  as  they  still  endure  oligarchies,  if  they  are  al- 
lowed to  work  and  are  not  deprived  of  their  property;  for  some  of 
them  quickly  grow  rich  and  the  others  are  well  enough  off.  More- 
over they  have  the  power  of  electing  the  magistrates  and  of  calling 
them  to  account ;  their  ambition,  if  they  have  any,  is  thus  satisfied. 
In  some  democracies,  although  they  do  not  all  share  in  the  appoint- 
ment to  offices,  except  through  representatives  elected  in  turn  out 
of  the  whole  people,  as  at  Mantineia,  yet  if  they  have  the  power  of 
deliberating,  the  many  are  contented.2  Even  this  form  of  govern- 
ment may  be  regarded  as  a  democracy,  and  was  such  at  Mantineia. 
Hence  it  is  both  expedient  and  customary  in  such  a  democracy  that 
all  should  elect  to  offices,  and  conduct  scrutinies,3  and  sit  in  the  law- 
courts,  but  that  the  great  offices  should  be  filled  by  election  and 
from  persons  having  a  qualification :  the  greater  requiring  a  greater 

1  This  principle  of  age  holds  for  industrial  states  like  Athens.  There  were,  how- 
ever, wide  agricultural  and  pastoral  areas,  including  Arcadia,  Achaea,  i^Etolia,  Acar- 
nania,  Thessaly,  etc.,  in  which,  as  late  as  the  time  of  Aristotle,  such  a  form  of  democ- 
racy either  existed  or  could  be  formed. 

2  This  passage  is  a  tribute  to  the  moderation  of  the  masses. 

3  EidOveiv,  to  call  a  magistrate  to  account  after  the  expiration  of  his  office. 


464 


THE  STATE 


qualification,  or  if  there  be  no  offices  for  which  a  qualification  is 
required,  then  those  who  are  marked  out  by  special  ability  should 
be  appointed.  Under  such  a  form  of  government  the  citizens  are 
sure  to  be  ruled  well ;  for  the  offices  will  always  be  held  by  the  best 
persons ;  the  people  are  willing  enough  to  elect  them  and  are  not 
jealous  of  the  good.  The  good  and  the  notables  will  then  be  satis- 
fied, for  they  will  not  be  governed  by  men  who  are  their  inferiors ; 
and  the  persons  elected  will  rule  justly,  because  others  will  call  them 
to  account.  Every  man  should  be  responsible  to  others,  nor  should 
any  one  be  allowed  to  do  just  as  he  pleases ;  for  where  absolute 
freedom  is  permitted  there  is  nothing  to  restrain  the  evil  which 
is  inherent  in  every  man.  The  principle  of  responsibility,  however, 
secures  that  which  is  the  greatest  good  in  states ;  the  right  persons 
rule  and  are  prevented  from  doing  wrong,  and  the  people  have  their 
due.  It  is  evident  that  this  is  the  best  kind  of  democracy,  and 
why  ?  because  the  people  are  of  a  certain  quality.  The  ancient  laws 
of  many  states  which  aimed  at  making  the  people  husbandmen  were 
excellent.  They  provided  either  that  no  one  should  possess  more 
than  a  certain  amount  of  land,  or  that  if  he  did,  the  land  should  not 
be  within  a  certain  distance  from  the  town  or  the  acropolis.1  For- 
merly in  many  states  there  was  a  law  forbidding  any  one  to  sell  his 
original  allotment  of  land.  There  is  a  similar  law  attributed  to 
Oxylus,  which  is  to  the  effect  that  there  should  be  a  certain  portion 
of  every  man's  property  on  which  he  could  not  borrow  money.  A 
useful  correction  to  the  evil  of  which  I  am  speaking  would  be  the 
law  of  the  Aphytaeans,2  who  although  they  are  numerous  and  do  not 
possess  much  land,  are  all  husbandmen.  For  their  properties  are 
reckoned  in  the  census  not  entire,  but  only  in  such  small  portions 
that  even  the  poor  may  have  more  than  the  amount  required. 

Next  best  to  an  agricultural  population,  and  in  many  respects 
similar,  are  a  pastoral  people,  who  live  by  their  flocks.  They  are 
the  best  trained  for  war,  robust  in  body  and  able  to  camp  out.  The 
people  of  whom  other  democracies  consist  are  far  inferior  to  them, 
for  their  life  is  inferior  ;  there  is  no  room  for  moral  excellence  in  any 

1  The  nearer  a  man  lived  to  the  city,  the  greater  his  opportunity  to  attend  the  as- 
sembly and  other  political  functions.  If  therefore  a  few  should  be  permitted  to  monop- 
olize the  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city,  they  would  to  that  extent  be  depriving 
the  masses  of  their  opportunity  to  participate  in  civic  rights. 

2  People  of  Aphytis,  a  Hellenic  city  of  Chalcidice. 


THE  TOWN  POPULATION 


465 


of  their  employments,  whether  they  are  mechanics  or  traders  or 
laborers.  Besides,  people  of  the  latter  classes  can  readily  come  to 
the  assembly,  because  they  are  continually  moving  about  in  the 
city  and  in  the  market  place ;  whereas  husbandmen  are  scattered 
over  the  country  and  do  not  meet  or  equally  feel  the  want  of  as- 
sembling together.  Where  the  territory  extends  to  a  distance  from 
the  city,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  making  an  excellent  democracy  or 
politeia ;  for  the  people  are  compelled  to  live  in  the  country ;  and 
even  if  there  is  a  town  population,  the  assembly  ought  not  to  meet 
when  the  country  people  cannot  come.  We  have  thus  explained 
how  the  first  and  best  form  of  democracy  should  be  constituted ; 
it  is  clear  that  the  other  or  inferior  forms  will  deviate  in  regular 
order,  and  that  the  population  which  is  excluded  will  at  each  stage 
be  of  a  lower  kind.1 

143.  Extreme  Democracy 

(Aristotle,  Politics,  vi.  4.  15  to  5.  n,  1319  b-1320  b) 

In  the  following  excerpt  Aristotle  gives  the  characteristics  of  extreme  democ- 
racy and  suggests  remedies  for  its  evils.  Noteworthy  is  his  optimism  ;  though 
the  constitutions  of  many  city-states  are  defective,  he  entertains  no  doubt  that 
they  may  be  made  good  by  the  application  of  reasonable  remedies. 

The  last  form  of  democracy,  that  in  which  all  share  alike,  is  one 
which  cannot  be  borne  by  all  states,  and  will  not  last  long,  unless 
well  regulated  by  laws  and  customs.  The  more  general  causes 
which  tend  to  destroy  this  or  other  kinds  of  government  have  now 
been  pretty  fully  considered.  In  order  to  constitute  such  a  democ- 
racy and  strengthen  the  people,  the  leaders  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  including  as  many  as  they  can,  and  making  citizens  not  only  of 
those  who  are  legitimate,  but  even  of  the  illegitimate,  and  of  those 
who  have  only  one  parent  a  citizen,  whether  father  or  mother ;  for 
nothing  of  this  sort  comes  amiss  to  such  a  democracy.2  This  is 
the  way  in  which  demagogues  proceed.  Whereas  the  right  thing 
would  be  to  make  no  more  additions  when  the  number  of  the  com- 

1  The  lower  the  form  of  democracy  the  poorer  will  be  the  quality  of  the  population 
excluded  from  the  franchise. 

2  Here  Aristotle  approves  of  the  narrow,  exclusive  policy  followed  by  Athens  and 
many  other  Hellenic  states  in  relation  to  the  bestowal  of  the  citizenship  upon  aliens  or 
semi-aliens.  The  reason  given  in  this  case  is  the  danger  of  upsetting  the  social  balance. 
In  the  excerpt  no.  136  he  gives  another  reason  for  preferring  the  exclusive  policy. 


466 


THE  STATE 


monalty  exceeds  that  of  the  notables  or  of  the  middle  class,  —  beyond 
this  not  to  go.  When  in  excess  of  this  point  the  state  becomes 
disorderly,  and  the  notables  become  excited  and  impatient  of  the 
democracy,  as  in  the  insurrection  at  Cyrene  ;  for  no  notice  is  taken 
of  a  little  evil,  but  when  it  increases,  it  strikes  the  eye.  Measures 
like  those  which  Cleisthenes  passed  when  he  wanted  to  increase 
the  power  of  the  democracy  at  Athens,  or  such  as  were  taken  by  the 
founders  of  popular  government  at  Cyrene,  are  useful  in  the  extreme 
form  of  democracy.  Fresh  tribes  and  brotherhoods  should  be  es- 
tablished ; 1  the  private  rites  of  families  should  be  restricted  and 
converted  into  public  ones ;  in  short,  every  contrivance  should  be 
adopted  which  will  mingle  the  citizens  with  one  another  and  get 
rid  of  old  connections.  Again,  the  measures  which  are  taken  by 
tyrants  appear  all  of  them  to  be  democratic ;  such,  for  instance,  as 
the  licence  permitted  to  slaves  (which  may  be  to  a  certain  extent 
advantageous)  and  also  that  of  women  and  children,  and  the  allow- 
ing everybody  to  live  as  he  likes.  Such  a  government  will  have 
many  supporters,  for  most  persons  would  rather  live  in  a  disorderly 
than  in  a  sober  manner. 

The  mere  establishment  of  a  democracy  is  not  the  only  or  prin- 
cipal business  of  the  legislator,  or  of  those  who  wish  to  create  such 
a  state,  for  any  state,  however  badly  constituted,  may  last  one, 
two,  or  three  days ;  a  far  greater  difficulty  is  the  preservation  of  it. 
The  legislator  should  therefore  endeavor  to  have  a  firm  foundation 
according  to  the  principles  already  laid  down  concerning  the  pres- 
ervation and  destruction  of  states ;  he  should  guard  against  the 
destructive  elements,  and  should  make  laws,  whether  written  or 
unwritten,  which  will  contain  all  the  preservatives  of  states.  He 
must  not  think  the  truly  democratical  or  oligarchical  measure  to 
be  that  which  will  give  the  greatest  amount  of  democracy  or  oli- 
1  garchy,  but  that  which  will  make  them  last  longest.  The  dema- 
gogues of  our  own  day  often  get  property  confiscated  in  the  law- 
courts  in  order  to  please  the  people.2    But  those  who  have  the  wel- 

1  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  in  this  passage  Aristotle  wishes  to  affirm  that  new 
phratries,  as  well  as  new  tribes,  were  instituted  by  Cleisthenes ;  cf.  Aristotle,  Const.  Ath. 
21,  no.  30  supra.  It  seems  most  likely  that  he  left  the  old  citizens  their  original  phra- 
tries and  created  new  phratries  for  the  new  citizens. 

2  The  important  question  is  whether  in  a  democracy,  like  that  of  Athens,  a  jury 
ever  condemned  an  innocent  man  in  order  to  confiscate  his  property.    No  individual 


COURTS  AND  ASSEMBLIES 


467 


fare  of  the  state  at  heart  should  counteract  them,  and  make  a  law 
that  the  property  of  the  condemned  which  goes  into  the  treasury 
should  not  be  public  but  sacred.  Thus  offenders  will  be  as  much 
afraid,  for  they  will  be  punished  all  the  same,  and  the  people,  having 
nothing  to  gain,  will  not  be  so  ready  to  condemn  the  accused.  Care 
should  also  be  taken  that  state  trials  are  as  few  as  possible,  and 
heavy  penalties  should  be  inflicted  on  those  who  bring  groundless 
accusations ;  for  it  is  the  practice  to  indict,  not  members  of  the 
popular  party,  but  the  notables,  although  the  citizens  ought  to  be 
all  equally  attached  to  the  state,  or  at  any  rate  should  not  regard 
their  rulers  as  enemies. 

Now  since  in  the  last  and  worst  form  of  democracy  the  citizens 
are  very  numerous,  and  can  hardly  be  made  to  assemble  unless  they 
are  paid,  and  to  pay  them  when  there  are  no  revenues  presses 
hardly  upon  the  notables  (for  the  money  must  be  obtained  by  a 
property-tax  and  confiscations  and  corrupt  practices  of  the  courts, 
things  which  have  before  now  overthrown  many  democracies)  ; 
where,  I  say,  there  are  no  revenues,  the  government  should  hold  few 
assemblies,  and  the  law-courts  should  consist  of  many  persons,  but 
sit  for  a  few  days  only.  This  system  has  two  advantages :  first, 
the  rich  do  not  bear  the  expense,  even  although  they  are  unpaid 
themselves  when  the  poor  are  paid  ;  and  secondly,  causes  are  better 
tried,  for  wealthy  persons,  although  they  do  not  like  to  be  long 
absent  from  their  own  affairs,  do  not  mind  going  for  a  few  days  to 
the  law-courts.  Where  there  are  revenues  the  demagogues  should 
not  be  allowed  after  their  manner  to  distribute  the  surplus ;  the 
poor  are  always  receiving  and  always  wanting  more  and  more,  for 
such  help  is  like  water  poured  into  a  leaky  cask.  Yet  the  true 
friend  of  the  people  should  see  that  they  be  not  too  poor,  for  extreme 
poverty  lowers  the  character  of  the  democracy ;  measures  should 
also  be  taken  which  will  give  them  lasting  prosperity ;  and  as  this 
is  equally  the  interest  of  all  classes,  the  proceeds  of  the  public  rev- 
enues should  be  accumulated  and  distributed  among  them,  if  pos- 

case  of  the  kind  has  ever  been  mentioned.  Such  injustice  may  occasionally  have  been 
inflicted.  This  however  is  no  ground  for  the  total  condemnation  of  Greek  democracy. 
In  some  modern  courts  the  wealthy  have  a  great  advantage  over  the  poor;  in  others 
the  soldiers  outrage  the  civilians.  If  we  are  to  judge  Hellenic  institutions  by  our 
ideals,  it  is  only  fair  to  ascertain  also  how  far  modern  institutions  fall  short  of  the  same 
standards. 


468 


THE  STATE 


sible,  in  such  quantities  as  may  enable  them  to  purchase  a  little 
farm,  or,  at  any  rate,  make  a  beginning  in  trade  and  husbandry. 
And  if  this  benevolence  cannot  be  extended  to  all,  money  should  be 
distributed  in  turn  according  to  tribes  or  other  divisions,  and  in 
the  meantime  the  rich  should  pay  the  fee  for  the  attendance  of 
the  poor  at  the  necessary  assemblies ;  and  should  in  return  be 
excused  from  useless  public  services.  By  administering  the  state 
in  this  spirit  the  Carthaginians  retain  the  affections  of  the  people ; 
their  policy  is  from  time  to  time  to  send  some  of  them  into  their 
dependent  towns,  where  they  grow  rich.  It  is  also  worthy  of  a 
generous  and  sensible  nobility  to  divide  the  poor  amongst  them,  and 
give  them  the  means  of  going  to  work.  The  example  of  the  people 
of  Tarentum  is  also  well-deserving  of  imitation,  for  by  sharing  the 
use  of  their  own  property  with  the  poor,  they  gain  their  good-will.1 
Moreover  they  divide  all  their  offices  into  two  classes,  one  half  of 
them  being  elected  by  vote,  the  other  by  lot;  the  latter,  that  the 
people  may  participate  in  them,  and  the  former,  that  the  state 
may  be  better  administered.  A  like  result  may  be  gained  by  divid- 
ing the  same  offices,  so  as  to  have  two  classes  of  magistrates,  one 
appointed  by  lot,  the  other  by  vote. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  The  State  and  Political  Tendencies.  —  For  the  'theory  of  the 
state,'  forms  of  government,  .and  the  like,  see  bibliography  under  Plato  and 
Aristotle,  ch.  i.  §  xi.  For  the  character  and  activities  of  the  various  states  of 
the  fourth  century,  see  the  pertinent  chapters  of  the  larger  histories  of  Greece, 
especially  those  of  Grote,  Holm,  and  Beloch.  The  organization  and  administra- 
tion of  states  are  treated  of  more  specifically  in  the  works  on  constitution  and 
antiquities.  Under  this  heading  see  Schomann,  Griechische  Altertiimer,  I. 
(4th  ed.  rev.  by  Lipsius) ;  Gilbert,  Constitutional  Antiquities  of  Sparta  and 
Athens;  Greenidge,  A.  H.  J.,  Handbook  of  Greek  Constitutional  History;  Thum- 
ser,  V.,  Griechische  Staatsalter turner  (Frieburg,  1892,  in  Hermann's  Lehrbuch 
der  griech.  Antiquitdten) ;  Swoboda,  H.,  Griechische  Staats altertiimer  (Tubingen, 
1913,  also  in  Hermann's  Lehrb.) ;  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  von,  and  Niese,  B., 
Staat  und  Gesellschaft  der  Griechen  und  Romer  (Teubner,  1910) ;  Francotte,  H., 
"La  polis  grecque,"  in  Stud.  z.  Gesch.  u.  Kult.  des  Alt.  I.  3-4  (1907) ;  Melanges 
du  droit  public  grec  (Liege,  1910),  a  collection  of  essays  on  various  aspects  of  the 
subject;  "Formation  des  villes,  des  etats,"  etc.,  in  Acad.  roy.  Bclg.  1901.  pp. 

1  It  is  noteworthy  that  Aristotle  approves  of  state  aid  to  the  needy,  but  insists  that 
it  must  be  so  granted  as  to  place  the  beneficiary  in  a  position  to  help  himself. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


469 


949-1012;  Kornemann,  E.,  "Stadtstaat  und  Flachenstaat  des  Altertums  in 
ihren  Wechselbeziehungen,"  in  N.  Jahrb.  XI  (1908).  233-53.  On  the  socialistic 
tendencies  of  government,  see  Pohlmann,  R.  von,  Geschichte  der  sozialen  Frage 
und  des  Sozialismus  in  der  antiken  Welt,  2  vols.  (Munich,  191 2),  an  excessively 
pessimistic  view,  counteracted  by  a  study  of  actual  conditons,  as  by  Sundwall, 
J.,  "Epigraphische  Beitrage  zur  sozialpolitischen  Geschichte  Athens  im  Zeit- 
alter  des  Demosthenes,"  in  Klio:  Beitrage  zur  alten  Geschichte.  Ergzb.  I.  4  (1906) ; 
and  Haussoullier,  B.,  La  vie  municipale  en  Atlique  (Paris:  Thorin,  1884). 
For  a  brief  review  of  the  tendencies  of  domestic  politics  during  this  century,  see 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xxvi.  See  further  Whibley,  L.,  Greek  Oligarchies 
(London:  Methuen,  1896);  Baron,  Ch.,  "La  candidature  politique  chez  les 
Atheniens,"  in  Rev.  des  et.  gr.  XIV  (1901).  372-99;  Calhoun,  G.  M.,  Athenian 
Clubs  in  Politics  and  Litigation  (University  of  Texas,.  1913),  an  especially  meri- 
torious work;  Hartel,  W.  A.,  Studien  iiber  attisches  Staatsrecht  und  Urkunden- 
wesen  (Vienna,  1878) ;  Swoboda,  H.,  Die  griech.  Volksbeschlusse  (Leipzig,  1890) ; 
Szanto,  E.,  Ausgewahlte  Abhandlungen  (Tubingen,  1906). 

II.  Economy  and  Finance.  —  Riezler,  K.,  Ueber  Finanzen  und  Mono- 
pole  im  alten  Griechenland  (Berlin,  1907) ;  Bockh,  A.,  Staatshaushaltung  der 
Athener,  2  vols.  (3d.  ed.  rev.  by  M.  Frankel,  Berlin:  Reimer,  1886)  ;  Guiraud, 
P.,  Etudes  economiques  sur  Vantiquite  (Paris:  Hachette,  1905);  La  propriete 
fonciere  en  Grece  jusqu'a  la  conquete  romaine  (Paris,  1893) ;  Main  d'ceuvre  dans 
Vancienne  Grece  (Paris,  1900) ;  Francotte,  H.,  Les  finances  des  cites  grecques 
(Paris:  Champion,  1909) ;  "L'administration  financiere  des  cites  grecques,"  in 
Acad.  roy.  Belg.  des  Sciences,  LXIII.  pt.  vi  (1903) ;  "Le  pain  a  bon  marche  et  le 
pain  gratuit  dans  les  cites  grecques,"  in  Melanges  Nicole  (Geneva,  1905),  135- 
57;  Uindustrie  dans  la  Grece  ancienne,  2  vols.  (Brussels,  1900),  a  standard 
work  ;  Buchsenschiitz,  B.,  Besitz  und  Erwerb  im  griech.  Altertume  (Halle,  1869)  5 
Die  Hauptstdtten  des  Gewerbfleisses  im  klassischen  Altertume  (Leipzig,  1869) ; 
Bliimner,  H.,  Technologie  und  Terminologie  der  Gewerbe  und  Kilnste  bei  Griechen 
und  Romern  (2d  ed.,  vol.  I  only  has  come  to  the  notice  of  the  editor,  Teubner, 
191 2) ;  Borguet,  E.,  U administration  financiere  du  sanctuaire  pythique  au  IV e 
siecle  avant  J.-C.  (Paris,  1905) ;  Head,  B.  V.,  Historia  numorum:  A  Manual  of 
Greek  Numismatics  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  191 1) ;  Hill,  G.  F.,  Handbook  of 
Greek  and  Roman  Coins  (Macmillan,  1899)  ;  Historical  Greek  Coins  (Mac- 
millan,  1906) ;  Gardner,  P.,  "  Gold  Coinage  of  Asia  before  Alexander  the  Great," 
in  Proceedings  of  the  British  Academy,  III  (1907-08).  107-38. 

Speck,  E.,  Handelsgeschichte  des  Altertums,  2  vols.  (Leipzig,  1900,  1901) 
vol.  I:  "Greece,"  drawn  from  secondary  sources;  Lindsay,  W.  S.,  History  of 
Merchant  Shipping  and  Ancient  Commerce,  4  vols.  (London:  1874-1876), 
vol.  I;  Geprgiades,  A.  S.,  Les  portes  de  la  Grece  dans  Vantiquite  qui  subsistent 
encore  aujourd'hui  (Athens,  1907),  exhaustive,  valuable;  Ardaillon,  E.,  Les 
mines  du  Laurion  dans  Vantiquite  (Paris,  1897) ;  Wallon,  H.  A.,  Histoire  dz 
Vesclavage  dans  Vantiquite,  3  vols.  (Paris,  1847),  useful  though  old;  Meyer,  E., 
Die  Sklaverei  im  Altertum  (Dresden,  1898) ;  Silverio,  O.,  Untersuchungen  zur 
Geschichte  der  attischen  Staatssklaven  (Munich,  1900),  Program;  Szanto,  E., 


47° 


THE  STATE 


Ausgewahlte  Abhandlungen  (Tubingen,  1906),  various  economic  studies;  Zie- 
barth,  E.,  Das  griechische  V ereinswesen  (Leipzig,  1896) ;  Poland,  F.,  Geschichte 
des  griech.  Vereinswesens  (Leipzig,  1909) ;  Beloch,  J.,  Die  Bevolkerung  der 
griech.  u.  rom.  Welt  (Leipzig,  1886);  "Die  Volkszahl  als  Faktor  und  Grad- 
messer  der  historischen  Entwickelung,"  in  Hist.  Zeitschr.  CXI  (1913).  321-37; 
Cavaignac,  E.,  "La  population  du  Peloponnese  aux  Ve  et  IVe  siecles,"  in 
KlioXLI  (1912).  261-80. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 
In  the  Period  404-337  B.C. 

144.  Regulations  of  the  Phratry  of  the  Demotionid^e 

(Ditt.  II.  no.  439 ;  Michel,  Recueil,  no.  961 ;  Dareste-Haussoullier-Reinach, 
Recueil,  II  (1904).  199-227 ;  Tarbell,  in  Am.  Journ.  Arch.  V  (1889). 
135-53;  cf.  Von  Schoeffer,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  V.  194-202; 
Von  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  Aristoteles  und  Athen,  II.  259-79.  Trans- 
lated by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription,  found  on  the  site  of  ancient  Deceleia,  a  deme  in  northern 
Attica,  contains  three  decrees  of  the  phratry  of  the  Demotionidae  for  regulating 
the  admission  of  new  members,  and  is  our  chief  source  of  information  concerning 
the  organization  and  functions  of  the  Athenian  phratry  for  the  fifth  and  fourth 
centuries.  In  the  early  days  of  the  state  the  phratries  had  been  subdivisions 
of  the  four  Ionic  tribes.  Their  members  were  bound  together  by  the  tie  of  kin- 
ship, as  the  name  phrater  ("brother")  implies.  Their  functions  were  politi- 
cal as  well  as  religious  and  social.  After  the  reforms  of  Cleisthenes  (508)  their 
political  importance  declined.  It  was  still  necessary,  however,  that  every 
Athenian  should  belong  to  a  phratry ;  hence  it  was  customary  to  admit  children 
to  the  phratry  of  their  father,  such  admission  being  held  as  evidence  of  their 
legitimacy  and  their  right  to  the  citizenship ;  in  other  words,  the  chief  remaining 
political  function  of  the  phratry  was  that  of  watching  over  the  citizenship  of 
children  —  of  boys  till  their  enrolment  in  the  deme  register,  and  of  girls  till 
their  marriage.  The  admission  took  place  at  the  distinctive  festival  of  the 
phratry,  termed  Apaturia.  In  the  most  probable  view  of  the  case,  girls  and 
boys  were  presented  at  the  Apaturia  next  following  their  birth,  and  on  this 
occasion  the  sacrifice  designated  as  meion  was  offered  by  the  presenter.  When 
the  boy  became  a  youth,  he  was  enrolled,  and  another  sacrifice,  the  koureion, 
was  offered.  The  girl  was  not  enrolled ;  but  at  marriage  her  husband  presented 
her  to  his  phrateres,  on  which  occasion  he  offered  the  gamelia,  most  probably  a 
sacrifice  in  which  his  phrateres  participated;  see  Topffer,  in  Pauly-Wissowa, 
Real-Encycl.  I.  2672-80. 

It  is  clear  that  in  organization  the  phratries  differed  widely  from  one  an- 
other, as  the  state  left  them  free  to  adopt  whatever  constitutions  they  desired. 
Often  the  nucleus  of  a  phratry  was  a  gens,  genos,  which  naturally  held  the 

47i 


472 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


religious  leadership.  In  the  Demotionidae  the  leadership  fell  to  the  "  house  of 
the  Deceleians,"  the  character  of  which  is  under  controversy.  The  phrateres 
were  divided  into  small  groups,  apparently  of  near  kin,  termed  thiasoi. 

The  general  rules  governing  the  phratry  were  doubtless  laid  down  in  its 
fundamental  law;  and  the  decrees  contained  in  this  inscription  have  to  do 
merely  with  a  revision  of  the  procedure  to  be  followed  particularly  in  admissions. 
Greater  strictness  was  the  aim ;  for  during  the  last  years  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war  many  unqualified  persons  had  been  put  upon  the  list  of  citizens,  and  the 
affairs  of  the  Demotionidae  must  have  been  extremely  deranged  through  the 
occupation  of  Deceleia,  their  local  center,  by  a  Peloponnesian  garrison,  413- 
404.  The  decree  of  Hierocles,  passed  396-5,  provided  accordingly  that  there 
should  be  a  formal  decision  (diadikasia)  in  the  case  of  those  who  had  been  ad- 
mitted irregularly ;  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  fraud,  that  thereafter 
a  year  should  elapse  between  the  presentation  of  the  candidate  and  the  voting 
upon  him.  In  case  of  an  appeal  by  the  presenter  of  the  child,  the  "  house  of  the 
Deceleians  "  was  to  support  the  case  of  the  phratry.  The  decree  of  Nicodemus, 
which  must  have  been  passed  soon  afterward,  has  the  appearance  of  ignoring  this 
body  and  of  substituting  a  preliminary  vote  by  the  members  of  the  presenter's 
thiasos,  to  be  followed  immediately  by  a  vote  of  the  whole  body  of  phrateres. 
The  third  decree,  that  of  Menexenus,  must  be  at  least  half  a  century  later,  as 
indicated  by  the  character  of  the  writing ;  and  so  far  as  it  is  preserved,  it  simply 
provides  for  the  posting  of  the  candidates'  names.  Though  some  matters  of 
detail  relating  to  the  phratry  are  still  obscure,  the  entire  inscription  clearly 
reveals  to  us  the  essential  character  of  the  institution  as  protector  of  the  purity  of 
citizenship. 

ZEUS  PHRATRIOS  1 

i.  The  priest  Theodorus,  son  of  Euphan tides,  had  the  stele  in- 
scribed and  erected. 

There  shall  be  given  to  the  priest,  as  perquisites  of  the  sacrifices  : 
from  the  melon1  a  thigh,  a  side,  and  an  ear  (of  the  victim),  and  three 
obols  in  money ;  from  the  koureion  sl  thigh,  a  side,  and  an  ear,  a  fiat 
cake  containing  a  chcenix 3  measure,  a  half  chous  of  wine,  and  a 
drachma  in  money. 

1  The  guardian  deity  of  the  association,  with  whom  Athena  Phratria  was  often 
joined.  This  superscription  implied  that  the  stele  and  its  document  were  sacred  to  the 
god. 

2  Meion,  the  "lesser"  sacrifice,  is  explained  in  the  introduction  above,  as  is  also  the 
koureion,11  youth's  "  sacrifice?  which  occurs  in  the  text  immediately  below;  cf.  Prott  and 
Ziehen,  Leg.  graze,  sac.  II.  1.  69  sq.  Others  maintain  that  children  were  presented 
but  once,  and  distinguish  the  meion  and  koureion  as  sacrifices  for  girls  and  boys  re- 
spectively; see  also  Schomann,  Griech.  Alt.  II.  574-6  with  notes. 

3  Chcenix,  about  a  quart ;  chous,  immediately  following,  about  three  pints. 


VOTING  ON  ADMISSIONS 


473 


The  following  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  phrateres,  when 
Phormion  was  archon  1  of  the  Athenians  and  Pantacles  of  Oeon  was 
phratriarch.2 

Hierocles  moved :  With  regard  to  all  those  who  have  not  yet 
been  voted  upon  according  to  the  law  of  the  Demotionidae,3  the 
phrateres  shall  proceed  to  a  vote  immediately,  pledging  themselves 
in  the  name  of  Zeus  Phratrios,  and  taking  their  ballots  from  off  the 
altar.  If  it  is  decided  that  a  person  without  the  proper  qualifica- 
tions 4  has  been  introduced  (into  the  phratry),  the  priest  and  the 
phratriarch  shall  erase  his  name  from  the  register  kept  among  the 
Demotionidae  and  from  the  copy.  The  introducer  of  the  person 
rejected  shall  be  fined  one  hundred  drachmas,  which  shall  be  de- 
voted to  Zeus  Phratrios ;  and  the  priest  and  the  phratriarch  shall 
collect  this  money  or  themselves  be  liable  for  it.  In  future  the 
voting  (upon  the  candidate)  shall  take  place  in  the  year  following 
that  in  which  the  sacrifice  of  the  koureion  has  been  offered,  and  on 
the  day  of  the  Apaturia  5  known  as  the  koureotis; 6  and  the  ballots 
shall  be  taken  from  off  the  altar.  If  any  of  those  who  may  be  re- 
jected shall  desire  to  appeal  to  the  Demotionidae,  they  shall  have 
the  right ;  and  the  house  of  the  Deceleians  7  shall  choose  five  men 
over  thirty  years  of  age  as  counsel  to  oppose  the  appeal.  These 
men  shall  swear  before  the  phratriarch  and  the  priest  that  they  will 

1  396-5  B.C. 

2  The  chief  officer  of  the  phratry,  some  of  whose  functions  are  made  clear  by  this 
document.    There  were  phratries  with  two  officers  of  this  title. 

3  This  phratry  took  its  name  from  a  legendary  hero  Demotion;  Von  Wilamowitz- 
Moellendorff,  Arist.  u.  Ath.  II.  278  sq.;  " Demotionidae,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real- 
Encycl.  V.  194-202. 

4  Literally,  "without  being  a  phrater." 

5  A  festival  common  to  all  the  Ionians,  including  the  Athenians  (Hdt.  i.  147),  cele- 
brated in  Attica  for  three,  or  four,  days  in  the  month  Pyanepsion  (October-November). 

6  "Day  of  the  koureion." 

7  It  has  been  maintained  by  Topffer,  Attische  Genealogie,  289,  that  there  was  a  gens 
(y£i>os)  of  the  Deceleians,  which  claimed  descent  from  the  local  hero  Decelos  (Hdt.  ix. 
73),  and  hence  was  doubtless  eupatrid.  According  to  another  view  the  "house  of  the 
Deceleians  "  was  merely  an  association  of  certain  thiasoi  of  the  phratry ;  cf.  especially 
Scholl,  Sitzb.  Miinch.  Akad.  1889,  ii.  19;  Milchhofer,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl. 
IV.  2425.  A  hasty  reading  would  lead  us  to  believe  that  the  power  of  this  "house"  was 
limited  by  the  first  decree,  which  granted  an  appeal  to  the  whole  phratry,  and  abolished 
by  the  second,  which  gave  the  first  vote  to  the  thiasotes.  It  is  possible,  however,  that 
an  application  for  a  second  hearing  before  the  Demotionidae  is  intended,  and  that  the 
privilege  of  the  Deceleians  to  provide  advocates  was  not  touched  by  the  second  decree. 


474 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


advocate  what  is  wholly  upright,  and  that  they  will  not  allow 
anyone  without  the  proper  qualifications  to  be  a  member  of  the 
phratry. 

2.  An  appellant  who  is  rejected  by  the  Demotionidae  shall  be 
fined  one  thousand  drachmas,  which  shall  be  devoted  to  Zeus 
Phratrios ;  and  the  priest 1  of  the  house  of  the  Deceleians  shall 
collect  this  money  or  himself  be  liable  for  it.  Any  other  phrater  who 
wishes  may  collect  it  for  the  common  fund.  These  provisions  shall 
be  in  force  beginning  with  the  archonship  of  Phormion.  The  phratri- 
arch  shall  put  the  question  concerning  those  who  are  to  be  voted 
upon  year  by  year.  If  he  does  not  put  the  question,  he  shall  be  fined 
five  hundred  drachmas,  which  shall  be  devoted  to  Zeus  Phratrios ; 
and  the  priest  and  any  one  else  who  wishes  shall  collect  the  money 
for  the  common  fund. 

In  future  the  melon  and  the  koureion  victims  shall  be  brought 
to  the  altar  at  Deceleia ;  and  if  the  offerer  does  not  sacrifice  them 
upon  the  altar,  he  shall  be  fined  fifty  drachmas,  which  shall  be  de- 
voted to  Zeus  Phratrios ;  and  the  priest  shall  collect  this  money  or 
himself  be  liable  for  it,  [except  in  case  of  pestilence  or  war  (?)].  If 
any  of  these  circumstances  shall  interfere,  the  melon  and  the  koureion 
victims  shall  be  brought  to  such  place  as  the  priest  may  advertise, 
said  advertisement  to  be  made  five  days  2  before  the  dorpla,3  upon 
a  whitened  tablet  not  less  than  a  span  in  breadth,  in  such  quarter 
of  the  city  as  the  Deceleians  may  frequent.4  The  priest  shall  have 
this  decree  and  the  (tariff  of)  sacrificial  perquisites  inscribed  upon  a 
stone  stele  before  the  altar  in  Deceleia  at  his  own  expense. 

3.  Nicodemus  moved,  as  an  amendment  to  the  former  decrees 
adopted  concerning  the  presentation  of  children  and  the  voting 
upon  them:  The  three  witnesses  whom  the  presenter  is  required 
to  furnish  at  the  investigation  shall  be  from  his  own  thiasos,5  bear- 

1  Apparently  the  same  as  the  priest  of  the  phratry. 

2  Four  days  by  our  system  of  exclusive  reckoning. 

3  "Banquet  Day,"  the  first  day  of  the  festival. 

4  In  this  period  the  rendezvous  of  the  Deceleians  at  Athens  was  "by  the  Hermae" 
in  the  market  place;  Lysias  xxiii.  3-15. 

5  A  subdivision  of  the  phratry,  evidently  containing  but  few  households,  undoubt- 
edly of  near  kin.  If  the  "house  of  the  Deceleians"  formed  the  eupatrid  nucleus  of  the 
phratry,  it  would  be  natural  to  assume  that  the  thiasoi  contained  the  common  members. 
The  reason  for  the  name  is  not  clear.    As  outside  the  phratry  the  thiasos  connects 


ADMISSION  OF  MEMBERS 


475 


ing  witness  in  answer  to  the  interrogatories  and  taking  oath  by 
Zeus  Phratrios  ;  and  they  shall  lay  hold  of  the  altar  when  they  bear 
witness  and  take  oath.  If  there  are  not  as  many  (as  three)  in  the 
particular  thiasos,  the  presenter  shall  furnish  witnesses  from  the 
rest  of  the  phrateres. 

4.  When  the  voting  takes  place,  the  phratriarch  shall  not  refer 
the  decision  concerning  the  children  to  the  whole  body  of  phrateres, 
until  the  thiasotes  of  the  candidate  shall  have  voted  secretly,  tak- 
ing their  ballots  from  .off  the  altar ;  and  the  phratriarch  shall 
count  their  ballots  before  the  whole  body  of  phrateres  present  in 
the  market  place,  and  shall  announce  the  result  of  the  vote.  If 
after  the  thiasotes  have  voted  that  the  candidate  is  their  fellow- 
phrater,  the  rest  of  the  phrateres  reject  hirri,  a  fine  of  one  hundred 
drachmas,  to  be  devoted  to  Zeus  Phratrios,  shall  be  levied  upon 
the  thiasotes,  excepting  those  of  them  who  make  open  accusation 
or  objection  at  the  time  of  the  vote.1  If  the  thiasotes  reject  the 
candidate,  and  his  presenter  appeals  to  the  whole  body,  and  the 
whole  body  decides  that  he  is  a  phrater,  he  shall  be  enrolled  in 
the  public  registers.  But  if  the  whole  body  rejects  him,  his  pre- 
senter shall  be  fined  one  hundred  drachmas,  which  shall  be  devoted 
to  Zeus  Phratrios.  If  the  thiasotes  reject  and  the  presenter  does 
not  appeal  to  the  whole  body,  the  rejection  by  the  thiasotes  shall 
stand.  The  thiasotes  shall  not  vote  together  with  the  rest  of  the 
phrateres  concerning  children  from  their  own  thiasos. 

The  priest  shall  have  this  decree  also  inscribed  upon  the  stone 
stele. 

5.  Oath  of  the  witnesses  upon  the  presentation  of  children: 
"I  bear  witness  that  the  one  whom  he  presents  is  his  own  legitimate 
son  by  his  wedded  wife,  (and  I  swear)  by  Zeus  Phratrios  that  this 
statement  is  true.  May  I  have  many  blessings  if  I  swear  rightly, 
and  the  contrary  if  I  swear  falsely." 

6.  Menexenus  moved :  Be  it  resolved  by  the  phrateres,  as  an 
amendment  to  the  former  decrees  concerning  the  presentation  of 
children,  to  the  end  that  the  phrateres  may  know  those  who  are 

itself  especially  with  the  worship  of  Dionysus,  some  have  supposed  that  the  creation  of 
these  societies  within  the  phratry,  at  some  unknown  time  in  their  history,  signifies  the 
entrance  of  Dionysus  worship  into  the  phratry. 

1  That  is,  in  the  discussion  preceding  the  vote  itself. 


476 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


to  be  presented  —  that  in  the  year  next 1  to  that  in  which  the 
koureion  is  brought,  a  statement  containing  the  name  (of  the 
candidate)  with  the  father's  name  and  the  deme,  and  the  mother's 
name,  with  her  father's  name  and  his  deme,  shall  be  given  to  the 
phratriarch.  On  receiving  the  statements,  the  phratriarch  shall 
have  them  inscribed  and  exposed  in  such  place  as  the  Deceleians 
may  frequent,  and  the  priest  likewise  shall  have  them  inscribed 
upon  a  whitened  tablet  and  exposed  in  the  sanctuary  of  Leto. 
This  decree  shall  be  inscribed  upon  the  steje.  ...  2 

145.  The  Military  Training  of  Athenian  Youths 

(Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  42.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Those  have  political  rights  whose  parents  are  both  Athenians.3 
They  are  enrolled  among  the  demesmen  at  the  age  of  eighteen.4 
At  the  time  of  their  enrolment  the  demesmen  under  oath  take  a 
vote  concerning  them,  first  as  to  whether  they  have  reached  the 
legal  age,  and  if  they  decide  in  the  negative,  the  candidates  return 
to  the  boys,  secondly  as  to  whether  the  candidate  is  free  and  of 
legal  birth.  In  case  they  decide  that  he  is  not  free,  he  has  the 
right  of  appeal  to  a  lawcourt,  and  the  demesmen  choose  from  their 
own  number  five  men  to  act  as  accusers.  If  the  court  decides 
that  he  has  been  illegally  enrolled,  the  state  sells  him  into  slavery ; 
but  if  he  wins,  the  demesmen  are  compelled  to  enroll  him.  After- 
ward the  council  examines  those  who  have  been  enrolled,  and  if 
it  decides  that  any  one  is  younger  than  eighteen  years,  it  fines  the 
demesmen  who  enrolled  him.  When  the  youths  (ephebi)  have 
passed  their  examination,  their  fathers,  assembling  by  tribes,  take 
oath  and  elect  from  their  tribesmen  three  persons  above  forty 
years  of  age  whom  they  consider  to  be  the  best  and  most  fitted 

1  The  phrase  is  awkward,  but  must  mean  the  year  intervening  between  the  sacrifice 
and  the  voting,  as  in  the  first  decree. 

2  The  paragraph  numbering  of  this  document  is  the  present  editor's. 

3  This  regulation  dates  from  451 ;  in  former  time  it  was  only  required  that  the 
father  should  be  an  Athenian,  the  more  exclusive  condition  being  introduced  by  a 
statute  of  Pericles.  In  the  Peloponnesian  war  the  law  was  greatly  relaxed,  but  was 
reaffirmed  by  the  restored  democracy  in  403. 

4  The  meaning  undoubtedly  is  "on  the  completion  of  the  eighteenth  year."  The 
enrolment  was  in  the  deme  register,  Xrj^iapxiKbp  ypafj-fiareiov,  which  contained  the 
names  of  all  the  adult  male  members  of  the  deme. 


TWO  YEARS  OF  SERVICE 


477 


to  supervise  the  youths,  and  from  them  the  popular  assembly 
elects  a  moderator  1  for  each  tribe,  and  from  the  Athenians  in 
general  a  commander  2  for  the  entire  company. 

These  officials,  assembling  the  youths,  make  a  procession  about 
the  shrines  and  then  proceed  to  Peiraeus ;  some  garrison  Munichia  3 
and  others  Acte.  The  assembly  elects  also  two  trainers  for  them 
and  instructors  who  are  to  teach  them  to  fight  in  heavy  armor  and 
to  discharge  the  bow  and  javelin  and  catapult.  Furthermore  it 
furnishes  each  moderator  with  a  drachma  a  day  for  provisions  and 
the  youths  with  four  obols  daily.  Each  moderator,  receiving  the 
allowance  for  his  own  tribesmen,  buys  provisions  for  them  all,  to 
be  used  at  common  meals,  for  they  dine  together  according  to 
tribes ;  and  he  looks  after  all  other  matters. 

Thus  they  pass  the  first  year.  At  the  beginning  of  the  second 
year  an  assembly  is  held  in  the  theatre,  where  they  exhibit  their 
military  attainments,  and  receive  from  the  state  a  shield  and 
spear.  Then  they  make  a  circuit  of  the  country  and  pass  their 
time  in  the  forts.  Thus  for  two  years  they  perform  garrison  duty, 
wearing  military  cloaks,4  and  are  free  from  all  public  burdens. 
They  neither  sue  nor  are  sued,  that  there  may  be  no  pretext  for 
absence,  except  in  case  of  an  inheritance  or  a  claim  to  an  heiress  5  or 
in  case  of  an  hereditary  right  to  a  priesthood.6  Having  passed  their 
two  years,  they  at  length  associate  with  the  rest  of  the  citizens.7 

1  Moderator,  sophronistes  (<xuj((>povl(tt^s). 

2  Commander,  kosmete  (Koa-fxrjT^s). 

3  Munichia  is  a  hill,  acropolis,  in  the  eastern  peninsula  of  Peiraeus ;  Acte,  mentioned 
below,  is  the  southwestern  peninsula  of  the  same  city. 

4  The  cloak  here  referred  to  was  the  chlamys ;  for  an  illustration,  see  Gulick,  Life 
of  the  Ancient  Greeks,  90. 

5  If  the  father  died  leaving  no  sons  but  a  daughter  only,  she  inherited  the  estate, 
and  her  nearest  kinsmen  had  a  legal  right  to  marry  her.  The  youth  could  absent  him- 
self from  military  training  to  claim  an  estate  or  the  hand  of  ah  heiress  to  whom  he  was 
next  of  kin. 

6  K&v  tivl  Kara  rd  ytvos  lepuxrijvr)  yivrjrai,  Kenyon  translates:  "or  of  any  sacri- 
ficial ceremony  connected  with  the  clan  of  any  individual."  But  iepcoaOvr]  signifies 
priesthood;  and  any  one  acquainted  with  the  legal  language  of  the  orators  knows 
that  Kara  to  yivos  has  reference  to  degree  of  relationship,  succession. 

'  This  system  of  training  is  essentially  a  creation  of  the  fourth  century,  and  reached 
its  full  development  in  the  administration  of  Lycurgus  after  the  battle  of  Chaeroneia 
(338) ;  see  Thalheim,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  V.  2737-41 ;  Beloch,  Griech. 
Gesch.  II.  614  sq. 


478 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


146.  The  Oath  of  the  Ephebi 
(Lycurgus,  Against  Leocrates,  75-89.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  excerpt  subjoined  is  taken  from  the  only  remaining  speech  of  Lycurgus, 
mentioned  in  note  7  of  the  preceding  selection.  Leocrates  had  abandoned 
Athens  after  the  battle  of  Chaeroneia  and  had  taken  up  his  residence  first  at 
Rhodes  and  afterward  at  Megara.  To  patriots,  such  as  Lycurgus  and  Demos- 
thenes, this  period  seemed  the  most  critical  in  the  history  of  their  country,  when 
Athens  stood  in  greatest  need  of  support  from  every  citizen.  Naturally  the 
political  sense  of  the  Athenians  rated  the  conduct  of  Leocrates,  not  merely  as 
exhibiting  a  lack  of  ordinary  affection  for  his  motherland,  but  as  a  species  of 
treason  comparable  with  our  own  idea  of  parricide. 

It  was  probably  while  making  the  round  of  the  temples  that  the  ephebi,  or 
youths  in  training  (see  selection  above) ,  took  the  oath  of  loyalty  in  the  cave  of 
Aglauros  (Demosth.  On  the  Embassy,-  303;  Stobaeus,  Florilegium,  xliii.  48). 
The  oath  as  given  below  is  preserved  in  Stobaeus.  Though  suspected  by  one  or 
two  modern  scholars,  it  is  now  considered  undoubtedly  genuine ;  cf.  Gilbert, 
Const.  Antiq.  197-9;  Thalheim,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  V.  2737-41. 

Consider  further  in  what  manner  you  have  instituted  a  custom 
regarding  these  things,  and  what  sentiments  you  cherish.  Though 
you  are  aware  of  the  facts,  it  is  fitting  in  addressing  you,  to  review 
the  subject.  A  eulogy  of  the  commonwealth,  by  Athena,  are  the 
ancient  laws  and  usages  of  those  who  from  the  beginning  regulated 
these  matters.  If  you  heed  their  enactments,  you  will  do  the 
right  and  will  seem  to  all  mankind  to  be  worthy  of  reverence  and 
of  the  commonwealth.  You  have  an  oath  which  all  the  citizens 
swear  when  they  are  enrolled  in  the  register  of  civil  maturity  1 
and  become  ephebi,  neither  to  disgrace  the  sacred  arms  nor  to 
abandon  their  place  (in  battle),  but  to  come  to  the  aid  of  their 
fatherland  and  to  hand  it  down  (to  posterity)  in  improved  condi- 
tion. If  Leocrates  has  sworn  this  oath,  he  has  openly  committed 
perjury,  and  not  only  has  injured  you  but  also  has  perpetrated 
an  act  of  impiety  against  the  Deity.2  If  however  he  has  not  taken 
the  oath,  he  is  at  once  revealed  as  a  man  who  has  deliberately 
prepared  not  to  fulfil  his  duties  at  all,  for  which  you  should  justly 

1  "  Register  of  civil  maturity"  is  perhaps  the  most  exact  translation  of  X-n^apxiKbv 
ypa/1/j.a.Teiov,  deme  register,  mentioned  in  a  note  of  the  selection  immediately  pre- 
ceding. The  idea  contained  in  X^tapx1*^?  is  that  the  enrolled  youth  had  a  right  to 
manage  his  own  estate:  twv  Xrj&wv  Apxav;  Harpocration,  5.  v. 

2  Td  deiov,  an  abstract  noun. 


A  PATRIOTIC  PLEDGE 


479 


condemn  him  both  in  behalf  of  yourselves  and  in  behalf  of  the 
Gods.    Now  I  wish  you  to  hear  the  oath.    Read  it,  clerk. 

THE  OATH 

I  will  not  disgrace  the  sacred  arms,1  nor  will  I  abandon  the 
man  next  to  me,  whoever  he  may  be.  I  will  bring  aid  to  the  ritual 
of  the  state  and  to  the  holy  duties  both  alone  and  in  company  with 
many.  Moreover  my  native  commonwealth  I  will  not  transmit 
lessened,  but  larger  and  better  than  I  have  received  it.  I  will 
obey  those  who  from  time  to  time  are  judging ;  and  the  established 
statutes  I  will  obey,  and  whatever  other  regulations  the  people 
shall  enact  unanimously.  If  any  one  shall  attempt  to  destroy 
the  statutes,  I  will  not  permit  it,  but  will  repel  (such  a  person)  both 
alone  and  with  all.  Furthermore  I  will  honor  the  ancestral  reli- 
gion. Witnesses  of  these  declarations  (shall  be)  Aglauros,  Enyalios, 
Zeus,  Thallo,  Auxo,  Hegemone.2 

147.  Dowries 

(Isaeus,  Orations,  ii.  3-  5.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

This  selection  is  to  illustrate  the  right  and  duty  of  brothers  to  give  their 
sisters  in  marriage  and  to  provide  them  with  suitable  dowries. 

Eponymus  of  Acharnae,  our  father,  gentlemen,3  was  a  friend  and 
intimate  companion  of  Menecles.  He  had  four  children,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters.  When  father  died,  we  gave  the  eldest  sister 
in  marriage,  since  she  was  of  age,4  to  Leucolophus,  bestowing  on 

1  These  are  the  shield  and  spear  presented  in  the  assembly,  as  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding selection. 

2  Aglauros,  daughter  of  Cecrops,  whose  shrine  was  a  cave  in  the  northern  declivity 
of  the  Acropolis,  in  which  the  oath  was  taken.  Enyalios,  an  epithet  of  Ares,  god  of  war. 
Thallo,  "  the  Blossoming  one,"  a  deity  related  to  the  youthful  age.  Auxo,  "  Increase." 
Hegem6ne,  "  Leadership." 

3  The  jury  are  addressed  as  "gentlemen  of  the  jury,"  or  simply  as  "gentlemen," 
or  as  "Athenians." 

4  A  girl  however  young  could  be  contracted  in  marriage  by  her  father  or  guardian, 
but  the  marriage  of  either  sex  could  take  place  only  after  puberty.  At  Athens  the  legal 
age  of  a  girl  seems  to  have  been  the  fifteenth  year;  cf.  Demosth.,  Against  Aphobus,  i.  4 
sq.;  Xen.  Econ.  vii.  5.  In  other  parts  of  the  Greek  world  the  age  seems  to  have  fallen 
as  low  as  the  thirteenth  year;  see  Beauchet,  Histoire  du  droit  privt  de  la  republique 
Athenienne,  I.  158  sqq. 


480 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


her  twenty  minas  as  dowry.  In  the  fourth  or  fifth  year  after  that 
date,  when  our  younger  sister  was  scarcely  of  marriageable  age, 
the  former  wife  of  Menecles  died.  After  Menecles  had  performed 
for  her  the  customary  rites,  he  asked  us  for  our  sister,  recalling 
the  friendship  between  our  father  and  himself,  and  stating  how  he 
was  disposed  toward  us.  Now  as  we  knew  that  our  father  would 
have  bestowed  her  upon  no  one  more  readily  than  upon  him,  we 
gave  her  to  him,  not  without  dowry  as  my  opponent  continually 
asserts,  but  with  the  same  dowry  that  we  gave  to  our  elder  sister. 
In  this  way,  having  formerly  been  friends,  we  became  kinsmen. 
Moreover  that  Menecles  received  twenty  minas  as  dowry  for  her, 
I  wish  first  to  offer  the  following  testimony. 

(Lysias,  Orations,  xix.  14-17.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

The  grant  of  a  dowry  was  legally  advantageous  to  a  wife  and  to  her  children 
in  that  it  served  as  evidence  of  a  legitimate  marriage.  As  she  could  recover  it  in 
case  of  separation,  it  tended  to  make  her  marriage  more  stable.  Although  a 
dowerless  wife  was  in  these  two  respects  placed  at  a  disadvantage,  it  was  con- 
sidered generous  and  patriotic  in  a  citizen  to  marry  a  poor  dowerless  girl. 
In  the  selection  below  the  speaker  takes  credit  for  such  meritorious  conduct. 

When  he  (my  father)  became  of  age,  though  it  was  possible 
for  him  to  marry  a  woman  with  a  large  dowry,  he  took  my  mother 
with  none  at  all,  because  she  was  the  daughter  of  Xenophon,1  son 
of  Euripides,  who  not  only  in  private  had  a  reputation  for  upright- 
ness, but  whom  too  you  deemed  worthy  to  fill  the  office  of  general, 
as  I  hear.  As  to  my  sisters  also,  whereas  certain  very  wealthy 
persons  were  willing  to  take  them  without  dowries,  he  (my  father) 
refused,  because  their  reputation  fell  short  of  respectability ;  but 
he  bestowed  one  upon  Philomelus  the  Paeanian,  who  is  generally 
considered  better  in  character  than  in  wealth,  and  the  other  upon 
a  man  who  had  been  impoverished  through  no  baseness  of  his  own, 
namely,  his  nephew  Phaedrus  2  of  Myrrhinus,  with  a  dowry  of  forty 
minas,  and  afterward  upon  Aristophanes 3  with  the  same  dowry. 

1  The  Xenophon  here  mentioned  served  during  the  early  years  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war,  and  was  killed  by  the  enemy;  Thuc.  ii.  70,  79;  Diod.  xii.  45. 

2  It  is  believed  that  the  Phaedrus  here  mentioned  is  the  person  after  whom  the 
dialogue  of  Plato  of  that  name  is  called. 

3  This  Aristophanes  devoted  himself  with  great  energy  to  public  affairs ;  but  for 
some  unknown  reason  he  and  his  father  were  put  to  death  without  trial,  and  their  prop- 


DOWRY;  LEGITIMACY 


Moreover  when  it  was  permitted 'me  to  get  a  very  large  dowry, 
he  advised  me  to  take  a  smaller  one  under  conditions  such  that 
I  could  know  that  I  was  to  have  orderly  and  sober  relatives  by 
marriage.  I  now  have  as  wife  accordingly  the  daughter  of  Crito- 
demus  of  Alopece,  who  was  killed  by  the  Lacedaemonians  when 
the  naval  battle  was  fought  in  the  Hellespont.1  Well  then,  gentle- 
men of  the  jury,  in  case  of  a  man  who  himself  married  a  portion- 
less wife  and  gave  great  dowries  to  his  two  daughters,  but  advised 
his  son  to  take  a  wife  with  a  small  portion,  is  it  not  reasonable  to 
believe  in  regard  to  him  that  it  was  not  for  the  sake  of  money  that 
he  became  a  kinsman  of  these  persons  ? 

148.  Evidence  of  Legitimate  Descent 

(Isaeus  viii.  15-17.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Interesting  is  the  great  importance  attaching  to  participation  in  common 
religious  rites  and  customs. 

It  was  on  the  assumption  that  we  were  children  of  his  daughter 
that  he  never  offered  any  sacrifice  apart  from  us,  but  whether  the 
religious  service  was  great  or  small,  we  were  everywhere  present 
with  him,  and  joined  in  the  sacrifice.  Furthermore  we  were 
not  only  invited  to  such  ceremonies,  but  also  he  always  brought 
us  to  the  rural  Dionysia,2  and  sitting  by  his  side,  we  viewed  the 
show,  and  took  part  with  him  in  all  festivities.  When  too  he 
sacrificed  to  Zeus  Ktesios,3  in  which  solemnity  he  took  especial 
interest  and  never  brought  to  it  any  slave  or  unrelated  freeman, 
but  himself  attended  personally  to  everything,  we  shared  with 
him  in  this  service  and  aided  him  in  preparing  the  sacrifice  and  in 
offering  it ;  in  brief  we  were  associated  with  him  in  everything  he 
did,  and  he  prayed  that  health  and  wealth  be  granted  us,  as  was 
reasonable  on  his  part,  being  our  grandfather.    Yet  if  he  did  not 

erty  was  confiscated.  The  brother-in-law  of  Aristophanes  delivers  before  the  court 
the  speech,  On  the  Property  of  Aristophanes,  from  which  this  excerpt  is  taken. 

1  The  battle  of  ^gospotami,  405. 

2  The  festival  termed  the  smaller  or  rural  Dionysia  was  held  in  the  month  of  Posei- 
deon  (December- January)  at  the  first  tasting  of  the  year's  vintage.  In  the  larger  demes 
dramas  were  played  by  itinerant  troups  of  actors. 

3  God  of  property,  possession. 


482 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


consider  us  sons  of  his  daughter,  he  would  have  done  not  a  single 
one  of  these  things,  but  would  have  invited  to  his  side  this  other 
man,  who  now  claims  to  be  his  nephew.  That  these  things  are 
true,  is  most  accurately  known  to  my  grandfather's  slaves,  whom 
my  opponent  refuses  to  hand  over  for  torture.1 

149.  A  Case  of  Adoption 

(Isaeus  ii.  13-16,  36  sq.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Next  I  wish  to  show  you  that  the  adoption  was  made  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws.  Read  for  me  therefore  the  law  itself  which 
grants  him  permission  to  will  his  property  as  he  pleases,  if  there 
are  no  male  children.2  For  this  reason,  gentlemen,  the  legislator 
enacted  this  law,  because  he  found  it  the  only  refuge  from  deso- 
lation and  the  only  comfort  in  life  to  the  childless,  namely,  the 
right  to  adopt  whomsoever  they  choose.  Seeing  therefore  that 
the  laws  granted  him  the  right  to  adopt  because  of  his  childless- 
ness, he  adopted  me,  not  by  writing  it  in  a  will  and  at  the  point 
of  death,  gentlemen,  as  some  other  citizens  do,  nor  in  illness  but 
in  good  health,  sound  mind  and  sense.  Moreover  having  adopted 
me,  he  introduced  me  to  his  phrateres  in  the  presence  of  these 
adversaries,  and  enrolled  me  among  his  demesmen  and  among  his 
orgeones.3  At  that  time  these  adversaries  made  no  objection,  to 
the  effect  that  he  was  not  in  his  right  mind.  Yet  it  would  have 
been  far  better  for  them  to  persuade  him  while  living,  if  they  wished 
anything,  than  to  insult  him  after  death  and  to  render  his  house 
desolate. 

Furthermore  he  lived  after  the  adoption  not  merely  a  year  or 

1  Legally  a  slave  could  be  subjected  to  torture  for  the  purpose  of  extracting  evi- 
dence. In  the  fourth  century  demands  are  often  made  for  the  torture  of  slaves,  but 
they  are  invariably  refused,  at  least  so  far  as  we  can  learn  from  the  orators.  It  is  clear 
that  in  this  period  humane  feeling  was  far  in  advance  of  the  law. 

2  In  case  there  are  daughters,  but  no  sons,  he  may  will  his  property  as  he  pleases, 
always  provided  that  the  heirs  take  the  daughters  in  marriage.  If  there  are  no  chil- 
dren, he  is  absolutely  free  to  dispose  of  his  property  as  he  wishes.  The  widow  can 
claim  no  more  than  her  dowry. 

3  On  the  introduction  of  a  born  son  to  the  phratry,  see  no.  144.  In  a  phratry  which 
included  a  gens,  the  members  of  the  gens  were  called  gennetae,  and  the  non-members 
orgeones;  Philochorus,  frag.  94,  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  grtzc.  I.  399.  Most  probably  the 
thiasotes  (no.  144)  are  to  be  identified  with  the  orgeones. 


ADOPTION 


483 


two  but  twenty-three  years ;  and  in  this  time,  long  as  it  was,  he 
did  not  in  the  slightest  repent  of  what  he  had  done,  thanks  to  its 
being  acknowledged  by  all  that  he  had  planned  it  rightly.  To 
prove  that  I  speak  the  truth,  I  shall  bring  before  you  his  phrateres 
and  orgeones  and  demesmen  as  witnesses  of  the  adoption ;  but  that 
it  was  permitted  him  to  make  the  adoption,  the  law  itself,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  adoption  took  place,  will  be  read  in  evidence.  .  .  . 

I,  the  adopted  son,  cherished  him  while  living  — ■  I  and  my 
wife,  the  daughter  of  Philonides  here ;  and  I  gave  my  child  his 
name  1  that  the  house  might  not  remain  nameless ;  and  when  he 
died,  I  buried  him  in  a  manner  worthy  of  himself  and  me,  and 
erected  over  his  grave  a  beautiful  tombstone,2  and  performed  for 
him  the  third  and  the  ninth  day  sacrifices  3  and  all  the  other  fitting 
ceremonials  of  his  burial  in  the  most  beautiful  way  possible,  so 
that  all  his  demesmen  commended  what  I  did.  But  this  adversary 
of  mine,  who  blames  him  for  having  adopted  a  son,  deprived  him 
while  living  of  the  land  that  remained  to  him,  and  after  his  decease 
seeks  to  render  him  childless  and  nameless.    Such  is  his  character. 

150.  A  Swarm  of  Heirs 

(Isaeus  iv.  7-10.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Nicostratus,  absent  from  Athens  eleven  years  as  a  mercenary,  died  in  Ake, 
Phoenicia  (Strabo  xvi.  25).  His  ashes  with  two  talents  in  money  were  sent 
home  to  Athens.    Their  arrival  occasioned  a  comedy. 

Who  did  not  cut  his  hair  when  the  two  talents  arrived  from 
Ake?4  Or  who  did  not  put  on  a  black  robe,  with  the  idea  that 
his  grief  would  make  him  heir  to  the  estate  ?  How  many  kinsmen 
and  sons  claimed  the  estate  of  Nicostratus  as  a  gift  ?  Demosthenes  5 
declared  himself  to  be  his  nephew ;  but  confuted  by  my  adver- 
saries, he  withdrew.  Then  Telephus  declared  that  Nicostratus 
had  given  all  his  property  to  him ;  but  no  long  time  afterward  this 

1  It  was  customary  to  name  the  eldest  son  after  the  paternal  grandfather. 

2  See  Gardner,  Sculptured  Tombs  of  Hellas,  for  an  excellent  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject, with  many  illustrations. 

3  Offerings  made  at  the  tomb  on  the  third  and  ninth  day  after  burial. 

4  Ake  is  the  modern  Acre. 

6  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  Demosthenes  is  unknown  to  us,  and  that 
no  importance  attaches  to  the  individuals  mentioned  in  this  selection. 


484 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


man  too  desisted.  Next  Ameiniades  brought  before  the  Archon 
a  son  for  him,  not  yet  three  years  old,  and  that  too  though  Nicos- 
tratus  had  not  been  in  Athens  for  eleven  years.  Pyrrhus  of  Lamp- 
tra,  next  in  order,  declared  that  the  property  had  been  devoted 
by  Nicostratus  to  Athena,  and  had  been  given  by  him  (Nicostratus) 
to  himself  (Pyrrhus).1  Then  Ctesias  of  Besa  and  Cranaus  first 
declared  that  they  had  obtained  a  judgment  of  a  talent  against 
Nicostratus ;  but  finding  themselves  unable  to  prove  this  point, 
they  pretended  that  he  was  their  freedman ;  but  not  even  thus  did 
they  sustain  their  declaration.  These  are  the  persons  who  first 
leaped  upon  the  money  of  Nicostratus.  At  that  time  Chariades  2 
made  no  claim  at  all;  but  afterward  he  not  only  came  forward 
himself,  but  tried  to  foist  the  son  of  his  mistress  upon  the  deceased. 
His  double  object  was  to  inherit  the  property  and  to  make  the 
son  a  citizen.  But  when  he  discovered  that  he  should  be  confuted 
on  the  question  of  the  relationship,  he  let  fall  the  claim  of  the 
child,  and  laid  by  deposit  a  claim  for  himself  on  the  basis  of  gift. 

151.  Treatment  of  a  Poor  Free  Laborer 

(Plato,  Euthyphron,  4) 

On  the  treatment  of  slaves  in  the  fourth  century,  see  no.  1 54.  Doubtless  a 
master  was  more  inclined  to  deal  gently  with  his  slaves  than  with  a  day  laborer, 
especially  on  an  isolated  farm  where  the  hired  man  could  not  invoke  the  law. 
Although  the  Athenians  were  a  remarkably  humane  people,  cases  like  that  de- 
scribed by  Plato  below  doubtless  occurred.  The  brutality  of  the  proprietor, 
however,  was  to  a  great  degree  offset  by  the  extremely  sensitive  conscience  of 
the  son.  The  conversation  between  this  son,  Euthyphron,  and  Socrates  takes 
place  at  the  King's  Porch  (Stoa  Basileios),  where  the  young  man  has  come  to 
bring  before  the  "king"  (archon)  a  prosecution  against  his  father  for  the  murder 
of  the  hired  man. 

Socrates.  I  suppose  that  the  man  whom  your  father  killed 
was  one  of  your  relatives  —  clearly  he  was ;  for  if  he  had  been  a 
stranger,  you  would  never  have  thought  of  prosecuting  him.3 

1  It  is  possible  that  Pyrrhus  really  claimed  that  the  property  had  been  so  devoted 
with  reservations  in  favor  of  himself,  but  Isaeus  has  purposely  misrepresented  the  case 
ad  absurdum. 

2  Chariades  is  the  adversary  of  the  speaker  and  his  brother  in  the  present  trial. 

3  Prosecutions  for  homicide  were  legally  brought  by  the  near  kin  in  the  order  of 
their  propinquity;  see  the  Law  of  Draco,  no.  77. 


BLOOD  POLLUTION 


485 


Euthyphron.  I  am  amused,  Socrates,  at  your  making  a 
distinction  between  a  relative  and  a  non-relative ;  for  surely  the 
pollution  1  is  the  same  in  either  case,  if  you  knowingly  associate  with 
the  murderer  when  you  ought  to  clear  yourself  and  him  by  proceed- 
ing against  him.  The  real  question  is  whether  the  slain  man  has 
been  justly  killed.  If  justly,  then  your  duty  is  to  let  the  matter 
alone ;  but  if  unjustly,  then  even  if  the  murderer  lives  under  the 
same  roof  with  you  and  eats  at  the  same  table,  proceed  against 
him.  In  the  present  case  the  man  who  is  dead  was  a  poor  depend- 
ent 2  of  mine  who  worked  for  us  as  a  field  laborer  on  our  farm  in 
Naxos  ;  and  one  day  in  a  fit  of  drunken  passion  he  got  into  a  quarrel 
with  one  of  our  slaves  and  killed  him.  My  father  bound  him 
hand  and  foot  and  threw  him  into  a  ditch,  while  he  sent  to  Athens 
to  ask  of  an  exegete  3  what  he  should  do  with  him.  Meanwhile 
he  never  attended  to  him  or  took  care  about  him,  regarding  him 
as  a  murderer.  In  fact  he  thought  that  no  great  harm  would 
come  even  if  he  should  die.  That  was  indeed  just  what  happened ; 
for  such  was  the  effect  of  cold  and  hunger  and  chains  upon  him, 
that  before  the  messenger  returned  from  the  exegete,  he  was  dead. 
My  father  and  family  are  now  angry  with  me  for  taking  the  part 
of  the  murderer  and  prosecuting  my  father.  They -say  that  he  did 
not  kill  him ;  and  that  if  he  did,  the  dead  man  was  but  a  murderer 
and  that  I  ought  not  to  notice  the  deed,  for  that  son  is  impious 
who  prosecutes  a  father.  These  pleas  show,  Socrates,  how  little 
they  know  what  the  Deity  thinks  about  piety  and  impiety. 

152.  The  Contempt  of  Demosthenes  for  the  Poverty  of 

his  Opponent 

(Demosthenes,  On  the  Crown,  257-265.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Ctesiphon,  an  Athenian  citizen,  had  proposed  that  the  Five  Hundred  and 
the  Assembly  vote  Demosthenes  a  golden  crown  (wreath)  as  a  token  of  apprecia- 
tion of  his  good  will  to  the  state,  manifested  not  only  in  his  general  public 

1  As  here  indicated,  the  Greeks  considered  the  shedding  of  blood  by  violence  a  re- 
ligious pollution,  to  be  expiated  by  prosecution  and  accompanying  ceremonies. 

2  Dependent  (ireXdr-qs,  pelates).  In  this  period  no  legal  relation  of  the  kind  ex- 
isted among  the  citizens,  but  the  dependent  may  have  been  an  alien. 

3  The  exegetes  were  sacerdotal  officers  whose  function  was  the  interpretation  of 
traditional  religious  usages;  cf.  Kern,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VI.  1583  sq. 


486 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


policy  but  particularly  in  his  gifts  of  money  for  the  improvement  of  the  fortifica- 
tions and  for  the  fund  devoted  to  the  expenses  of  festivals.  Thereupon  JEs- 
chines,  a  political  opponent,  prosecuted  Ctesiphon  under  the  "Writ  against 
Illegality"  (ypa<f>r)  7rapav6/xwv) .  Though  nominally  Ctesiphon  was  brought  to 
trial,  the  chief  assault  was  made  against  Demosthenes  as  a  man  unworthy  of 
such  honor  on  the  ground  of  either  private  or  public  conduct.  The  answering 
speech  by  Demosthenes  in  defense  of  his  own  character  and  policy  is  undoubt- 
edly the  greatest  oration  of  the  world's  most  famous  orator.  Most  of  its  senti- 
ments are  beautiful  and  noble.  The  excerpt  below,  which  bears  quite  a  differ- 
ent character,  has  been  chosen  to  present  to  view  the  chasm  then  widening 
between  the  rich  and  the  poor.  Incidentally  it  reveals  the  pitiable  condition 
of  the  school-teacher. 

It  was  my  good  fortune,  iEschines,  when  I  was  a  boy,  to  attend 
the  schools  that  became  my  position,  and  to  enjoy  those  posses- 
sions which  one  ought  who  is  not  to  commit  a  shameful  act  through 
penury.1  Then  as  I  passed  from  childhood  it  was  my  lot  to  follow 
a  line  of  conduct  consistent  with  these  earlier  conditions,  to  act 
as  choregus,  to  serve  as  trierarch,  to  contribute  war  taxes,2  to  fail 
in  no  line  of  social  or  public  spirit,  but  to  be  useful  alike  to  the 
state  and  to  my  friends.  When  further  I  resolved  to  enter  public 
life,  I  chose  such  a  policy  that  I  was  often  crowned  both  by  my 
fatherland  and  by  many  other  Hellenes ;  such  a  policy  that  not 
even  you,  my  enemy,  dare  deny  that  it  was  noble.  Such  was  the 
fortune  with  which  I  lived  my  life,  and  though  I  could  say  much 
.else  about  it,  I  pass  that  by,  for  I  wish  to  avoid  offending  any  one 
in  the  matters  on  which  I  pride  myself. 

But  you,  august  man,  who  now  spit  upon  others,  consider 
what  fortune  you  enjoyed,  through  which  in  boyhood  you  were 
reared  in  dire  poverty,  assisting  your  father  in  the  school-room, 
grinding  ink,  sponging  off  the  seats,  and  sweeping  the  room,  occupy- 
ing the  post  of  a  slave,  not  of  a  free  lad.  When,  too,  you  became 
a  man  you  were  an  acolyte  of  your  mother  in  her  initiations,3  read- 

1  Demosthenes  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  manufacturer;  see  no.  156.  The  idea 
that  poverty  is  a  cause  of  crime  was  entertained  by  many  of  the  noble  and  wealthy 
classes;  cf.  the  view  of  the  "Old  Oligarch,"  no.  62. 

2  Expensive  public  services,  performed  by  the  wealthy  citizens,  were  termed  litur- 
gies.   On  this  subject,  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xii. 

3  The  ceremony,  ludicrously  described  by  Demosthenes,  is  an  initiation  into  a 
mystery  cult  imported  from  Phrygia  or  Thrace ;  cf.  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xx ; 
Moore,  History  of  Religions,  I.  456. 


CAREER  OF  ^SCHINES 


487 


ing  the  books  for  her  and  getting  ready  the  other  ceremonial  appa- 
ratus, at  night  covering  the  novitiates  with  fawn-skins,  giving  them 
drink  from  bowls,  cleansing  them  and  swabbing  them  off  with  clay 
and  meal,  lifting  them  up  from  the  lustration  and  bidding  them 

Say,    "i  ESCAPED   THE   BAD,  1   FOUND   THE  BETTER,''  boasting  of  a 

capacity  for  howling  louder  than  any  other ;  in  fact  I  believe  him, 
for  do  not  imagine  that  so  loud  a  talker  1  could  prove  inferior  in 
howling.  By  day  you  conducted  through  the  streets  the  fair 
orgiasts  crowned  with  wreaths  of  fennel  and  poplar,  throttling  the 
swollen-cheeked  snakes  and  holding  them  over  your  head,  while  you 
shouted  euoi  saboi  and  danced  to  the  tune  of  hyes  attes,  attes 
hyes,  and  are  proclaimed  Leader,  Conductor,  Chest-Bearer,  Sieve- 
Bearer  and  the  like  by  wrinkled  hags,  receiving  as  your  pay  for 
these  services  tarts,  biscuits,  and  rolls,  for  which  any  one  would 
certainly  esteem  himself  and  his  fortune  blessed. 

Next  when  you  were  enrolled  among  your  demesmen,  I  do  not 
say  by  what  means,2  but  when  you  were  enrolled,  forthwith  you 
chose  the  noblest  of  occupations,  that  of  scribe  and  servant  of  petty 
officials.  Then  when  you  were  dismissed  from  this  position,  hav- 
ing yourself  performed  all  the  disgraceful  things  you  now  charge 
against  others,  you  did  not,  by  Heaven,  by  your  subsequent  life 
disgrace  your  earlier  course  of  conduct,  but  hired  yourself  out  to 
those  ranting  players,  Simylus  and  Socrates,  and  in  their  company 
acted  a  third-rate  part,  gathering  from  other  people's  orchards, 
like  a  fruit-dealer,  a  store  of  figs,  grapes,  and  olives,3  and  wounds 
too  in  greater  abundance  than  from  the  plays  themselves,  in  which 
you  were  struggling  for  your  lives,  since  between  you  and  the 
spectators  there  was  a  truceless,  heraldless  war,  from  which  you 
suffered  so  many  wounds  that  naturally  now  you  taunt  as  cowards 
persons  who  have  lacked  such  experience. 

Passing  over  those  doings  of  yours  which  might  be  charged  to 
poverty,  I  shall  proceed  to  accusations  against  your  character. 
When  it  occurred  to  you  to  enter  upon  public  life,  you  chose  such 

1  As  an  orator  ^Eschines  was  famous  for  his  clear,  powerful  voice. 

2  Here  is  an  insinuation  that  ^Eschines  had  no  right  to  the  citizenship  but  had  him- 
self enrolled  by  fraud. 

3  The  spectators  pelted  the  actors  with  fruit,  which  proved  a  greater  source  of  profit 
to  the  players  than  was  their  ill-paid  profession. 


488 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


a  policy  that  while  your  country  prospered,  you  lived  the  life  of 
a  hare,  fearing  and  trembling  lest  you  might  suffer  a  flogging  for 
the  crimes  you  were  conscious  of,  but  whenever  the  rest  of  the 
citizens  were  unfortunate,  you  have  displayed  your  effrontery  in 
the  eyes  of  all.  Yet  he  who  has  been  emboldened  by  the  slaughter 
of  a  thousand  fellow-citizens  —  what  punishment  ought  he  to 
suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  living  ?  1  Although  I  could  say  much 
else  about  him,  I  pass  it  by ;  for  I  consider  it  proper  to  rehearse, 
not  all  his  baseness  and  infamy,  but  so  much  as  is  not  disgraceful 
for  me  to  repeat. 

Well  then,  iEschines,  compare  these  two  lives,  yours  and  mine, 
with  one  another,  calmly  but  not  in  bitterness,  and  ask  these  jurors 
which  of  the  two  fortunes  each  one  of  them  would  prefer.  You 
taught  reading ;  I  attended  school.  You  performed  initiations ; 
I  was  initiated.  You  danced ;  I  was  choregus.  You  were  a 
public  scribe ;  I  a  public  orator.  You  were  a  third-rate  actor ; 
I  a  spectator  at  the  play.  You  failed  in  your  part,  and  I  hissed 
you. 

153.  Attitude  of  Free  Athenians  toward  Labor 

(Xenophon,  Memorabilia,  ii.  7,  8) 

The  time  of  the  conversation  between  Socrates  and  Aristarchus,  given  in 
§  7,  was  under  the  Thirty  (Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xxi),  when  economic 
as  well  as  political  conditions  were  extremely  unfavorable.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  even  in  these  times  a  man  like  Ceramon,  with  a  few  slaves,  could  do  a 
profitable  business.  Interesting,  too,  is  the  fact  that  the  women  of  well-to-do 
families  were  required  to  learn  spinning,  weaving,  the  making  of  clothes,  and 
other  household  duties  in  order  to  be  able  to  instruct  and  to  superintend  slaves. 

In  §  8  Eutherus  is  one  of  many  Athenian  citizens  whose  whole  capital  had 
been  invested  in  the  states  of  the  allies,  and  who  were  therefore  deprived  of  their 
all  by  the  downfall  of  the  Athenian  empire,  404.  That  the  position  of  manager 
of  an  estate  should  be  looked  upon  as  servile  is  utterly  foreign  to  modern  ideas. 
To  be  free,  the  Greek  felt  that  he  must  not  be  held  accountable  to  another  for 
anything. 

7.  He  (Socrates)  had  two  ways  of  dealing  with  the  difficulties 
of  his  friends ;  where  ignorance  was  the  cause,  he  tried  to  meet 
the  trouble  by  a  dose  of  common  sense ;  or  where  want  and  pov- 

1  As  a  partisan  of  Philip  and  Alexander  of  Macedon,  /Eschines  is  here  said  to  have 
profited  by  the  success  of  the  enemy  and  the  misfortunes  of  his  own  country. 


ECONOMIC  STRAITS 


489 


erty  were  to  blame,  by  teaching  them  that  they  should  assist  one 
another  according  to  their  ability;  and  here  I  may  mention  cer- 
tain incidents  which  occurred  within  my  own  knowledge.  How, 
for  instance,  he  chanced  upon  Aristarchus  wearing  the  look  of  one 
who  suffered  from  a  fit  of  the  "sullens,"  and  thus  accosted  him :  — 

Socrates.  You  seem  to  have  some  trouble  on  your  mind, 
Aristarchus  ;  if  so,  you  should  share  it  with  your  friends.  Perhaps 
together  we  might  lighten  the  weight  of  it  a  little. 

Aristarchus.  Yes,  Socrates,  I  am  in  sore  straits  indeed. 
Ever  since  the  party  strife  declared  itself  in  the  city,  what  with 
the  rush  of  people  to  Peiraeus  and  the  wholesale  banishments,  I 
have  been  fairly  at  the  mercy  of  my  poor  female  relatives.  Sisters, 
nieces,  cousins,  they  all  come  flocking  to  me  for  protection.  I  have 
fourteen  free-born  souls,  I  tell  you,  under  my  single  roof,  and  how 
are  we  to  live  ?  We  can  get  nothing  out  of  the  soil  —  that  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy;  nothing  from  my  house  property,  for 
there  is  scarcely  a  living  soul  left  in  the  city;  my  furniture?  no 
one  will  buy  it ;  money  ?  there  is  none  to  be  borrowed  —  you  would 
have  a  better  chance  to  find  it  by  looking  for  it  on  the  road  than 
to  borrow  it  from  a  banker.  Yes,  Socrates,  to  stand  by  and  see 
one's  relatives  die  of  hunger  is  hard  indeed,  and  yet  to  feed  so  many 
at  such  a  pinch  impossible. 

After  he  had  listened  to  the  story  Socrates  asked :  How  comes 
it  that  Ceramon,  with  so  many  mouths  to  feed,  not  only  contrives 
to  furnish  himself  and  them  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  but  to 
realize  a  handsome  surplus,  whilst  you  being  in  like  plight  are 
afraid  that  you  will  one  and  all  perish  of  starvation  for  want  of 
the  necessaries  of  life  ? 

Ar.  Why,  bless  you,  do  you  not  see  he  has  only  slaves  and  I 
have  free-born  souls  to  feed  ? 

Soc.  And  which  should  you  say  were  the  better  human  beings, 
the  free-born  members  of  your  household  or  Ceramon's  slaves? 

Ar.    The  free  souls  under  my  roof  without  a  doubt. 

Soc.  Is  it  not  a  shame,  then,  that  he  with  his  baser  folk  to 
back  him  should  be  in  easy  circumstances,  while  you  and  your 
far  superior  household  are  in  difficulties  ? 

Ar.  To  be  sure  it  is,  when  he  has  only  a  set  of  handicraftsmen 
to  feed,  and  I  my  liberally-educated  household. 


49c 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


Soc.    What  is  a  handicraftsman?    Does  not  the  term  apply 
to  all  who  can  make  any  sort  of  useful  product  or  commodity  ? 
Ar.  Certainly. 

Soc.    Barley-meal  is  a  useful  product,  is  it  not? 
Ar.    Preeminently  so.. 
Soc.    And  loaves  of  bread  ? 
Ar.    No  less. 

Soc.  Well,  and  what  do  you  say  to  cloaks  for  men  and  for 
women  —  tunics,  mantles,  vests  ? 

Ar.    Yes,  they  are  all  highly  useful  commodities. 

Soc.  Then  your  household  do  not  know  how  to  make  any  of 
them. 

Ar.    On  the  contrary,  I  believe  they  can  make  them  all. 

Soc.  Then  you  are  not  aware  that  by  means  of  the  manufac- 
ture of  one  of  these  alone  —  his  barley-meal  store  —  Nausicydes 
not  only  maintains  himself  and  his  domestics,  but  many  pigs  and 
cattle  besides,  and  realizes  such  large  profits  that  he  frequently 
contributes  to  the  state  benevolences ;  while  there  is  Cyrebus, 
again,  who  out  of  a  bread  factory,  more  than  maintains  the  whole 
of  his  establishment,  and  lives  in  the  lap  of  luxury ;  and  Demeas 
of  Collytus  gets  a  livelihood  out  of  a  cloak  business,  and  Menon 
as  a  mantle-maker ;  and  thus  more  than  half  the  Megarians  main- 
tain themselves  by  the  making  of  vests. 

Ar.  Bless  me,  yes !  They  have  got  a  set  of  barbarian  fellows, 
whom  they  purchase  and  keep,  to  manufacture  by  forced  labor 
whatever  takes  their  fancy.  My  kinswomen,  I  tell  you,  are  free- 
born  ladies. 

Soc.  Then,  on  the  ground  that  they  are  free-born  and  your 
kinswomen,  you  think  they  ought  to  do  nothing  but  eat  and  sleep  ? 
Or  is  it  your  opinion  that  people  who  live  in  this  way  —  I  speak 
of  free-born  people  in  general  —  lead  happier  lives,  and  are  more 
to  be  congratulated,  than  those  who  give  their  time  and  attention 
to  such  useful  arts  of  life  as  they  are  skilled  in  ?  Is  this  what  you 
see  in  the  world,  that  for  the  purpose  of  learning  what  it  is  well  to 
know,  and  of  recollecting  the  lessons  taught,  or  with  a  view  to 
health  and  strength  of  body,  or  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  and  pre- 
serving all  that  gives  life  its  charm,  idleness  and  inattention  are 
found  to  be  helpful,  whilst  work  and  study  are  simply  a  dead  loss? 


THE  FREE-BORN  SHOULD  WORK 


Pray,  when  those  relatives  of  yours  were  taught  what  you  tell  me 
they  know,  did  they  learn  it  as  barren  information  which  they 
would  never  turn  to  practical  account,  or  on  the  contrary,  as 
something  with  which  they  were  to  be  seriously  concerned  some 
day,  and  from  which  they  were  to  reap  solid  advantage  ?  Do  hu- 
man beings  in  general  attain  to  well-tempered  manhood  by  a  course 
of  idling,  or  by  carefully  attending  to  what  will  be  of  use  ?  Which 
will  help  a  man  the  more  to  grow  in  justice  and  uprightness,  to  be 
up  and  doing,  or  to  sit  with  folded  hands  revolving  the  ways  and 
means  of  existence?  As  things  now  stand,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
there  is  no  love  lost  between  you.  You  cannot  help  feeling  that 
they  are  costly  to  you,  and  they  must  see  that  you  find  them  a 
burden.  This  is  a  perilous  state  of  affairs,  in  which  hatred  and 
bitterness  have  every  prospect  of  increasing  whilst  the  preexist- 
ing bond  of  affection  is  likely  to  be  snapped. 

But  now,  if  you  will  only  allow  them  free  scope  for  their  ener- 
gies, when  you  come  to  see  how  useful  they  can  be,  you  will  grow 
quite  fond  of  them,  and  they,  when  they  perceive  that  they  can 
please  you,  will  cling  to  their  benefactor  warmly.  Thus,  with 
the  memory  of  former  kindnesses  gratitude  will  increase ;  you  will 
in  consequence  be  knit  in  closer  bonds  of  love  and  domesticity. 
If,  indeed,  they  were  called  upon  to  do  any  shameful  work,  let 
them  choose  death  rather  than  that ;  but  now  they  knbw,  it  would 
seem,  the  very  arts  and  accomplishments  which  are  regarded  as 
the  loveliest  and  the  most  suitable  for  women ;  and  the  things 
which  we  know,  any  of  us,  are  just  those  which  we  can  best  per- 
form, that  is  to  say,  with  ease  and  expedition ;  it  is  a  joy  to  do 
them,  and  the  result  is  beautiful.  Do  not  hesitate  then,  to  initiate 
your  friends  in  what  will  bring  advantage  to  them  and  you  alike ; 
probably  they  will  gladly  respond  to  your  summons. 

Ar.  Well,  upon  my  word,  I  like  so  well  what  you  say,  Socrates, 
that  though  hitherto  I  have  not  been  disposed  to  borrow,  knowing 
that  when  I  had  spent  what  I  got  I  should  not  be  in  a  condition  to 
repay,  I  think  I  can  now  bring  myself  to  do  so  in  order  to  raise 
a  fund  for  these  works . 

Thereupon  a  capital  was  provided ;  wools  were  purchased ; 
the  goodman's  relatives  set  to  work,  and  even  whilst  they  break- 
fasted they  worked,  and  on  and  on  till  work  was  ended  and  they 


492 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


supped.  Smiles  took  the  place  of  frowns ;  they  no  longer  looked 
askance  with  suspicion,  but  full  into  each  other's  eyes  with  happi- 
ness. They  loved  their  kinsman  for  his  kindness  to  them.  He 
became  attached  to  them  as  helpmates ;  and  the  end  of  it  all  was, 
he  came  to  Socrates  and  told  him  with  delight  how  matters  fared ; 
"and  now,"  he  added,  "they  tax  me  with  being  the  only  drone  in 
the  house,  who  sit  and  eat  the  bread  of  idleness." 

To  which  Socrates  replied :  Why  do  you  not  tell  them  the  fable 
of  the  dog?  Once  on  a  time,  so  goes  the  story,  when  beasts  could 
speak,  the  sheep  said  to  their  master,  "What  a  marvel  is  this,  master, 
that  to  us,  your  own  sheep,  who  provide  you  with  fleeces  and 
lambs  and  cheese,  you  give  nothing,  save  only  what  we  may  nibble 
off  earth's  bosom ;  but  with  this  dog  of  yours,  who  provides  you 
with  nothing  of  the  sort,  you  share  the  very  meat  out  of  your 
mouth."  When  the  dog  heard  these  words,  he  answered  promptly, 
"Ay,  in  good  sooth,  for  is  it  not  I  who  keep  you  safe  and  sound, 
you  sheep,  so  that  you  are  not  stolen  by  man  nor  harried  by  wolves  ; 
since,  if  I  did  not  keep  watch  over  you,  you  would  not  be  able  so 
much  as  to  graze  afield,  fearing  to  be  destroyed."  And,  so  says 
the  tale,  the  sheep  had  to  admit  that  the  dog  was  rightly  preferred 
to  themselves  in  honor.  And  so  do  you  tell  your  flock  yonder 
that  like  the  dog  in  the  fable  you  are  their  guardian  and  overseer, 
and  it  is  thanks  to  you  that  they  are  protected  from  evil  and  evil- 
doers, so  that  they  work  their  work  and  live  their  lives  in  blissful 
security.1 

8.  At  another  time  chancing  upon  an  old  friend  (Eutherus) 
whom  he  had  not  seen  for  a  long  while,  he  greeted  him  thus :  — 

Soc.    What  quarter  of  the  world  do  you  hail  from,  Eutherus? 

Eutherus.  From  abroad,  just  before  the  close  of  the  war; 
but  at  present  from  the  city  itself.  You  see,  since  we  have  been 
denuded  of  our  possessions  across  the  frontier,  and  my  father  left 

1  From  the  attitude  of  Aristarchus  at  the  opening  of  the  conversation  it  is  evident 
that  labor  had  been  tainted  by  slavery.  This  feeling  is  offset  by  the  sentiment  de- 
veloped near  the  close  of  the  conversation  that  those  only  who  work  have  a  right  to 
eat ;  cf.  Aristotle,  Rhetoric,  ii.  4.  8,  1381  a  :  "We  honor  the  generous  and  brave  and  the 
just.  Such  we  conceive  to  be  those  who  do  not  live  upon  others;  and  such  are 
they  who  live  by  labor  —  chiefly  agriculturists,  and  chief  among  the  agricul- 
turists, the  small  farmers."  As  long  as  these  sentiments  prevailed,  it  was  possible 
for  free  laborers  to  maintain  their  self-respect. 


FOREMAN  OF  A  FARM 


493 


me  nothing  in  Attica,  I  must  needs  bide  at  home,  and  provide  my- 
self with  the  necessaries  of  life  by  means  of  bodily  toil,  which  seems 
preferable  to  begging  from  another,  especially  as  I  have  no  security 
on  which  to  raise  a  loan. 

Soc.  And  how  long  do  you  expect  your  body  to  be  equal  to 
providing  the  necessaries  of  life  for  hire  ? 

Euth.    Goodness  knows,  Socrates  —  not  for  long. 

Soc.  And  when  you  find  yourself  an  old  man,  expenses  will 
not  diminish  and  yet  no  one  will  care  to  pay  you  for  the  labor  of 
your  hands. 

Euth.    That  is  true. 

Soc.  Would  it  not  be  better  then  to  apply  yourself  at  once  to 
such  work  as  will  stand  you  in  good  stead  when  you  are  old  —  that 
is,  address  yourself  to  some  large  proprietor  who  needs  an  assistant 
in  managing  his  estate?  By  superintending  his  works,  helping 
to  get  in  his  crops,  and  guarding  his  property  in  general,  you  will 
be  a  benefit  to  the  estate  and  be  benefited  in  return.1 

Euth.    I  could  not  endure  the  yoke  of  slavery,  Socrates ! 

Soc.  And  yet  the  heads  of  departments  in  a  state  are  not 
regarded  as  adopting  the  badge  of  slavery  because  they  manage 
the  public  property,  but  as  having  attained  a  higher  dignity  of 
freedom  rather. 

Euth.  In  a  word,  Socrates,  the  idea  of  being  held  to  account 
to  another  is  not  at  all  to  my  taste. 

Soc.  And  yet,  Eutherus,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  work  which 
did  not  involve  some  liability  to  account :  in  fact  it  is  difficult  to 
do  anything  without  some  mistake  or  other,  and  no  less  difficult, 
if  you  should  succeed  in  doing  it  immaculately,  to  escape  all  un- 
friendly criticism.  I  wonder  now  whether  you  will  find  it  easy 
to  get  through  your  present  occupations  entirely  without  reproach. 
No?  Let  me  tell  you  what  you  should  do.  You  should  avoid 
censorious  persons  and  attach  yourself  to  the  considerate  and  kind- 
hearted,  and  in  all  your  affairs  accept  with  good  grace  what  you 
can  and  decline  what  you  feel  you  eannot  do.  Whatever  it  be,  do 
it  heart  and  soul,  and  make  it  your  finest  work.  There  lies  the 
.  method  at  once  to  silence  faultfinders  and  to  minister  help  to  your 

1  Positions  of  this  kind,  as  shown  by  Xenophon,  Economicus,  were  often  filled  by 
slaves,  but  it  is  clear  from  this  passage  that  freemen,  too,  were  employed  in  them. 


494 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


own  difficulties.  Life  will  flow  smoothly,  risks  will  be  diminished, 
provision  against  old  age  secured. 

154.  The  Management  of  a  Household 
(Xenophon,  Econotnicus.    Dakyns,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  Greek  word  for  economy,  oiKovofxia,  signifies  "  management  of  a  house- 
hold." In  the  fourth  century  as  society  developed  a  greater  complexity,  human 
activities  became  more  specialized,  and  the  increasing  knowledge  relating  to 
the  various  activities  was  systematized  and  in  many  cases  reduced  to  writing. 
In  this  way  economy  came  into  existence  as  a  branch  of  science.  The  treatise 
of  Xenophon  entitled  Economicus,  "The  Economist,"  is  an  example  of  economic 
science  representative  of  the  period  under  consideration.  Much  space  is 
devoted  to  the  same  subject  by  Aristotle  in  his  Politics.  Another  Economicus, 
wrongly  ascribed  to  Aristotle,  was  composed  by  some  person  unknown  to  us, 
who  however  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment  and  well  acquainted  with  Hellenic 
affairs.    The  pseudo-Aristotelian  treatise  therefore  is  a  source  of  great  value. 

Xenophon's  Economicus,  with  which  we  are  now  dealing,  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  contributions  to  the  history  of  Hellenic  civilization  during  the  fourth 
century.  In  the  excerpts  given  below  the  conversation  is  for  a  time  between 
Socrates  and  Critobulus.  The  latter  is  evidently  a  politician,  who  devotes 
most  of  his  time  and  money  to  winning  supporters  as  well  as  to  his  actual  public 
duties.  As  he  totally  neglects  his  estate,  its  value  and  productiveness  remain 
stationary,  and  he  is  always  in  want  of  money.  Occasionally  an  ancient  writer 
and,  to  a  far  greater  extent,  scholars  of  to-day  criticize  the  Greek  democracy  on 
the  ground  that  it  so  burdened  the  wealthy  as  to  make  their  life  unendurable. 
The  expenses  imposed  upon  the  wealthy  were  in  fact  considerable;  but  no 
Athenian  family  is  known  to  have  been  financially  ruined,  or  greatly  damaged, 
by  its  public  burdens ;  and  Critobulus,  a  typical  example,  makes  no  complaint, 
for  he  seems  to  feel  that  he  receives  an  equivalent  for  his  outlay.  Some  fortunes 
were  undermined  by  luxury,  vice,  and  neglect ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  careful 
attention  to  business  seems  to  have  been  all  that  was  necessary  for  the  building 
up  of  prosperity. 

Especially  interesting  is  the  subject  of  the  principal  excerpt  —  the  place 
of  the  wife  in  the  management  of  the  household.  Some  thinkers  of  the  age 
were  of  the  opinion  that  there  were  no  differences  between  women  and  men, 
that  women  should  have  the  same  education  as  men,  and  should  follow  the 
same  occupations,  even  politics  and  war.  This  is  the  view  urged  in  Plato's 
Republic,  and  ridiculed  in  Aristophanes'  Ecclesiazusce.  Xenophon,  on  the 
contrary,  was  convinced  that  women,  though  the  equals  of  men,  were  in  im- 
portant respects  essentially  different,  and  that  there  should  accordingly  be  a 
division  of  labor  —  that  the  sphere  of  woman  or  of  man  was  only  a  hemisphere. 
This  view  is  charmingly  presented. 


ECONOMY  DEFINED 


495 


I.  I  once  heard  him  discuss  the  topic  of  economy  after  the 
following  manner.  Addressing  Critobulus,  he  said :  Tell  me, 
Critobulus,  is  "economy,"  like  the  words  "medicine,"  "carpen- 
try," "building,"  "smithying,"  "metal- working,"  and  so  forth, 
the  name  of  a  particular  kind  of  knowledge  or  science? 

Critobulus.    Yes,  I  think  so. 

Socrates.  And  as,  in  the  case  of  the  arts  just  named,  we  can 
state  the  proper  work  or  function  of  each,  can  we  similarly  state 
the  proper  work  and  function  of  economy? 

Crit.  It  must,  I  should  think,  be  the  business  of  the  good 
economist  at  any  rate  to  manage  his  own  house  or  estate  well. 

Soc.  And  supposing  another  man's  house  to  be  entrusted  to 
him,  he  would  be  able,  if  he  chose,  to  manage  it  as  skilfully  as  his 
own,  would  he  not?  since  a  man  who  is  skilled  in  carpentry  can 
work  as  well  for  another  as  for  himself ;  and  this  ought  to  be  equally 
true  of  the  good  economist  ? 

Crit.    Yes,  I  think  so,  Socrates. 

Soc.  Then  there  is  no  reason  why  a  proficient  in  this  art,  even 
if  he  does  not  happen  to  possess  wealth  of  his  own,  should  not  be 
paid  a  salary  for  managing  a  house,  just  as  he  might  be  paid  for 
building  one  ? 

Crit.  None  at  all ;  and  a  large  salary  he  would  be  entitled 
to  earn  if,  after  paying  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  estate  entrusted 
to  him,  he  can  create  a  surplus  and  improve  the  property. 

Soc.  Well  and  this  word  "house,"  what  are  we  to  under- 
stand by  it  ?  the  domicile  merely  ?  or  are  we  to  include  all  a  man's 
possessions  outside  the  actual  dwelling-place  ? 

Crit.  Certainly,  in  my  opinion  at  any  rate,  everything  which 
a  man  has,  even  though  some  portion  of  it  may  lie  in  another  part 
of  the  world  from  that  in  which  he  lives,  forms  part  of  his  es- 
tate. .  .  . 

Crit.  I  want  to  talk  about  persons  of  high  degree,1  of  right 
noble  family  some  of  them,  to  do  them  justice.  These  are  the 
people  I  have  in  my  mind's  eye,  gifted  with,  it  may  be,  martial 
or,  it  may  be,  civil  accomplishments,  which  however  they  refuse 

1  The  passage  beginning  here  is  evidence  that  when  the  property  of  a  well-to-do 
Athenian  fell  to  ruin,  the  fault  was  his  own,  not  the  democracy's.  Xenophon,  it  is  to 
be  noted,  was  anti-democratic,  and  his  testimony  is  therefore  all  the  more  valuable. 


496 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


to  exercise,  for  the  very  reason,  as  I  take  it,  that  they  have  no  mas- 
ters over  them. 

Soc.  No  masters  over  them  !  but  how  can  that  be  if,  in  spite 
of  their  prayers  for  prosperity  and  their  desire  to  do  what  will 
bring  them  good,  they  are  still  so  sorely  hindered  in  the  exercise 
of  their  wills  by  those  that  lord  it  over  them  ? 

Crit.  And  who,  pray,  are  these  lords  that  rule  them  and  yet 
remain  unseen  ? 

Soc.  Nay,  not  unseen  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  very  visible. 
And  what  is  more,  they  are  the  basest  of  the  base,  as  you  can 
hardly  fail  to  note,  if  at  least  you  believe  idleness  and  effeminacy 
and  restless  negligence  to  be  baseness.  Then,  too,  there  are  other 
treacherous  beldames  giving  themselves  out  to  be  innocent  pleas- 
ures, to  wit,  dicings  and  profitless  associations  among  men.  These 
in  the  fulness  of  time  appear  in  all  their  nakedness  even  to  them 
that  are  deceived,  showing  themselves  that  they  are  after  all  but 
pains  tricked  out  and  decked  with  pleasures.  These  are  they 
who  have  the  dominion  over  those  you  speak  of  and  quite  hinder 
them  from  every  good  and  useful  work. 

Crit.  But  there  are  others,  Socrates,  who  are  not  hindered 
by  these  indolences  —  on  the  contrary,  they  have  the  most  ardent 
disposition  to  exert  themselves,  and  by  every  means  to  increase 
their  revenues ;  but  in  spite  of  all,  they  wear  out  their  substance 
and  are  involved  in  endless  difficulties. 

Soc.  Yes,  for  they  too  are  slaves,  and  harsh  enough  are  their 
taskmasters ;  slaves  are  they  to  luxury  and  lechery,  vice,  intem- 
perance and  the  winecup  along  with  many  a  fond  and  ruinous 
ambition.  These  passions  so  cruelly  lord  it  over  the  poor  soul 
whom  they  have  under  their  thrall,  that  so  long  as  he  is  in  the  hey- 
day of  health  and  strong  to  labor,  they  compel  him  to  fetch  and 
carry  and  lay  at  their  feet  the  fruit  of  his  toils,  and  to  spend  it 
on  their  own  heart's  lusts ;  but  so  soon  as  he  is  seen  to  be  incapable 
of  further  labor  through  old  age,  they  leave  him  to  his  gray  hairs 
and  misery,  and  turn  to  seize  on  other  victims.  Ah  !  Critobulus, 
against  these  vices  must  we  wage  ceaseless  war,  for  very  freedom's 
sake,  no  less  than  if  they  were  armed  warriors  endeavoring  to  make 
us  their  slaves.  Nay,  foemen  in  war,  it  must  be  granted,  especially 
when  of  fair  and  noble  type,  have  many  times  ere  now  proved  bene- 


REAL  WEALTH  AND  POVERTY 


497 


factors  to  those  they  have  enslaved.  By  dint  of  chastening,  they 
have  forced  the  vanquished  to  become  the  better  men  and  to  lead 
more  tranquil  lives  in  future.  But  these  despotic  queens  never 
cease  to  plague  and  torment  their  victims  in  body  and  soul  and 
substance  till  their  sway  is  ended. 

II.  The  conversation  was  resumed  by  Critobulus,  and  on  this 
wise.  He  said :  I  think  I  take  your  meaning  fully,  Socrates, 
about  these  matters ;  and  for  myself,  examining  my  heart,  I  am 
further  satisfied,  I  have  sufficient  continence  and  self-command  in 
those  respects.  If  therefore  you  will  only  advise  me  what  I  am 
to  do  to  improve  my  estate,  I  flatter  myself  I  shall  not  be  hindered 
by  those  despotic  dames,  as  you  call  them.  Come,  do  not  hesitate  ; 
only  tender  me  what  good  advice  you  can,  and  trust  me  I  will 
follow  it.  But  perhaps,  Socrates,  you  have  already  passed  sen- 
tence on  us  —  we  are  rich  enough  already,  and  not  in  need  of  any 
further  wealth  ? 

Sqc.  It  is  to  myself  rather,  if  I  may  be  included  in  your  plural 
"we,"  that  I  should  apply  the  remark.  /  am  not  in  need  of  any 
further  wealth,  if  you  like.  I  am  rich  enough  already,  to  be  sure. 
But  you,  Critobulus,  I  look  upon  as  singularly  poor,  and  at  times, 
upon  my  soul,  I  feel  a  downright  compassion  for  you. 

At  this  view  of  his  case,  Critobulus  fell  to  laughing  outright, 
retorting :  And  pray,  Socrates,  what  in  the  name  of  fortune  do 
you  suppose  our  respective  properties  would  fetch  in  the  market, 
yours  and  mine  ? 

If  I  could  find  a  good  purchaser,  he  answered,  I  suppose  the 
whole  of  my  effects,  including  the  house  in  which  I  live,  might 
very  fairly  realize  five  minae.  Yours,  I  am  positively  certain,  would 
fetch  at  the  lowest  more  than  a  hundred  times  that  sum.1 

Crit.  With  this  estimate  of  our  respective  fortunes,  can  you 
still  maintain  that  you  have  no  need  of  further  wealth,  that  it  is 
rather  I  who  am  to  be  pitied  for  my  poverty  ? 

Soc.    Yes,  for  my  property  is  amply  sufficient  to  meet  my 

1  As  a  mina  was  about  eighteen  dollars,  the  estate  of  Socrates  is  here  estimated 
at  about  ninety  dollars.  As  he  had  served  in  the  heavy  infantry,  he  must  have  been 
a  zeugite.  It  is  true  that  the  state  equipped  some  thetes  for  heavy-infantry  service 
at  its  own  expense,  but  in  that  case  it  preferred  younger  men  than  Socrates  must  have 
been  at  the  time  of  his  campaigns.  During  his  service  his  estate  must  have  been 
valued  at  no  less  than  ten  minas;  cj.  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xx. 


498 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


wants,  whereas  you,  considering  the  parade  you  are  fenced  about 
with,  and  the  reputation  you  must  needs  live  up  to,  would  be  barely 
well  off,  I  take  it,  if  what  you  have  already  were  multiplied  by 
three. 

Crit.    Pray,  how  may  that  be  ? 

Soc.  Why,  first  and  foremost,  I  see  you  are  called  upon  to 
offer  many  costly  sacrifices,  failing  which,  I  take  it,  neither  gods 
nor  men  would  tolerate  you ;  and,  in  the  next  place,  you  are  bound 
to  welcome  numerous  foreigners  as  guests,  and  to  entertain  them 
handsomely ;  thirdly,  you  must  feast  your  fellow-citizens  and 
ply  them  with  all  sorts  of  kindness,  or  else  be  cut  adrift  from  your 
supporters.  Furthermore,  I  perceive  that  even  at  present  the 
state  enjoins  upon  you  various  large  contributions,  such  as  the 
rearing  of  horses,  the  training  of  choruses,  the  superintendence  of 
gymnastic  schools,  or  the  entertainment  of  great  numbers  of  aliens 
in  magnificent  style ;  1  while  in  the  event  of  war  you  will,  I  am 
aware,  have  further  obligations  laid  upon  you  in  the  shape  of 
money  to  carry  on  the  trierarchy,2  and  the  payment  of  war  taxes 
so  onerous,  you  will  find  difficulty  in  supporting  them.  Remiss- 
ness* in  respect  of  any  of  these  charges  will  be  visited  upon  you 
by  the  good  citizens  of  Athens  no  less  strictly  than  if  they  caught 
you  stealing  their  own  property.  But  worse  than  all,  I  see  you 
fondling  the  notion  that  you  are  rich.  Without  a  thought  or  care 
how  to  increase  your  revenue,  your  fancy  lightly  turns  to  thoughts 
of  love,  as  if  you  had  some  special  license  to  amuse  yourself.  .  .  . 
That  is  why  I  pity  and  compassionate  you,  fearing  lest  some 
irremediable  mischief  overtake  you,  and  you  find  yourself  in  des- 
perate straits.  As  for  me,  if  I  ever  stood  in  need  of  anything,  I 
am  sure  you  know  I  have  friends  who  would  assist  me.  They 
would  make  some  trifling  contribution  —  trifling  to  themselves, 
I  mean  —  and  deluge  my  humble  living  with  a  flood  of  plenty. 
But  your  friends,  albeit  far  better  off  than  yourself,  considering 
your  respective  styles  of  living,  persist  in  looking  to  you  for  assist- 
ance. 

1  Critobulus  was  probably  proxenus,  consular  representative,  of  some  foreign  state, 
and  had  therefore  to  entertain  in  magnificent  style  the  representatives  of  that  state 
when  they  visited  Athens. 

2  On  the  trierarchy,  choregia,  and  other  liturgies,  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History, 
ch.  xii  (with  references). 


ECONOMIC  INTELLIGENCE 


499 


Crit.  I  cannot  gainsay  what  you  have  spoken,  Socrates ; 
it  is  indeed  high  time  that  you  were  constituted' my  patronus,  or 
I  shall  become  in  very  truth  a  pitiable  object.  .  .  . 

Soc.  I  had  been  struck  with  amazement,  I  remember,  to 
observe  on  some  occasion  that  where  a  set  of  people  are  engaged 
in  identical  operations,  half  of  them  are  in  absolute  indigence  and 
the  other  half  roll  in  wealth.  I  bethought  me,  the  history  of  the 
matter  was  worth  investigation.  Accordingly  I  set  to  work  investi- 
gating, and  I  found  that  it  all  happened  very  naturally.  Those 
who  carried  on  their  affairs  in  a  haphazard  manner  I  saw  were 
punished  by  their  losses ;  whilst  those  who  kept  their  wits  upon 
the  stretch  and  paid  attention  I  soon  perceived  to  be  rewarded  by 
the  greater  ease  and  profit  of  their  undertakings.  It  is  to  these 
I  would  recommend  you  to  betake  yourself.  What  say  you? 
Learn  of  them;  and  unless  the  will  of  God  oppose,  I  venture  to 
say  you  will  become  as  clever  a  man  of  business  as  one  might  hope 
to  see.  .  .  . 

Or  take,  again,  the  instance  of  two  farmers  engaged  in  culti- 
vating farms  as  like  as  possible.  The  one  has  never  done  assert- 
ing that  agriculture  fias  been  his  ruin,  and  is  in  the  depth  of  de- 
spair ;  the  other  has  all  he  needs  in  abundance  and  of  the  best,  and 
how  acquired  ?  —  by  this  same  agriculture.1  .  .  . 

IV.  The  base  mechanic  arts,  so  called,  have  got  a  bad  name ; 
and  what  is  more,  are  held  in  ill  repute  by  civilized  communities, 
and  not  unreasonably ;  seeing  they  are  the  ruin  of  the  bodies  of 
all  concerned  in  them,  workers  and  overseers  alike,  who  are  forced 
to  remain  in  sitting  postures  and  to  hug  the  gloom,  or  else  to  crouch 
whole  days  confronting  a  furnace.  Hand  in  hand  with  physical 
enervation  follows  apace  an  enfeebling  of  soul,  while  the  demand 
which  these  base  mechanic  arts  make  on  the  time  of  those  employed 
in  them  leaves  them  no  leisure  to  devote  to  the  claims  of  friendship 
and  the  state.    How  can  such  folk  be  other  than  sorry  friends  and 

1  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  in  the  iourth  century,  when  agricultural  conditions 
were  less  favorable  than  they  had  been  in  the  fifth,  it  was  still  possible  for  a  farmer  with 
intelligence  and  energy,  not  merely  to  maintain  himself,  but  to  accumulate  property. 
Ischomachus  made  a  fortune  by  buying  up  decadent  farms,  improving  them,  and  selling 
them  at  a  profit.  Many  abandoned  their  farms  to  engage  in  trade  in  Peiraeus  or  the 
City,  while  on  the  other  hand  prosperous  citizens  were  glad  to  invest  their  savings  in 
land,  because  of  its  security,  even  though  the  profits  were  small. 


5°° 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


ill  defenders  of  the  fatherland?  So  much  so  that  in  some  states, 
especially  those  reputed  to  be  warlike,  no  citizen  is  allowed  to 
exercise  any  mechanical  craft  at  all.1 

Crit.    Then  which  are  the  arts  you  would  counsel  us  to  engage 

in? 

Soc.  Well,  we  shall  not  be  ashamed,  I  hope,  to  imitate  the 
king  of  Persia?  That  monarch,  it  is  said,  regards  amongst  the 
noblest  and  most  necessary  pursuits  two  in  particular,  which  are 
the  arts  of  husbandry  and  war,  and  in  these  two  he  takes  the  strong- 
est interest.2  .  .  . 

VI.  Crit.  I  think  I  am  fully  persuaded  as  to  the  propriety 
of  making  agriculture  the  basis  of  life.  I  see  it  is  altogether  noblest, 
best  and  pleasantest  so  to  do.  But  I  should  like  to  revert  to  your 
remark  that  you  understood  the  reason  why  the  tillage  of  one  man 
brings  him  in  an  abundance  of  all  he  needs,  while  the  operations 
of  another  fail  to  make  husbandry  a  profitable  employment.  I 
would  gladly  hear  from  you  an  explanation  of  both  these  points, 
so  that  I  may  adopt  the  right  and  avoid  the  harmful  course. 

Soc.  Well,  Critobulus,  suppose  I  narrate  to  you  from  the 
beginning  how  I  came  in  contact  with  a  man  who  of  all  men  I  ever 
met  seemed  to  me  to  deserve  the  appellation  of  a  gentleman.  He 
was  indeed  a  "beautiful  and  good"  man.3 

Crit.  There  is  nothing  I  should  better  like  to  hear,  since  of 
all  titles  this  is  the  one  I  covet  most  the  right  to  bear. 

Soc.  Well,  then,  I  will  tell  you  how  I  came  to  subject  him 
to  my  inquiry.  It  did  not  take  me  long  to  go  the  round  of  various 
good  carpenters,  good  bronze-workers,  painters,  sculptors,  and  so 
forth.  A  brief  period  was  sufficient  for  the  contemplation  of  them- 
selves and  of  their  most  admired  works  of  art.  But  when  it  came 
to  examining  those  who  bore  the  high-sounding  title  "  beautiful 

1  This  view  was  held  also  by  Plato  and  Aristotle,  and  in  fact  prevailed  among  both 
Greeks  and  Romans. 

2  While  on  the  expedition  into  the  Persian  empire  described  in  his  Anabasis  Xeno- 
phon  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  the  interest  of  the  Persian  king  in  agriculture, 
and  was,  like  Herodotus,  sufficiently  broad-minded  to  admit  that  the  Greeks  could  take 
many  profitable  lessons  of  the  Persians. 

3  The  Greek  phrase  for  the  perfect  gentleman  is  KaXbs  kcu  dyadds,  literally 
" beautiful  and  good."  The  word  for  beautiful  assumed  an  ethical  coloring,  as  the 
Greeks  were  inclined  to  measure  things  by  an  esthetic  standard. 


A  PERFECT  GENTLEMAN 


and  good,"  in  order  to  ascertain  what  conduct  on  their  part  justi- 
fied their  adoption  of  this  title,  I  found  my  soul  eager  with  desire 
for  intercourse  with  one  of  them ;  and  first  of  all,  seeing  that  the 
epithet  ''beautiful"  was  conjoined  with  that  of  "good,"  every 
beautiful  person  I  saw,  I  must  needs  approach  in  my  endeavor 
to  discover,  if  haply  I  might  somewhere  see  the  quality  of  good 
adhering  to  the  quality  of  beauty.  But,  after  all,  it  was  otherwise 
ordained.  I  soon  enough  seemed  to  discover  that  some  of  those 
who  in  their  outward  form  were  beautiful  were  in  their  inmost 
selves  the  veriest  knaves.  Accordingly  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
let  go  beauty,  which  appeals  to  the  eye,  and  address  myself  to  one 
of  those  "beautiful  and  good"  people  so  entitled.  And  since  I 
heard  of  Ischomachus  as  one  who  was  so  called  by  all  the  world, 
both  men  and  women,1  strangers  and  citizens  alike,  I  set  myself 
to  make  acquaintance  with  him. 

VII.  It  chanced,  one  day  I  saw  him  seated  in  the  portico  of 
Zeus  Eleutherios,2  and  as  he  appeared  to  be  at  leisure,  I  went  up 
to  him  and,  sitting  down  by  his  side,  accosted  him :  How  is  this, 
Ischomachus?  you  seated  here,  you  who  are  so  little  wont  to  be 
at  leisure?  As  a  rule,  when  I  see  you,  you  are  doing  something, 
or  at  any  rate  not  sitting  idle  in  the  market-place. 

Nor  would  you  see  me  now  so  sitting,  Socrates,  he  answered, 
but  that  I  promised  to  meet  some  strangers,  friends  of  mine,  at 
this  place. 

And  when  you  have  no  such  business  on  hand,  I  said,  where  in 
heaven's  name  do  you  spend  your  time  and  how  do  you  employ 
yourself?  I  will  not  conceal  from  you  how  anxious  I  am  to  learn 
from  your  own  lips  by  what  conduct  you  have  earned  for  yourself 
the  title  "  beautiful  and  good."  It  is  not  by  spending  your  days 
indoors  at  home,  I  am  sure ;  the  whole  habit  of  your  body  bears 
witness  to  a  different  sort  of  life. 

Then  Ischomachus,  smiling  at  my  question,  but  also,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  a  little  pleased  to  be  asked  what  he  had  done  to 

1  Incidentally  Greek  writers  inform  us  that  in  fact  the  sexes  were  not  so  strictly 
separated  as  is  generally  believed.  Many  women  of  Athens  had  seen  and  admired 
Ischomachus. 

2  The  portico  of  Zeus  Eleutherios  ("the  Liberator"),  bordering  upon  the  market 
place,  was  a  social  resort. 


5°2 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


earn  the  title  "  beautiful  and  good,"  made  answer :  Whether  that 
is  the  title  by  which  folk  call  me  when  they  talk  to  you  about  me, 
I  cannot  say.  All  I  know  is,  when  they  challenge  me  to  exchange 
properties,  or  else  to  perform  some  service  to  the  state  instead  of 
them,  the  fitting  out  of.  a  trireme,  or  the  training  of  a  chorus, 
nobody  thinks  of  asking  for  the  beautiful  and  good  gentleman, 
but  it  is  plain  Ischomachus,  the  son  of  So-and-so,  upon  whom  the 
summons  is  served.  But  to  answer  your  question,  Socrates,  he 
proceeded,  I  certainly  do  not  spend  my  days  indoors,  if  for  no  other 
reason,  because  my  wife  is  quite  capable  of  managing  our  domestic 
affairs  without  my  aid. 

Ah  !  said  I,  Ischomachus,  that  is  just  what  I  should  like  partic- 
ularly to  learn  from  you.  Did  you  yourself  educate  your  wife  to 
be  all  that  a  wife  should  be,  or  when  you  received  her  from  her 
father  and  mother  was  she  already  a  proficient,  well  skilled  to 
discharge  the  duties  appropriate  to  a  wife? 

Well  skilled!  he  replied.  What  proficiency  was  she  likely  to 
bring  with  her,  when  she  was  not  quite  fifteen  at  the  time  she  wedded 
me,  and  during  the  whole  period  of  her  life  had  been  most  carefully 
brought  up  to  see  and  hear  as  little  as  possible,  and  to  ask  the  fewest 
questions?  or  do  you  not  think  one  should  be  satisfied,  if  at  mar- 
riage her  whole  experience  consisted  in  knowing  how  to  take  the 
wool  and  make  a  dress,  and  seeing  how  her  mother's  handmaidens 
had  their  daily  spinning- tasks  assigned  them?  For,  he  added, 
as  regards  control  of  appetite  and  self-indulgence,  she  had  received 
the  soundest  education,  and  that  I  take  to  be  the  most  important 
matter  in  the  bringing-up  of  man  or  woman. 

Then  all  else,  said  I,  you  taught  your  wife  yourself,  Ischomachus, 
until  you  had  made  her  capable  of  attending  carefully  to  her  ap- 
pointed duties  ? 

That  did  I  not,  replied  he,  until  I  had  offered  sacrifice,  and 
prayed  that  I  might  teach  and  she  might  learn  all  that  could  con- 
duce to  the  happiness  of  us  twain. 

Soc.  And  did  your  wife  join  in  sacrifice  and  prayer  to  that 
effect? 

Isch.  Most  certainly,  with  many  a  vow  registered  to  heaven 
to  become  all  she  ought  to  be ;  and  her  whole  manner  showed  that 
she  would  not  be  neglectful  of  what  was  taught  her. 


MARRIED  LIFE  A  PARTNERSHIP 


Soc.  Pray  narrate  to  me,  Ischomchus,  I  beg  of  you,  what 
you  first  essayed  to  teach  her.  To  hear  that  story  would  please 
me  more  than  any  description  of  the  most  splendid  gymnastic 
contest  or  horse-race  you  could  give  me. 

Isch.  Why,  Socrates,  when  after  a  time  she  had  become  ac- 
customed to  my  hand,  that  is,  was  tamed  sufficiently  to  play  her 
part  in  a  discussion,  I  put  to  her  this  question :  "Did  it  ever  strike 
you  to  consider,  dear  wife,  what  led  me  to  choose  you  as  my  wife 
among  all  women,  and  your  parents  to  entrust  you  to  me  of  all 
men?  It  was  certainly  not  from  any  difficulty  that  might  beset 
either  of  us  to  find  another  mate.  That  I  am  sure  is  evident  to 
you.  No !  it  was  with  deliberate  intent  to  discover,  I  for  myself 
and  your  parents  in  behalf  of  you,  the  best  partner  of  house  and 
children  we  could  find,  that  I  sought  you  out ;  and  your  parents, 
acting  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  made  choice  of  me.  If  at  some 
future  time  God  grant  us  to  have  children  born  to  us,  we  will  take 
counsel  together  how  best  to  bring  them  up,  for  that  too  will  be 
a  common  interest,  and  a  common  blessing,  if  haply  they  shall 
live  to  fight  our  battles  and  we  find  in  them  hereafter  support  and 
succor  when  ourselves  are  old.  But  at  present  there  is  our  house 
here,  which  belongs  alike  to  both.  It  is  common  property,  for 
all  that  I  possess  goes  by  my  will  into  the  common  fund,  and  in 
the  same  way  all  that  you  deposited  was  placed  by  you  to  the  com- 
mon fund.  We  need  not  stop  to  calculate  in  figures  which  of  us 
contributed  most,  but  rather  let  us  lay  to  heart  this  fact  that  which- 
ever of  us  proves  the  better  partner,  he  or  she  at  once  contributes 
what  is  most  worth  having." 

Thus  I  addressed  her,  Socrates,  and  thus  my  wife  made  answer  : 
"But  how  can  I  assist  you?  what  is  my  ability?  Nay,  everything 
depends  on  you.  My  business,  my  mother  told  me,  was  to  be 
sober-minded !  " 

"Most  true,  my  wife,"  I  replied,  "and  that  is  what  my  father 
said  to  me.  But  what  is  the  proof  of  sober-mindedness  in  man  or 
woman?  Is  it  not  so  to  behave  that  what  they  have  of  good  may 
ever  be  at  its  best,  and  that  new  treasures  from  the  same  source 
of  beauty  and  righteousness  may  be  most  amply  added?" 

"But  what  is  there  that  I  can  do,"  my  wife  inquired,  "which 
will  help  to  increase  our  joint  estate?" 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


"Assuredly,"  I  answered,  "you  may  strive  to  do  as  well  as 
possible  what  Heaven  has  given  you  a  natural  gift  for  and  which 
the  law  approves." 

"And  what  may  these  things  be?"  she  asked. 

"To  my  mind  they  are  not  the  things  of  least  importance,"  I 
replied,  "unless  the  things  which  the  queen  bee  in  her  hive  presides 
over  are  of  slight  importance  to  the  bee  community ;  for  the  gods, 
my  wife,  would  seem  to  have  exercised  much  care  and  judgment 
in  compacting  that  twin-system  which  goes  by  the  name  of  male 
and  female,  so  as  to  secure  the  greatest  possible  advantage  to  the 
pair.  .  Since  no  doubt  the  underlying  principle  of  the  bond  is  first 
and  foremost  to  perpetuate  through  procreation  the  races  of  liv- 
ing creatures ;  and  next,  as  the  outcome  of  this  bond,  for  human 
beings  at  any  rate,  a  provision  is  made  by  which  they  may  have 
sons  and  daughters  to  support  them  in  old  age. 

"And  again,  the  way  of  human  beings,  not  being  maintained 
like  that  of  cattle  in  the  open  air,  obviously  demands  roofed  home- 
steads. But  if  these  same  human  beings  are  to  have  anything 
to  bring  in  under  cover,  some  one  to  carry  out  these  labors  of  the 
field  under  high  heaven  must  be  found  them,  since  such  operations 
as  the  breaking  up  of  fallow  with  the  plough,  the  sowing  of  seed, 
the  planting  of  trees,  the  pasturing  and  herding  of  flocks,  are  one 
and  all  open-air  employments  on  which  the  supply  of  products 
necessary  to  life  depends. 

"As  soon  as  these  products  of  the  field  are  safely  housed  and 
under  cover,  new  needs  arise.  There  must  be  some  one  to  guard 
the  store  and  some  one  to  perform  such  operations  as  imply  the 
need  of  shelter.  Shelter,  for  instance,  is  needed  for  the  rearing  of 
infant  children ;  shelter  is  needed  for  the  various  processes  of  con- 
verting the  fruits  of  earth  into  food,  and  in  like  manner  for  the 
fabrication  of  clothing  out  of  wool. 

"  But  whereas  both  of  these,  the  indoor  and  the  outdoor  occupa- 
tions alike,  demand  new  toil  and  new  attention,  to  meet  the  case,"  I 
added,  "  God  made  provision  from  the  first  by  shaping,  as  it  seems 
to  me,  the  woman's  nature  for  indoor  and  the  man's  for  outdoor  oc- 
cupations. Man's  body  and  soul  He  furnished  with  a  greater  capac- 
ity for  enduring  heat  and  cold,  wayfaring  and  military  marches, 
or,  to  repeat,  He  laid  upon  his  shoulders  the  outdoor  works. 


MAN'S  SPHERE,  AND  WOMAN'S 


505 


"  While  in  creating  the  body  of  woman  with  less  capacity  for 
these  things,  God  would  seem  to  have  imposed  on  her  the  indoor 
works ;  and  knowing  that  He  had  implanted  in  the  woman  and 
imposed  upon  her  the  nurture  of  new-born  babes,  He  endowed 
her  with  a  larger  share  of  affection  for  the  new-born  child  than  He 
bestowed  upon  man.  And  since  He  had  imposed  on  woman  the 
guardianship  of  the  things  imported  from  without,  God,  in  His 
wisdom,  perceiving  that  a  fearful  spirit  was  no  detriment  to  guard- 
ianship, endowed  the  woman  with  a  larger  measure  of  timidity 
than  He  bestowed  on  man.  Knowing  further  that  he  to  whom 
the  outdoor  works  belonged  would  need  to  defend  them  against 
malign  attack,  He  endowed  the  man  in  turn  with  a  larger  share  of 
courage. 

"  And  seeing  that  both  alike  feel  the  need  of  living  and  receiving, 
He  set  down  memory  and  carefulness  between  them  for  their 
common  use,  so  that  you  would  find  it  hard  to  determine  whether 
of  the  two,  the  male  or  the  female,  has  the  larger  share  of  these. 
So,  too,  God  set  down  between  them  for  their  common  use  the 
gift  of  self-control,  where  needed,  adding  only  to  that  one  of  the 
twain,  whether  man  or  woman,  which  should  prove  the  better, 
the  power  to  be  rewarded  with  a  larger  share  of  this  perfection. 
For  the  very  reason  that  their  natures  are  not  alike  adapted  to 
like  ends,  they  stand  in  greater  need  of  one  another;  and  the 
married  couple  is  made  more  useful  to  itself,  the  one  fulfilling  what 
the  other  lacks. 

"Now,  being  well  aware  of  this,  my  wife,  and  knowing  well 
what  things  are  laid  upon  us  twain  by  God  Himself,  must  we  not 
strive  to  perform,  each  in  the  best  way  possible,  our  respective 
duties?  Law,  too,  gives  her  consent  —  law  and  the  usage  of  man- 
kind, by  sanctioning  the  wedlock  of  man  and  wife ;  and  just  as 
God  ordained  them  to  be  partners  in  their  children,  so  the  law 
established  their  common  ownership  of  house  and  estate.  Cus- 
tom, moreover,  proclaims  as  beautiful  those  excellences  of  man  and 
woman  with  which  God  gifted  them  at  birth.  Thus  for  a  woman 
to  bide  tranquilly  at  home  rather  than  roam  abroad  is  no  dishonor ; 
but  for  a  man  to  remain  indoors,  instead  of  devoting  himself  to 
outdoor  pursuits,  is  a  thing  discreditable.  But  if  a  man  does 
things  contrary  to  the  nature  given  by  God,  the  chances  are, 


506 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


such  insubordination  escapes  not  the  eye  of  Heaven :  he  pays  the 
penalty,  whether  of  neglecting  his  own  works,  or  of  performing 
those  appropriate  to  woman." 

I  added :  "  Just  such  works,  if  I  mistake  not,  that  same  queen- 
bee  we  spoke  of  labors  hard  to  perform,  like  yours,  my  wife,  enjoined 
upon  her  by  God  Himself." 

"And  what  sort  of  works  are  these?"  she  asked;  "what  has 
the  queen-bee  to  do  that  she  seems  so  like  myself,  or  I  like  her  in 
what  I  have  to  do  !" 

"Why,"  I  answered,  "she  too  stays  in  the  hive  and  suffers 
not  the  other  bees  to  idle.  Those  whose  duty  it  is  to  work  outside 
she  sends  forth  to  their  labors ;  and  all  that  each  of  them  brings 
in,  she  notes  and  receives  and  stores  against  the  day  of  need ;  but 
when  the  season  for  use  has  come,  she  distributes  a  just  share  to 
each.  Again,  it  is  she  who  presides  over  the  fabric  of  choicely- 
woven  cells  within.  She  looks  to  it  that  warp  and  woof  are  wrought 
with  speed  and  beauty.  Under  her  guardian  eye  the  brood  of 
young  is  nursed  and  reared;  but  when  the  days  of  rearing  are 
past  and  the  young  bees  are  ripe  for  work,  she  sends  them  out  as 
colonists  with  one  of  the  seed  royal  to  be  their  leader." 

"Shall  I  then  have  to  do  these  things?"  asked  my  wife. 

"Yes,"  I  answered,  "you  will  need  in  the  same  way  to  stay 
indoors,  despatching  to  their  toils  without  those  of  your  domestics 
whose  work  lies  there.  Over  those  whose  appointed  tasks  are 
wrought  indoors,  it  will  be  your  duty  to  preside ;  yours  to  receive 
the  stuffs  brought  in;  yours  to  apportion  part  for  daily  use,  and 
yours  to  make  provision  for  the  rest,  to  guard  and  garner  it  so 
that  the  outgoings  destined  for  a  year  may  not  be  expended  in  a 
month.  It  will  be  your  duty,  when  the  wools  are  introduced,  to 
see  that  clothing  is  made  for  those  who  need;  your  duty  also  to 
see  that  the  dried  corn  is  rendered  fit  and  serviceable  for  food. 

"There  is  just  one  of  all  these  occupations  which  devolve  upon 
you,"  I  added,  "you  may  not  find  so  altogether  pleasing.  Should 
any  of  our  household  fall  sick,  it  will  be  your  care  to  see  and  tend 
them  to  the  recovery  of  their  health." 

"Nay,"  she  answered,  "that  will  be  the  pleasantest  of  tasks, 
if  careful  nursing  may  touch  the  springs  of  gratitude  and  leave 
them  friendlier  than  heretofore." 


THE  TRAINING  OF  A  WIFE 


507 


And  I,  continued  Ischomachus,  was  struck  with  admiration  at 
her  answer,  and  replied  :  "  Thank  you,  my  wife,  it  is  through  some 
such  traits  of  forethought  seen  in  their  mistress-leader  that  the 
hearts  of  bees  are  won,  and  they  are  so  loyally  affectioned  toward 
her  that,  if  ever  she  abandon  her  hive,  not  one  of  them  will  dream 
of  being  left  behind ;  but  one  and  all  must  follow  her." 

And  my  wife  made  answer  to  me :  "It  would  much  astonish 
me  did  not  these  leaders'  works,  you  speak  of,  point  to  you  rather 
than  to  myself.  Methinks  mine  would  be  a  pretty  guardianship 
and  distribution  of  things  indoors  without  your  provident  care  to 
see  that  the  importations  from  without  were  duly  made." 

"Just  so,"  I  answered,  "and  mine  would  be  a  pretty  importa- 
tion if  there  were  no  one  to  guard  what  I  imported.  Do  you  not 
see,"  I  added,  "how  pitiful  is  the  case  of  those  unfortunates  who 
pour  water  into  their  sieves  for  ever,  as  the  story  goes,  and  labor 
but  in  vain?" 

"Pitiful  enough,  poor  souls,"  she  answered,  "if  that  is  what 
they  do." 

"But  there  are  other  cares,  you  know,  and  occupations,"  I 
answered,  "which  are  yours  by  right,  and  these  you  will  find  agree- 
able. This,  for  instance :  to  take  some  maiden  who  knows  naught 
of  carding  wool  and  to  make  her  a  proficient  in  the  art,  doubling 
her  usefulness ;  or  to  receive  another  quite  ignorant  of  housekeep- 
ing or  of  service,  and  to  render  her  skilful,  loyal,  serviceable,  till 
she  is  worth  her  weight  in  gold ;  or  again,  when  occasion  serves, 
you  have  it  in  your  power  to  requite  by  kindness  the  well-behaved 
whose  presence  is  a  blessing  to  your  house ;  or  maybe  to  chasten 
the  bad  character,  should  such  a  one  appear.1  But  the  greatest 
joy  of  all  will  be  to  prove  yourself  my  better ;  2  to  make  me  your 
faithful  follower ;  knowing  no  dread  lest  as  the  years  advance  you 

1  The  house  of  the  wealthy  Athenian  was,  so  to  speak,  a  manufacturing  plant, 
which  aimed  to  produce  as  much  as  possible  of  the  material,  clothing,  food,  etc.,  needed 
by  the  members  of  the  household,  slave  and  free.  A  large  number  of  hands  were  em- 
ployed. As  the  director  of  this  establishment  a  woman  exercised  more  administrative 
authority  than  is  now  generally  conceded  to  her  in  the  business  world,  where  almost  all 
supervision  is  entrusted  to  men. 

2  It  was  possible  for  the  wife  to  be  not  only  the  equal  of  her  husband  but  his  su- 
perior. In  the  face  of  such  facts,  it  is  absurd  to  speak  of  the  inferiority  of  Athenian 
women  of  this  period. 


5°8 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


should  decline  in  honor  in  your  household,  but  rather  trusting 
that,  though  your  hair  turn  grey,  yet  in  proportion  as  you  come 
to  be  a  better  helpmate  to  myself  and  to  the  children,  a  better 
guardian  of  our  home,  so  will  your  honor  increase  throughout  the 
household  as  mistress,  wife,  and  mother,  daily  more  dearly  prized. 
Since,"  I  added,  "it  is  not  through  excellence  of  outward  form, 
but  by  reason  of  the  lustre  of  virtues  shed  forth  upon  the  life  of 
man,  that  increase  is  given  to  things  beautiful  and  good." 

That,  Socrates,  or  something  like  that,  as  far  as  I  may  trust 
my  memory,  records  the  earliest  conversation  which  I  held  with 
her. 

155.  A  Dissolute  Spendthrift 

(vEschines,  Against  Timarchus,  95-99.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Timarchus,  a  politician  of  Athens,  was  a  supporter  of  the  anti-Macedonian 
policy  of  Demosthenes  and  therefore  an  opponent  of  King  Philip's  Athenian 
friend  iEschines.  In  planning  the  prosecution  of  yEschines  on  the  charge  of 
having  been  bribed  by  Philip  in  the  recent  Athenian  negotiations  with  him, 
Demosthenes  secured  the  cooperation  of  Timarchus.  The  latter,  however, 
had  incurred  a  reputation  for  extreme  dissoluteness,  immorality  of  the  vilest 
nature,  and  spendthriftness.  Now  there  was  a  law  at  Athens  which  debarred 
such  men  from  public  speaking.  ^Eschines  accordingly  prosecuted  Timarchus 
under  this  law  (345  B.C.),  in  order  to  eliminate  him  as  an  accuser.  The  success 
of  iEschines  in  the  prosecution  brought  the  political  career  of  Timarchus  to  an 
ignoble  end.  The  entire  oration  against  Timarchus  is  a  valuable  source  for 
social  conditions  at  Athens.  The  passage  translated  below  is  especially  instruc- 
tive for  the  light  it  throws  upon  the  possessions  of  a  well-to-do  Athenian  of  the 
age  of  Demosthenes,  and  for  its  presentation  of  a  typical  spendthrift,  merely 
suggested  in  the  preceding  excerpt  from  Xenophon,  Economicus.  The  ruin  of 
estates  was  due  to  conduct  here  described  rather  than  to  governmental  oppres- 
sion;  Blass,  Demosthenes'  Genossen  una1  Gegner,  167  sqq. 

(95)  When  this  (property)  1  too  had  disappeared  and  had  been 
squandered  in  gambling  and  gluttony  .  .  .  and  his  abominable 
and  wicked  nature  always  maintained  the  same  appetites,  and  in 
an  excess  of  incontinence  imposed  command  upon  command  and 
dissipated  wealth  in  his  daily  life,  then  he  turned  to  consuming 
his  paternal  estate.    (96)  Thus  not  only  did  he  eat  it  up,  but  if 

1  The  property  here  referred  to  is  described  above  as  coming  to  his  use  through  his 
connections  with  a  certain  Hegesander. 


EXTREME  PRODIGALITY 


509 


one  may  use  the  expression,  he  even  drank  it  up.  Not  for  a  proper 
price  did  he  alienate  his  several  possessions,  nor  did  he  wait  for 
the  opportunity  of  gain  or  advantage,  but  he  used  to  sell  for  what- 
ever price  a  thing  would  bring,  so  strenuously  did  he  pursue  his 
pleasures.  (97)  His  father  had  left  him  an  estate  from  which 
another  man  might  even  have  discharged  the  expensive  and  gra- 
tuitous public  functions  (liturgies),1  but  he  could  not  even  main- 
tain it  for  his  own  advantage.  He  had  a  house  behind  the  Acrop- 
olis,2 another  in  the  outlying  district,  in  the  deme  3  Sphettus ;  in 
the  deme  Alopece  another  place,  and  in  addition  slaves  who  were 
skilled  in  the  shoemaker's  trade,  nine  or  ten  of  them,  each  of  whom 
brought  this  man  an  income  of  two  obols  4  a  day,  and  the  foreman 
of  the  shop  three  obols ;  also  a  woman  slave  who  understood  how 
to  weave  the  fibre  of  Amorgos,5  and  a  man  slave  who  was  a  broid- 
erer.  There  were  some,  too,  who  owed  him  money,  and  besides 
he  possessed  personal  property.  (98)  .  .  .  The  house  in  town 
he  sold  to  Nausicrates  the  comic  poet,  and  afterward  Cleaenetus 
the  trainer  of  choruses  bought  it  of  Nausicrates  for  twenty  minas. 
The  estate  in  the  country  was  sold  to  Mnesitheus  of  the  deme 
Myrrhinus.  It  was  a  large  farm,  but  fearfully  run  to  weeds  under 
the  management  of  the  accused.  (99)  As  to  the  farm  at  Alopece, 
which  is  eleven  or  twelve  stadia  distant  from  the  walls  (of  Athens) , 
when  his  mother  entreated  and  begged  him,  as  I  learn,  to  let  it 
alone  and  not  sell  it,  but  if  nothing  else,  to  leave  it  for  her  to  be 
buried  in,  —  for  all  that,  even  from  this  place  he  did  not  abstain, 
but  this  farm  too  he  sold,  for  2000  drachmas.  Furthermore  of 
the  woman  slaves  and  the  domestic  slaves  he  left  not  one,  but  has 
sold  everything. 

1  On  the  liturgies,  see  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xii. 

2  "Behind  the  Acropolis"  signifies  north  of  the  Acropolis,  within  the  city.  In 
plan  Athens  formed  an  irregular  circle,  or  as  we  may  say,  a  wheel,  with  the  Acropolis 
as  a  hub.  The  present  passage  assumes,  as  seems  to  be  the  case,  that  the  southern 
section  was  the  residence  quarter  par  excellence. 

3  Deme,  township.  Cleisthenes  had  divided  Attica  into  more  than  a  hun- 
dred demes.  On  this  subject,  see  Von  Schoeffer,  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  V. 
1-131. 

4  An  obol  was  about  three  cents ;  a  mina,  mentioned  below,  about  eighteen  dollars. 

5  Amorgos,  a  small  island  in  the  y£gean  sea,  southeast  of  Naxos.  Its  most  famous 
product  was  a  fine  transparent  cloth  made  of  wool,  or  possibly  of  cotton ;  Mau  and 
Hirschfeld,  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  1875,  1876. 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


156.  The  Estate  and  the  Legacy  of  Demosthenes,  Father 
of  Demosthenes  the  Orator 

(Demosthenes,  xxvii.  4-22  ;  Against  Aphobus,  I.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

The  circumstances  under  which  this  speech  was  delivered  are  detailed  in  the 
passage  below.  It  belongs  to  the  year  363,  when  Demosthenes  was  in  his 
twentieth  year.  It  was  commonly  believed  by  ancient  literary  critics  that 
Isseus  aided  him  in  the  preparation  of  the  group  of  speeches  against  his  unfaith- 
ful guardians.  We  are  informed,  too,  that  as  a  result  of  the  first  oration  against 
Aphobus  the  jury  gave  its  decision  for  the  recovery  of  ten  talents ;  but  Aphobus 
obstructed  the  delivery  of  the  property  by  further  litigation.  In  the  end 
though  Demosthenes  recovered  little  of  his  property,  the  reputation  he  gained 
in  the  preparation  of  these  judicial  orations  and  in  the  general  management  of 
his  case  established  him  at  once  as  a  professional  speech-writer,  and  thus  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  fortune. 

The  excerpt  given  below  is  a  valuable  source  of  information  on  fourth- 
century  manufacturing,  business  investments,  legacies,  and  related  matters. 

(4)  Demosthenes,  my  father,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  died  worth 
nearly  fourteen  talents.  He  left  me  at  the  age  of  seven  and  my 
sister  at  five,  and  our  mother,  who  had  brought  into  the  house  a 
dowry  of  fifty  minas.  In  his  plans  for  us  when  he  was  about  to 
die,  he  entrusted  this  whole  estate  to  my  adversary  Aphobus  and 
to  Demophon,  son  of  Demon,  who  were  his  nephews,  one  by  his 
brother  and  the  other  by  his  sister,  and  further  to  Therippides  of 
Pseania,  who  was  not  related  to  him  in  blood  but  who  had  been 
a  friend  from  boyhood.  To  him  he  gave  seventy  minas  from  my 
estate,  to  use  the  interest  of  it  during  the  whole  time  until  I  should 
become  of  age,  in  order  that  he  might  not  through  covetousness 
injure  my  estate  through  any  mismanagement.  (5)  To  Demophon 
he  gave  my  sister  with  a  dowry  of  two  talents,  to  be  paid  immedi- 
ately, whereas  to  my  present  adversary  he  gave  my  mother  in 
marriage  with  a  dowry  of  eighty  minas  and  in  addition  the  use  of 
my  house  and  furniture.  These  dispositions  he  made  with  the 
idea  that  if  he  could  bind  my  guardians  still  more  closely  to  me, 
their  guardianship  over  me  would  be  the  better  exercised  because 
of  the  nearer  bond.  (6)  These  men  accordingly  took  their  re- 
spective legacies  from  my  estate ;  and  assuming  the  management 
of  the  remaining  property,  they  have  continued  ten  years  in  their 
guardianship  of  me.    Now  at  the  close  of  this  period  they  have 


A  LARGE  ESTATE 


handed  over  to  me  the  house  and  fourteen  slaves  and  thirty  minas 
in  cash  —  amounting  altogether  to  about  seventy  minas  —  but 
have  withheld  from  me  all  the  rest.  (7)  This,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  is  a  summary  of  the  wrongs  they  have  done  me.  That  the 
amount  of  the  property  left  was  what  I  have  stated,  they  themselves 
are  my  chief  witnesses ;  for  they  assigned  me  to  a  symmory  to 
pay  a  tax  on  five  hundred  drachmas  for  every  twenty-five  minas 
of  my  property,  just  as  do  Timotheus,  son  of  Conon,  and  the  wealth- 
iest men  in  the  state.  It  is  better,  however,  that  you  should  hear 
in  detail  what  parts  of  my  estate  are  unproductive  and  what  parts 
yield  an  income  and  how  much  each  part  is  worth.  Having  learned 
these  particulars,  you  will  see  clearly  that  of  all  who  have  ever 
acted  as  guardians  none  have  ever  robbed  their  wards  more  openly 
and  shamelessly  than  these  men  have  robbed  us.  (8)  To  prove 
in  the  first  place  that  they  have  placed  this  estimate  on  my  prop- 
erty in  the  symmory  for  taxation  I  will  furnish  witnesses,  and  next 
that  my  father  did  not  leave  me  a  poor  boy  or  in  possession  of  an 
estate  worth  no  more  than  seventy  minas,  but  of  such  a  value  that 
these  adversaries  could  not  conceal  its  magnitude  from  the  state. 
Take  and  read  this  evidence. 

{Testimony) 

(9)  From  these  facts,  therefore,  the  value  of  my  estate  is  evi- 
dent. It  is  worth  fifteen  talents,  and  the  taxable  value  is  three 
talents.  On  that  amount  did  they  think  it  right  that  I  should 
be  taxed.  Furthermore  if  you  listen  you  will  learn  more  precisely 
about  the  estate.  My  father,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  left  two  work- 
shops, each  with  no  inconsiderable  trade.  One  was  a  sword  fac- 
tory employing  thirty-two  or  thirty-three  slaves,  most  of  whom 
were  worth  five  and  six  minas  apiece,  and  the  rest  not  less  than 
three  minas  each;  from  this  plant  my  father  used  to  receive  a 
net  annual  income  of  thirty  minas.  The  other  shop  was  a  sofa 
factory  employing  twenty  couch-makers,  mortgaged  to  my 
father  for  forty  minas.  This  plant  brought  him  a  net  annual 
income  of  twelve  minas.  He  left  also  a  talent  in  money  let  out 
on  interest  at  a  drachma  (a  month  to  the  mina),  from  which  the 
annual  interest  amounted  to  more  than  seven  minas.  (10)  This 
was  the  productive  capital  which  he  left,  the  sum  of  the  principal 


512 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


being  four  talents  and  fifty  minas,  and  the  income  from  it  being 
fifty  minas  each  year.  Besides  these  sums  he  left  ivory  and  iron, 
which  they  were  using  in  the  shops,  and  wood  for  the  sofas,  worth 
as  much  as  eighty  minas ;  gall  and  bronze,  too,  bought  for  seventy 
minas ;  still  further  a  house  worth  thirty  minas  and  furniture  and 
plate  and  gold  jewels  and  garments  and  adornments  of  my  mother 
worth  in  all  a  hundred  minas,  and  eighty  minas  in  cash  within  the 
house,  (n)  Thus  much  he  left  at  home.  On  a  maritime  venture 
he  had  invested  seventy  minas  with  Xuthus ;  he  had  deposited 
twenty-four  minas  in  Pasion's  bank ;  six  in  the  bank  of  Pylades ; 
sixteen  he  had  lent  to  Demomeles,  son  of  Demon ;  small  sums  of 
two  or  three  minas  he  had  lent  to  various  persons,  amounting  in 
all  to  about  a  talent.  And  the  sum  of  these  items  amounts  to 
more  than  eight  talents  and  fifty  minas.  You  will  find  by  reckon- 
ing that  the  total  value  reaches  fourteen  talents. 

(12)  This,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  is  the  value  of  the  estate 
left  to  us.  The  portion  of  it  that  has  been  stolen,  the  amount  that 
each  one  individually  has  pilfered,  the  sums,  too,  which  they  are 
collectively  withholding,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  detail  in  the 
time  allowed  me.  But  I  must  keep  these  sums  distinct.  The 
portions  of  my  property  which  Demophon  and  Therippides  are 
keeping,  it  will  suffice  to  describe  at  the  time  when  we  shall  bring 
prosecutions  against  them.  The  amount,  however,  which  these 
men  prove  to  be  in  the  hands  of  my  present  adversary,  which  I 
know  that  he  has  taken,  I  will  proceed  immediately  to  describe 
to  you.  First  the  fact  that  he  has  the  dowry  of  eighty  minas  I 
shall  make  evident  to  you,  and  shall  then  take  up  the  other  items 
as  briefly  as  I  can. 

(13)  Immediately  after  our  father's  death  he  entered  our  house 
and  abode  in  it  according  to  the  terms  of  the  will;  and  he  took 
possession  of  my  mother's  gold  jewellery  and  the  plate  that  had 
been  left.  Thus  he  got  property  to  the  value  of  fifty  minas ;  and 
further  when  the  slaves  were  sold  he  received  from  Therippides 
and  Demophon  the  value,  to  complete  the  dowry  of  eighty  minas. 
(14)  When  he  had  recovered  this  amount,  and  was  about  to  sail 
as  trierarch  to  Corcyra,  he  left  a  written  statement  with  Therip- 
pides that  he  had  these  items,  and  acknowledged  that  he  had 
received  the  dowry.    Of  these  facts,  in  the  first  place,  Demophon 


A  CLEAR  CASE  OF  FRAUD 


5i3 


and  Therippides,  his  colleagues  in  the  guardianship,  are  witnesses ; 
and  further  that  he  acknowledged  possession  of  this  amount 
Demochares  of  Leuconium,  husband  of  my  aunt,  and  many  others 
have  given  testimony.  For  seeing  that  he  did  not  provide  my 
mother  with  a  living  though  he  had  her  dowry,  and  was  unwilling 
to  let  the  house,  but  insisted  on  sharing  in  the  management  of 
the  property  with  the  other  guardians,  Demochares  had  a  talk 
with  him  on  the  subject.  When  my  adversary  heard  these  facts, 
he  did  not  deny  having  the  property  or  complain  that  he  had  not 
received  it,  but  admitted  it  all,  and  said  he  had  a  little  dispute 
with  my  mother  regarding  her  gold  trinkets,  and  would  be  ready, 
as  soon  as  that  was  settled,  to  do  in  regard  to  the  question  of  sup- 
port and  other  matters  whatever  would  be  agreeable  to  me. 
(16)  And  yet  if  it  shall  be  proved  that  he  made  this  admission  to 
Demochares  and  to  all  the  others  who  were  present,  that  he  has  re- 
ceived from  Demophon  and  Therippides  the  value  of  the  slaves  to 
be  counted  toward  the  dowry,  and  has  given  to  his  fellow-guardians 
a  receipt  to  the  effect  that  he  has  possession  of  the  dowry;  if  it 
shall  be  proved  further  that  he  has  occupied  the  house  from  the 
very  time  when  my  father  died,  the  fact  thus  being  acknowledged 
in  every  point,  will  it  not  be  clearly  established  that  he  recovered 
the  dowry  of  eighty  minas,  notwithstanding  his  present  impudent 
denial  of  it?  To  prove  that  I  speak  the  truth,  take  and  read  the 
testimonies. 

{Testimonies) 

(17)  Having  received  the  dowry  in  this  manner,  he  continued 
in  possession  of  it.  But  as  he  failed  to  marry  my  mother,  the  law 
directs  that  he  is  liable  to  pay  the  dowry  with  interest  at  nine  obols 
a  month;  but  I  shall  reckon  it  at  merely  a  drachma.  There 
results,  if  anyone  will  add  the  principal  to  the  interest  for  ten  years, 
about  three  talents.  (18)  Now  I  am  proving  to  you  that,  having 
thus  received  this  money,  he  continues  to  hold  it  and  has  confessed 
the  fact  in  the  presence  of  so  many  witnesses.  Receiving  thirty 
minas  besides  as  the  income  from  the  shop,  he  has  attempted  to 
defraud  me  of  this  money  in  the  most  impudent  manner  possible. 
My  father  left  an  income  of  thirty  minas  from  this  source ;  and 
after  these  men  sold  a  half  of  the  slaves,  I  ought  to  have  received 


5H 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


the  proportional  income  of  fifteen  minas.  (19)  Therippides,  how- 
ever, who  supervised  this  business  for  seven  years,  rendered  me 
an  account  for  eleven  minas  a  year,  which  is  four  minas  less  annually 
than  ought  to  be  calculated.  But  the  defendant,  who  supervised 
it  during  the  first  two  years,  renders  no  account  whatever  of  the 
profits,  but  alleges  that  at  times  the  shop  was  idle,  at  other  times 
he  did  not  have  charge  of  it,  but  that  the  foreman  Milyas,  our 
freedman,  managed  the  shop,  so  that  I  ought  to  ask  him  for  the 
account.  Now  if  he  shall  offer  any  of  these  excuses,  it  will  be  easy 
to  convict  him  of  falsehood.  (20)  If  accordingly  he  shall  say 
that  the  business  was  suspended,  he  has  himself  given  an  account 
of  expenses,  not  for  the  provisions  of  the  workmen,  but  for  the 
trade,  —  for  ivory,  for  hilts  of  the  swords,  and  for  other  material, 
with  the  understanding  that  the  artisans  were  at  work.  Further 
he  charges  me  with  money  paid  to  Therippides  for  the  hire  of  three 
slaves  whom  he  had  employed  in  my  shop.  And  yet  if  the  work 
was  suspended,  Therippides  ought  not  to  have  received  wages  for 
his  slaves,  and  I  ought  not  to  be  charged  with  these  expenses. 
(21)  If  on  the  other  hand  he  shall  say  that  the  shop  was  busy  but 
there  was  no  sale  for  the  commodities,  it  is  doubtless  incumbent 
upon  him  to  prove  that  he  has  delivered  to  me  the  products  of  the 
shop  and  to  furnish  witnesses  in  whose  presence  he  made  the  deliv- 
ery. (22)  If  however  he  shall  make  neither  of  these  assertions, 
but  shall  allege  that  Milyas  managed  this  whole  business,  how  can 
he  be  believed  when  he  says  that  he  underwent  the  expenses,  amount- 
ing to  more  than  five  hundred  drachmas,  and  that  this  Milyas 
received  the  profit,  if  there  were  any?  It  seems  to  me  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  the  very  opposite  has  happened :  if  Milyas  super- 
vised the  business,  he  probably  paid  the  expenses  and  the  defendant 
gathered  in  the  profits ;  that  is  the  likely  thing  if  we  must  judge  by 
the  general  character  and  the  impudence  of  my  adversary.  Take 
these  testimonies,  then,  and  read  them  to  the  court.  .  .  . 

In  the  fourth  century  the  citizens  were  grouped  according  to  property  into 
associations  called  symmories.  When  direct  taxes  were  levied,  which  was  only 
in  case  of  war,  the  symmories  of  the  wealthiest  class,  to  which  Demosthenes  be- 
longed, had  to  advance  the  whole  sum  and  reimburse  themselves  from  the  taxes 
of  the  less  wealthy.  A  drachma  was  about  18  cents,  a  mina  was  100  drachmas, 
a  talent  60  minas. 


BANKS  5i5 

157.  Pasion  and  Phormion 

the  two  most  famous  bankers  of  athens 

(Demosthenes,  In  Behalf  of  Phormion.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

In  ancient  Greece  the  only  banks  which  could  in  any  sense  be  described  as 
public  were  the  temples.  In  earlier  time  states  and  individuals  made  deposits 
in  them  for  safe-keeping,  and  in  the  course  of  the  fifth  and  fourth  centuries  it 
became  increasingly  practicable  for  them  to  let  out  these  deposits  on  interest  — 
in  other  words,  to  engage  in  banking  business.  Private  banks  were  a  develop- 
ment from  the  money-changer's  trade,  which  lay  in  the  hands  of  slaves  and  freed- 
men;  hence  bankers,  too,  were  often  freedmen.  The  greatest  banker  of 
Athens  was  Pasion,  a  slave  by  birth,  who  learned  the  business  in  the  firm  of  his 
masters  (see  text  infra).  Having  received  his  freedom,  he  ultimately  began 
business  on  his  own  responsibility.  So  great  was  his  reputation  for  honesty 
that  his  credit  was  good  for  any  amount  throughout  the  Hellenic  world.  The 
method  of  banking  was  to  receive  deposits  on  interest,  which  were  then  invested 
on  security  of  land  or  capital ;  letters  of  credit  were  issued ;  and  sometimes  the 
banker  engaged  personally  in  commercial  transactions.  From  the  subjoined 
selection  it  is  clear  that  often  two  or  more  partners  engaged  in  the  business, 
although  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  business  corporations  were  rare  and 
were  more  or  less  temporary  in  character. 

Pasion  died  370-369,  leaving  a  will,  according  to  which  his  two  sons  Apollo- 
dorus  and  Pasicles  inherited  the  greater  part  of  the  estate.  Phormion,  his 
freedman,  was  to  marry  the  widow,  who  was  given  an  ample  dowry,  and  was  to 
act  as  guardian  of  Pasicles,  who  was  still  a  minor.  Twenty  years  after  the 
death  of  Pasion,  350-349,  Apollodorus  prosecuted  Phormion  to  recover  twenty 
talents.  The  speech  excerpted  below  was  in  defense  of  Phormion  at  the  trial. 
The  form  of  defense  was  a  paragraphs  —  an  objection  to  the  bringing  of  the 
prosecution,  in  this  instance  on  the  ground  that  (1)  a  settlement  had  already 
been  made  by  arbitration  and  a  release  granted  the  defendant  by  the  plaintiff, 
(2)  that  the  claim,  if  any  existed,  had  been  outlawed  by  time.  Necessarily  the 
speech  came  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  trial.  It  was  so  convincing  that  the 
jury  accepted  the  plea  and  the  prosecution  was  quashed.  The  principal  facts 
necessary  for  understanding  the  case  are  given  in  the  selection.  The  speech  is 
the  most  famous  of  all  the  private  orations  of  Demosthenes  (Blass,  Attische 
Beredsamkeit,  III.  1.  404).  Only  those  passages  are  here  given  which  throw 
light  upon  the  banking  business  and  upon  the  character  of  Pasion  and  Phor- 
mion. Other  sources  on  banking  are  Demosthenes,  Against  Stephanus,  I; 
Isocrates,  Trapeziticus.  See  also  Bockh,  Staatshaushaltung  der  Athener,  I. 
159-61 ;  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  II.  349-52. 


» 


516  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

Phormion's  lack  of  ability  in  speaking  because  of  inexperience  1 
all  of  you  know,  gentlemen  of  the  jury.  It  is  necessary,  therefore, 
for  us,  his  friends,  to  relate  for  your  information  what  we  know, 
having  often  heard  him  recount  these  matters.  Our  object  is 
that  you  with  full  knowledge,  after  correctly  ascertaining  the  facts 
from  us,  may  vote  whatever  is  just  and  in  accordance  with  your 
oaths.  (2)  We  have  adopted  the  paragraphs  as  our  form  of  pro- 
cedure, not  with  a  view  to  confusing  the  issue  by  urging  the  statute 
of  limitations,2  but  that  if  the  defendant  can  prove  that  he  has 
committed  no  wrong  whatever,  a  cessation  from  trouble  may  be 
validated  for  him  by  you.  Everything  that  with  other  people 
arranges  and  settles  disputes  without  bringing  them  to  trial  before 
you  Phormion  has  done.3  (3)  He  has  conferred  great  benefits  on 
the  plaintiff  Apollodorus  and  has  justly  paid  for,  or  handed  over, 
everything  of  which  he  was  left  manager  for  the  plaintiff,  and  after- 
ward was  released  from  all  claims.  Nevertheless,  as  you  see,  since 
the  defendant  is  unable  to  endure  this  man's  treatment,  the  latter 
has  maliciously  brought  against  him  this  suit  for  twenty  talents. 
I  shall  endeavor  therefore  to  narrate  from  the  beginning  all  the 
transactions  of  the  defendant  with  Pasion  and  Apollodorus  in  the 
briefest  terms.  From  these  facts  I  know  well  that  the  plaintiff's 
conduct  will  appear  malicious,  and  that  you,  having  heard  these 
statements,  will  decide  that  the  case  is  not  actionable. 

(4)  In  the  first  place  you  will  hear  read  the  articles  of  agree- 
ment, in  accordance  with  which  Pasion  leased  the  bank  and  the 
shield-factory  4  to  the  defendant.  Take  therefore  the  agreement 
and  the  challenge  5  and  the  testimonies. 

1  The  idea  is  that  Phormion's  life  has  been  so  straightforward  as  to  keep  him  free 
from  litigation  and  the  practice  of  speaking  before  the  courts.  This  is  a  common  device 
of  the  orators  for  winning  the  sympathy  of  the  jurors. 

2  The  period  of  limitation  was  five  years,  during  which  the  plaintiff  should  have 
urged  his  claim. 

3  This  statement  refers  to  the  bringing  of  the  dispute  before  arbitrators,  a  common 
custom  at  Athens.  In  this  instance  the  arbitrators  settled  the  dispute  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  both  parties,  and  Apollodorus  gave  Phormion  a  written  discharge  from  all  claims. 

4  After  Pasion  had  freed  Phormion,  his  slave,  he  leased  to  the  latter  his  two  branches 
of  business  here  mentioned. 

5  In  this  instance  the  challenge  (jrpbKk'nvis)  was  the  formal  demand  made  by 
Phormion  upon  Apollodorus  for  the  production  of  the  documents  of  agreement;  cf. 
Meyer  und  Schomann,  Attischer  Process,  871. 


THE  LEASE  OF  A  BANK 


5i7 


(Articles  of  agreement,  challenges,  testimonies  l) 

These,  then,  are  the  articles  of  agreement  by  which  Pasion 
leased  the  bank  and  the  shield-factory  to  the  defendant  when  the 
latter  became  his  own  master,  men  of  Athens.  It  is  necessary  also 
for  you  to  hear  and  learn  in  what  way  Pasion  came  to  owe  eleven 
talents  to  the  bank.  (5)  It  was  not  through  want  that  he  owed 
it  but  because  of  his  enterprise  in  business  ;  for  the  landed  property 
of  Pasion  was  worth  about  twenty  talents,  and  in  addition  to  this 
amount  he  had  lent  out  more  than  fifty  talents  of  his  own.2  Among 
these  fifty  talents  there  were  eleven  talents  from  the  bank  deposits 
productively  invested.  (6)  The  defendant  accordingly  when  he 
took  in  lease  this  business  of  the  bank  and  received  the  deposits, 
seeing  that  he  had  not  yet  been-made  a  citizen  by  you,  and  would 
therefore  be  unable  to  recover  the  amounts  lent  by  Pasion  on  lands 
and  tenements,3  — -  for  these  reasons  he  chose  to  have  Pasion  debtor 
to  him  for  this  sum  rather  than  the  others  to  whom  the  loans  had 
been  made.  Hence  it  was  that  Pasion  was  recorded  in  the  lease 
as  owing  the  defendant  eleven  talents,  just  as  the  witnesses  have 
testified  before  you. 

(7)  In  what  way  the  lease  was  made  has  been  testified  before 
you  by  the  manager  of  the  bank.  Afterward,  when  Pasion  fell 
ill,  consider  the  terms  of  the  will  that  he  made.  Take  4  the  copy 
of  the  will  and  this  challenge  and  these  testimonies  made  by  the 
persons  with  whom  the  will  has  been  deposited. 

1  Generally,  as  in  this  instance,  the  documents  have  not  been  preserved  with  the 
speech.  Alleged  documents  have  often  been  made  up  by  an  ancient  editor  from  the 
context. 

2  It  is  clear  from  what  immediately  follows  that  the  sum  here  mentioned  was  not 
all  surplus,  but  in  part  at  least  deposits.  The  lands  mentioned  above  had  probably 
been  obtained  by  the  foreclosure  of  mortgages. 

3  An  alien  could  not  acquire  real  estate  in  Attica,  unless  granted  the  right  as  a 
special  favor.  For  that  reason  Phormion,  before  he  became  a  citizen,  could  not  force 
the  collection  of  debts  on  the  security  of  real  estate.  From  this  fact  we  can  infer  how 
valuable  the  citizenship  must  have  been  to  a  business  man. 

4  This  is  an  order  to  the  clerk  to  take  the  documents  and  read  them  to  the  court. 
Testimonies  had  previously  been  written  down  and  kept  for  the  trial  by  the  magistrate 
who  presided  over  the  court.  Witnesses  were  present  to  assent  to  their  depositions, 
but  not  to  give  further  evidence  or  submit  to  cross-questioning. 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


(Will,  Challenge,  Testimonies) 

(8)  After  Pasion  had  died,  having  left  this  will,  Phormion  the 
defendant  married  the  widow  as  the  will  directed  1  and  became 
guardian  of  the  (minor)  son.  As  the  plaintiff,  however,  kept 
appropriating  moneys  belonging  to  the  common  estate,  and  thought 
it  proper  to  spend  these  sums,  the  guardians  reasoned  among 
themselves  that,  if  it  should  be  necessary  according  to  the  will  to 
deduct  whatever  he  should  spend  from  the  common  estate  and 
then  divide  the  remainder,  there  would  in  fact  be  nothing  left  to 
divide.  For  this  reason  they  concluded  in  behalf  of  the  boy  to 
divide  the  property  forthwith.  (9)  They  made  a  division,  accord- 
ingly, of  all  the  estate  except  the  part  of  which  the  defendant  had 
taken  a  lease ;  and  half  the  revenue  from  this  amount  they  rendered 
regularly  to  the  plaintiff.  Up  to  this  point  how  is  it  possible  for 
him  to  make  any  complaint  regarding  the  lease?  He  ought  not 
to  have  waited  till  now  but  should  have  expressed  his  dissatisfaction 
at  the  very  time.  In  fact  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  deny  that  he 
received  the  rents  which  afterward  became  due.  (10)  When 
Pasicles  became  of  age  and  the  defendant  was  discharged  from  the 
lease,  the  plaintiff  would  not  have  given  him  a  quittance  of  all 
claims,  but  would  at  that  very  time  have  made  his  demand,  if  the 
defendant  owed  anything  further.  To  prove  that  I  am  speaking 
the  truth,  and  that  the  plaintiff  divided  the  estate  with  his  brother 
when  a  minor,  and  that  they  gave  the  defendant  a  quittance  of 
the  lease  2  and  of  all  other  claims,  take  this  testimony. 

(Testimony) 

(11)  Immediately  after  they  had  discharged  the  defendant  from 
the  lease,  men  of  Athens,  they  divided  between  them  the  bank  and 
the  shield-factory ;  and  Apollodorus,  making  choice,  preferred  the 
shield-factory  to  the  bank.    Yet  if  he  had  had  any  private  capital 3 

1  It  was  a  common  custom  for  a  man  in  his  will  to  provide  for  the  remarriage  of  his 
wife.    This  provision  was  made  by  Demosthenes,  father  of  the  orator;  see  no.  156. 

2  This  quittance  was  given  at  the  time  of  the  arbitration  mentioned  above. 

3  The  word  here  translated  by  "capital,"  below  by  "banking  stock,"  is  aphorme 
(a<f>opfxri).  Such  capital  differed  from  ordinary  deposits  without  wholly  losing  the 
character  of  loans.  Apollodorus  claimed  to  have  twenty  talents  invested  in  the  bank, 
a  part  of  which,  however,  must  have  been  dividend.    It  was  for  the  recovery  of  this 


BANKING  STOCK 


5i9 


in  the  bank,  why  would  he  ever  have  chosen  the  factory  rather  than 
the  bank?  Certainly  the  revenue  was  not  greater  but  less  (the 
one  brought  in  a  talent,  the  other  a  hundred  minas)  ;  nor  was  the 
business  more  agreeable,  if  indeed  he  had  private  capital  in 
the  bank.  But  he  did  not  have  it.  Therefore  he  prudently  chose 
the  shield-factory ;  for  one  was  without  risk,  the  other  brought 
a  precarious  income  from  other  people's  property. 

(12)  Many  proofs  could  be  brought  forward  in  evidence  that 
the  claim  of  the  plaintiff  to  banking  stock  is  fraudulent ;  but  in 
my  opinion  the  most  cogent  of  all  evidence  of  his  having  received 
no  banking  stock  is  the  fact  that  in  the  lease  Pasion  is  recorded  as 
owing  money  to  the  bank  and  not  as  having  invested  in  banking 
stock,  secondly  the  fact  that  at  the  division  of  the  estate  the  plain- 
tiff made  no  claim  for  such  a  thing,  and  thirdly,  that  when  he  after- 
ward lent  the  same  business  to  other  persons  for  the  same  amount 
of  money,  it  will  be  proved  that  he  did  not  let  in  addition  any 
private  banking  stock.  (13)  But  surely  if  he  had  been  deprived 
by  the  defendant  of  anything  left  by  his  father,  it  was  his  business 
to  provide  it  from  some  other  source  and  to  hand  it  over  to  the 
lessees.  To  prove  that  I  am  telling  the  truth,  and  that  he  after- 
ward leased  (the  bank)  to  Xenon,  Euphraeus,  Euphron,  and  Callis- 
tratus,1  and  that  he  delivered  to  them  no  private  banking  stock, 
but  leased  to  them  the  deposits  and  the  business  connected  with 
them,  read  for  me  the  deposition  as  to  these  matters  and  also  as 
to  the  fact  that  he  chose  the  shield-factory.  .  .  . 

(28)  For  my  part  I  wonder,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  what  in  the 
world  the  plaintiff  Apollodorus  will  attempt  to  say  in  reply  to  these 
arguments.  Surely  he  has  not  supposed  that  you,  seeing  him 
altogether  unharmed  in  property  rights,  will  be  angry  because 
Phormion  married  his  mother ;  for  he  is  not  unaware  of  the  fact, 
nor  has  it  escaped  the  attention  either  of  him  or  of  many  of  your 
number  that  Socrates  the  banker,  when  liberated  from  his  masters, 

amount  that  he  brought  the  suit.  Evidently  he  had  no  documentary  evidence,  and 
we  do  not  know  the  form  of  document  representing  such  banking  capital. 

1  Here  is  an  example  of  a  partnership  of  four  persons  for  taking  a  banking  busi- 
ness in  lease.  Rarely  were  partnerships  made  for  any  other  kind  of  business  except 
for  commercial  enterprises.  In  the  latter  line  of  business  they  were  usually  for  a 
single  voyage  out  and  return,  whereas  in  banking  they  were  necessarily  of  longer 
duration. 


520 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


just  as  this  man's  father,  gave  his  own  wife  to  Satyrus,  who  had 
formerly  been  his  slave.  (29)  Socles  another  banker  gave  his 
wife  to  Timodemus,  who  is  still  living  but  who  was  once  his  slave. 
Not  only  in  our  state,  men  of  Athens,  do  persons  engaged  in  this 
business  follow  this  policy,  but  also  in  ^Egina  Strymodorus  gave 
his  wife  to  Hermaeus,  his  own  domestic,  and  after  her  death  he 
gave  his  own  daughter  to  the  same  person.  In  fact  one  would  be 
able  to  mention  many  such  cases.  (30)  But  to  you,  men  of  Athens, 
who  are  citizens  by  descent,1  it  is  fitting  to  prefer  no  sum  of  money 
however  great  to  respectable  birth,  whereas  men  who  receive  the 
gift  of  citizenship  from  you  or  from  other  states,  and  who  have 
been  deemed  worthy  of  these  honors  from  their  original  good  for- 
tune in  the  transaction  of  business  and  in  their  acquisition  of  proper- 
ties above  the  average,  must  hold  to  these  advantages.  Pasion 
your  father,  therefore,  was  not  the  first  and  only  man  to  do  such  a 
thing,  nor  did  he  thereby  do  violence  either  to  himself  or  to  you  his 
sons,  but  seeing  that  the  only  security  to  his  business  lay  in  his 
attaching  the  defendant  to  you  by  close  ties,  he  gave  the  defendant 
his  own  wife  and  your  mother.  .  .  . 

(43)  Regarding  the  prosperity  of  Phormion  and  the  idea  that 
he  got  it  from  your  father  and  all  the  matters  on  which  you  say 
you  will  make  inquiry  of  him,  you  alone  of  all  men  that  are,  have 
the  least  right  to  call  Phormion  to  account  for  the  source  of  his 
possessions.  The  reason  is  that  not  even  your  father  Pasion 
acquired  his  wealth  by  his  own  invention,  nor  received  it  as  a  heri- 
tage from  his  father,  but  while  he  was  still  with  his  masters,  An- 
tisthenes  and  Archestratus,  in  the  banking  business  he  gave  proof 
of  honesty  and  uprightness,  and  therefore  won  confidence.  (44)  To 
men  occupied  with  merchandise  and  money-making  it  seems  a 
wonderful  thing  that  the  same  person  should  be  diligent  and  honest. 
Now  his  masters  did  not  hand  over  this  quality  to  him  but  he  was 
himself  honest  by  nature.  Nor  did  your  father  give  this  virtue  to 

1  The  word  for  "descent,"  and  for  "birth"  immediately  below,  is  genos  (ytvos) 
corresponding  to  the  Latin  gens.  This  is  in  fact  the  common  meaning  of  the  word  in 
both  languages.  Noteworthy  is  the  pride  of  descent  in  the  Athenians  as  contrasted 
with  the  love  of  money  in  the  men  of  alien  or  servile  birth.  The  method  of  keeping  the 
business  going  by  marrying  the  foreman  to  the  widow  was  characteristic  of  a  class  who 
cared  more  for  money  than  for  birth ;  and  Apollodorus,  who  was  merely  the  son  of  a 
freedman,  had  no  reasonable  ground  for  objecting  to  the  custom. 


USURERS 


521 


the  defendant,  for  he  would  have  preferred  to  make  you  honest 
instead,  had  it  been  in  his  power.  If  you  are  ignorant  of  this  fact 
that  trustworthiness  is  the  greatest  asset  in  business  life,1  you 
must  be  ignorant  of  everything.  Apart  from  these  considerations 
Phormion  has  in  many  ways  proved  useful  to  your  father  and  to 
you  and  to  your  business  generally.  .  .  . 

158.  A  Loan  from  a  Usurer  for  an  Investment 

(Alciphron,  Letters,  ii.  5 ;  old  eds.  i.  26.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Alciphron,  a  Greek  writer,  evidently  imitated  Lucian,  and  seems  to  have 
been  a  younger  contemporary.  Probably  therefore  he  lived  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  second  and  the  opening  years  of  the  third  century  a.d.  From  his 
hand  we  have  four  books  of  Letters,  which  treat  of  various  phases  of  life.  His 
material  he  drew  in  part  from  Lucian,  in  part  from  Attic  comedy,  middle  and 
new,  one  of  his  sources  in  this  field  being  Menander.  The  fact  is  recognized 
that,  in  so  far  as  he  touches  upon  historical  events  or  the  features  of  actual  life, 
he  represents  conditions  mainly  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.  After  allowance  is 
made  for  the  medium  of  his  knowledge,  his  work  still  remains  a  useful  source  for 
fourth-century  life.  The  letters  are  attractive  because  of  their  delicate  humor 
and  their  sympathetic,  appreciative  spirit.  Evidently  the  writer  was  in  close 
touch  with  the  subjects  treated.  See  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  II.  656-8;  Schmid, 
"Alkiphron,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  1548  (3)  sq. 

This  translation  is  made  from  the  edition  of  Schepers  (Teubner,  1905). 

AGELARCHIDES  TO  PYTHOLAUS 

The  usurers  in  the  city,  kind  friend,  are  a  great  nuisance.  I 
do  not  know  what  was  the  matter  with  me  when  I  ought  to  have 
gone  to  you  or  some  other  of  my  country  neighbors,  at  the  time 
I  was  in  need  of  money  for  purchasing  a  farm  at  Colonus.  On  that 
occasion  a  man  of  the  city  went  with  me  to  the  house  of  Byrtius 
to  introduce  me  to  him.  There  I  found  an  old  man  looking  wrinkled 
and  with  brows  contracted,  holding  in  his  hand  an  antique  paper, 
rotted  by  time  and  half-eaten  by  moths  and  bugs.  Forthwith  he 
spoke  to  me  in  brusques t  fashion,  as  though  he  considered  talking 
a  loss  of  time.  But  when  my  voucher  said  I  wanted  money,  he 
asked  how  many  talents.    Then  when  I  expressed  surprise  at  his 

1  The  wide  and  solid  reputation  of  Pasion  and  Phormion  for  honesty  was  the  very 
foundation  of  their  success. 


522 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


mention  of  so  large  a  sum,  he  forthwith  spat,  and  showed  ill  temper. 
Nevertheless  he  gave  the  money,  demanded  a  note,  required  a 
heavy  interest  on  the  principal,  and  placed  a  mortgage  on  my 
house.  A  great  nuisance  indeed  are  these  men  who  reckon  with 
pebbles  and  crooked  fingers.  Never,  ye  spirits  who  watch  over  the 
farmers,  never  may  it  again  be  my  lot  to  behold  a  wolf  or  a  usurer  ! 

159.  The  Farmer  Takes  to  Commerce 

(Alciphron,  Letters,  ii.  4;  old  eds.  i.  25.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 
EUPETALIS  TO  ELATION 

As  the  earth  repays  me  nothing  equivalent  to  my  toils,  I  have 
resolved  to  devote  myself  to  the  sea  and  the  waves.  Life  and 
death  are  the  common  lot  of  us  all,  and  there  is  no  possibility  of 
escape,  even  if  a  man  should  lock  himself  up  in  a  little  room  and 
stay  there.  The  day  of  fate  is  not  idle,  and  we  cannot  escape  pay- 
ment when  it  is  due.  Life  therefore  does  not  hang  upon  such  cir- 
cumstances but  is  determined  by  Chance.  Some  on  land  have 
proved  short-lived  whereas  upon  the  sea  others  have  lived  to  a 
good  old  age.1  Knowing  full  well  that  this  is  true,  I  am  going  on 
a  voyage,  and  shall  keep  company  with  the  winds  and  the  waves. 
It  is  better  to  return  from  Bosporos  and  Propontis  with  new- 
earned  wealth  2  than  to  stay  in  the  border  fields  of  Attica  and 
complain  of  hunger  and  thirst. 

160.  The  Farmer  Boy  Wants  to  Visit  the  City 

(Alciphron,  Letters,  ii.  28  ;  old  eds.  iii.  31.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Never  yet  have  I  gone  to  the  city,  nor  do  I  know  what  it  is 
like,  but  wish  to  see  this  novel  sight,  and  the  inhabitants  dwelling 
together  within  one  (narrow)  circuit,  and  to  find  out  all  the  other 

1  The  common  opinion  was  that  life  at  sea  was  especially  exposed  to  perils ;  but 
this  man,  on  deliberation,  comes  to  a  different  conclusion. 

2  From  this  statement  we  infer  that  the  writer  intended  to  go,  not  as  a  mere  sailor, 
but  as  a  merchant.  Generally  the  "border  farms  "were  larger  than  the  average;  and 
if  this  man  was  the  owner  of  a  farm  of  this  kind,  he  had  the  means  of  making  a  com- 
mercial investment. 


A  LOVE-LORN  MAID 


523 


ways  in  which  city  differs  from  country.  If  then  you  have  any 
business  that  would  take  you  to  the  city,  come  and  take  me  with 
you.  For  I  fancy  that  I  ought  to  be  learning  something  more,  as 
the  hair  is  beginning  to  grow  on  my  chin.  Who  is  better  fitted  to 
initiate  me  into  the  mysteries  of  that  place  than  you  who  are  going 
about  a  great  deal  of  the  time  within  its  gates? 

161.  Glaucippe  Disagrees  with  Her  Father 

(Alciphron,  i.  11;  old  eds.  iii.  1.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 
GLAUCIPPE  TO  CHAROPE 

I  can  no  longer  contain  myself,  mother,  nor  can  I  endure  to 
marry  the  young  man  from  Methymna,  the  pilot's  son  to  whom 
my  father  betrothed  me,  since  I  saw  the  city  youth  at  the  Oscho- 
phoria,1  when  you  sent  me  to  the  city  at  the  time  of  that  festival. 
He  is  beautiful,  O  beautiful,  mother,  and  most  sweet.  He  wears 
his  hair  in  curls  more  charming  than  sea-moss  ;  his  smiles  are  fairer 
than  the  quiet  sea,  and  the  blue  of  his  eyes  is  like  the  ocean  when 
first  lit  up  by  the  sun's  rays.  His  whole  countenance  —  one  would 
say  that  the  Graces,  after  bathing  in  the  fount  Argaphia,  had  left 
Orchomenus  and  were  dancing  on  his  cheeks.  His  lips  he  has 
tinged  with  roses  taken  from  the  bosom  of  Aphrodite.  Either  I 
must  marry  him,  or  in  imitation  of  the  Lesbian  Sappho,  will  throw 
myself  from  the  promontory,  not  of  Leucas,2  but  of  Peiraeus. 

CHAROPE  TO  GLAUCIPPE 

You  are  mad,  daughter  dear,  and  entirely  beside  yourself. 
You  need  a  dose  of  hellebore,3  not  the  ordinary  kind  but  the  sort 
that  comes  from  Phocian  Anticyra ;  for  you  ought  to  feel  a  maidenly 
shame,  but  have  cast  off  all  modesty.    Compose  yourself  and  thrust 

1  A  festival  in  which  the  young  men,  dressed  in  women's  clothes,  marched  in  pro- 
cession carrying  vine  branches  loaded  with  grapes. 

2  There  was  a  story  that  Sappho  ended  her  life  in  this  way,  for  a  similar  reason. 
The  story  was  probably  an  inference  from  one  of  her  poems,  and  therefore  a  fiction. 
The  fact  that  a  poet  often  personated  other  characters  has  too  often  been  lost  sight  of 
by  critics. 

3  Hellebore  was  considered  a  cure  for  insanity.  The  text  indicates  that  the  best 
quality  was  supposed  to  be  produced  at  Anticyra,  on  the  southern  coast  of  Phocis. 


524 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


from  your  mind  this  mischief.  For  if  your  father  should  learn  a 
word  of  this,  he  would  without  a  moment's  thought  or  hesitation 
throw  you  as  food  to  the  sea  monsters. 

162.  Anti-fat  Regulations  at  Sparta 

(Agatharchides,  History  of  Europe,  xvi,  xxvii,  quoted  by  Athenaeus,  xii.  74) 

Agatharchides  of  Cnidos  was  a  Peripatetic  philosopher  who  flourished  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  second  century  B.C.  Among  his  works  was  a  History  of  Asia 
in  ten  books  and  a  History  of  Europe  in  ninety-four  books.  A  summary  of  these 
histories  is  given  by  Photius,  cod.  213.  It  is  clear  that  his  work  was  an  im- 
portant source  for  Diodorus  Siculus.  See  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  II.  196  sq.  The 
subjoined  excerpt  illustrates  the  careful  attention  which  the  Lacedaemonians 
continued  to  give  during  the  fourth  century  to  the  development  and  preser- 
vation of  the  athletic  type  of  citizen. 

Agatharchides,  in  the  sixteenth  book  of  his  History  of  Europe, 
says  that  Magas,  who  was  king  of  Cyrene  for  fifty  years,  and  who 
never  had  any  wars  but  spent  all  his  time  in  luxury,  became  toward 
the  end  of  his  life  so  immensely  bulky  and  burdensome  to  himself 
that  he  was  at  last  actually  choked  by  his  fat,  from  the  inactivity 
of  his  body  and  the  enormous  quantity  of  food  which  he  consumed. 
Among  the  Lacedaemonians,  however,  the  same  man  relates,  in 
the  twenty-seventh  book,  that  it  is  thought  a  proof  of  no  ordinary 
infamy  if  any  one  is  of  an  unmanly  appearance,  or  if  any  one  is  at 
all  inclined  to  have  a  large  stomach ;  as  the  younger  men  are  ex- 
hibited unclad  before  the  ephors  every  ten  days.  The  ephors 
used  every  day  to  take  notice  also  of  the  clothes  and  bedding  of  the 
young  men,  and  very  properly.  The  cooks  of  Lacedaemon  were 
employed  solely  on  dressing  meat  plainly,  and  on  nothing  else.  In 
his  twenty-seventh  book  Agatharchides  says,  too,  that  the  Lace- 
daemonians brought  Nauclides,  son  of  Polybiades,  who  was  enor- 
mously fat  in  body  and  had  grown  of  vast  size  through  luxury, 
into  the  middle  of  the  assembly.  Then  after  Lysander  had  pub- 
licly reproached  him  as  an  effeminate  voluptuary,  they  nearly 
banished  him  from  the  city,  and  threatened  him  that  they  would 
certainly  do  so  if  he  did  not  reform  his  life.  On  this  occasion 
Lysander  said  that  Agesilaiis,  when  he  was  in  the  country  near  the 
Hellespont,  making  war  against  the  barbarians,  and  saw  the  Asiatics 


GREEK  VERSUS  ASIATIC 


525 


expensively  clothed  but  utterly  useless  in  body,  ordered  all  who  had 
been  taken  captive  to  be  stripped  and  sold  by  the  auctioneer.  After 
that  he  ordered  their  clothes  to  be  sold  without  them,  that  the 
allies,  knowing  that  they  had  to  fight  for  a  great  prize  against  con- 
temptible men,  might  advance  with  greater  spirit  against  the  enemy. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Wagner,  W.,  Hellas:  das  Land  und  Volk  der  alien  Griechen,  2  vols.  (6th 
ed.,  Leipzig,  1886),  popular;  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  U.  von,  and  Niese,  B., 
Slaat  und  Gesellschaft  der  Griechen  und  Rbmer  (Teubner,  1910) ;  Savage,  C.  A., 
"The  Athenian  in  his  Relations  to  the  State,"  in  Studies  in  Honor  of  Gilder- 
sleeve  (Baltimore,  1902),  87  sqq. ;  Pohhnann,  R.  von,  Geschichte  der  sozialen 
Frage  und  des  Sozialismus  in  der  antiken  Well,  2  vols.  (2d  ed.  of  his  Socialismus 
und  Kommunismus,  Munich,  1912) ;  "Isokrates  und  das  Problem  der  Demo- 
kratie,"  in  Munch.  Akad.  1913,  Abhdl.  1 ;  Wolf,  H.,  Geschichte  des  antiken 
Sozialismus  (Giitersloh,  1909),  dissert. ;  Ward,  C.  O.,  The  Ancient  Lowly,  2  vols. 
(Chicago,  1910) ;  Wallon,  H.  A.,  Histoire  de  Vesclavage  dans  Vantiquite,  3  vols. 
(2d  ed.,  Paris,  1879),  useful  though  old;  Ciccotti,  E.,  "Del  numero  degli 
schiavi  nell'  Attica,"  in  Reale  istituto  lombardo  discienze  e  letter e  rendiconti,  1897, 
pp.  655-73;  Meyer,  E.,  "Die  Sklaverei  im  Altertum,"  in  Kleine  Schriften, 
169-212;  Foucart,  P.,  De  libertorum  condicione  (Paris,  1896) ;  Strack,  M.  L., 
"Die  Freigelassenen  in  ihrer  Bedeutung  fiir  die  Gesellschaft  der  Alten,"  in  Hist. 
Zeitschr.  CXI  (1913).  1-28;  Clerc,  M.,  Les  meteques  atheniens  (Paris,  1893); 
Braunstein,  O.,  Die  politische  Wirksamkeit  der  griechischen  Frau  (Leipzig,  191 1)  ; 
Carroll,  M.,  Woman;  in  all  Ages  and  in  all  Countries,  I  (Phila. :  Barrie,  1907) ; 
Donaldson,  J.,  Woman;  her  Position  and  Influence  in  Ancient  Greece,  etc. 
(Longmans,  1907) ;  Bechtel,  F.,  Die  attischen  Frauennamen  nach  ihrem  System 
dargestellt  (Gottingen,  1902) ;  St.  John,  J.  A.3  History  of  the  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms of  Ancient  Greece,  3  vols.  (1842),  still  useful;  Baumeister,  A.,  Denkmdler 
des  klassischen  Altertums  zur  Erlauterung  des  Lebens  der  Griechen  und  Romer  in 
Religion,  Kunst,  und  Sitte  (Leipzig,  1885-88) ;  Guhl,  E.  K.,  and  Koner,  W., 
Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  translated  from  the  3d  German  edition  (London, 
1889) ;  Becker,  Charicles:  the  Private  Life  of  the  Ancient  Greeks  (Longmans, 
1895,  reprint  of  an  earlier  translation) ;  Falke,  J.  von,  Greece  and  Rome;  their 
Life  and  Art,  translated  by  Browne,  W.  H.  (Holt,  1886),  elegantly  illustrated; 
Blumner,  H.,  Leben  und  Sitten  der  Griechen,  3  vols.  (Leipzig,  1887),  illustrated; 
Home  Life  of  the  Ancient  Greeks  (London,  1893) ;  Miiller,  I.  von,  Die  griechischen 
Privatalter tiimer  (Munich,  1893) ;  Guiraud,  P.,  La  vie  privee  el  la  vie  publique 
des  Grecs  (3d.  ed.,  Paris,  1902) ;  Gulick,  C.  B.,  Life  of  the  Ancient  Greeks 
(Appleton,  1902) ;  Miller,  W.,  Greek  Life  in  Town  and  Country  (London,  1905) ; 
Tucker,  T.  G.,  Life  in  Ancient  Athens  (Macmillan,  1906) ;  Mahaffy,  J.  P., 
Social  Life  in  Greece  from  Homer  to  Menander  (London,  1883) ;  Roper,  A.  G., 


526 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


Ancient  Eugenics  (Oxford:  Blackwell,  1913) ;  Abrahams,  E.  B.,  Greek  Dress 
(London :  Murray,  1908) ;  Ransom,  C.  L.,  Studies  in  Ancient  Furniture  (Chi- 
cago:  University  Press,  1905);  Schreiber,  G.  T.,  Atlas  of  Classical  Antiquities 
(London,  1895),  valuable  for  the  illustrations;  Gothein,  M.,  "Der  griechische 
Garten,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  XXXIV  (1909).  100  sqq. ;  Sudhoff,  K.,  Aus  dem  antiken 
Badewesen  (Berlin,  19 10) ;  Foucart,  P.  F.,  Les  associations  religieuses  chez  le 
Grecs  (Paris,  1873),  important;  Ziebarth,  E.,  Das  griechische  Vereinswesen 
(Leipzig,  1896) ;  Poland,  F.,  Geschichte  des  griechischen  Vereinswesens  (Leipzig, 
1909),  comprehensive;  Burckhardt,  J.,  Griechische  Kultur geschichte,  ed.  by 
Oeri,  J.  (3d  ed.,  Berlin,  1898),  drawn  from  secondary  sources;  Wundt,  M., 
Griechische  W eltanschauungen  (19 10) ;  Jones,  W.  H.  S.,  Greek  Morality  in  Rela- 
tion to  Institutions  (London,  1906).  The  histories  of  Greece  by  Grote,  Curtius, 
Holm,  and  Beloch  (see  Index  and  Contents)  necessarily  treat  of  social  conditions 
and  tendencies.  See  also  the  relevant  chapters  in  Meyer,  E.,  Geschichte  des 
Altertums,  V,  and  Cavaignac,  E.,  Histoire  delV  antiquite,  II,  III.  For  a  review 
of  recent  literature,  see  Blumner,  H.,  in  Jahresb.  CLXIII  (1913).  1-83. 


CHAPTER  XV 


PERSONAL  CHARACTER,  LITERARY  CRITICISM,  AND  ART 
In  the  Period  404-337  B.C. 

163.  Life  and  Style  of  Lysias 

(Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  Appreciation  of  Lysias,  1-7.    Translated  by 

G.  W.  B.) 

The  rhetorical  works  of  Dionysius  are  among  the  greatest  helps  to  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  Greek  writers  of  which  they  treat ;  at  the  same  time  they  contain 
many  references  to  biographical  and  historical  events,  and  should  therefore  be 
classed  among  the  historical  sources.  For  that  reason  a  short  selection  is  here 
given,  dealing  with  a  subject  in  which  the  writer,  a  rhetorician  of  delicate  taste 
and  discrimination,  was  at  his  best. 

1.  Lysias,  son  of  Cephalus,  was  born  of  Syracusan  parents. 
His  birthplace  was  Athens,  at  a  time  when  his  father  was  a  metic 
there.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  accompanied  his  two  brothers  to 
Thurii  to  take  part  in  the  colony  which  the  Athenians  and  the 
rest  of  Hellas  were  sending  to  that  place,  twelve  years  prior  to  the 
Peloponnesian  war.1  There  he  remained  as  a  citizen  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  great  prosperity  till  the  disaster  befell  the  Athenians  in 
Sicily.  After  that  misfortune,  in  a  time  of  sedition,  he  was  banished 
along  with  three  hundred  others,  on  the  charge  of  sympathizing  with 
Athens. 

2.  Returning  to  Athens  in  the  archonship  of  Callias  2  at  the 
age  of  forty-seven,  as  one  would  calculate,  from  that  time  he  passed 

1  As  the  Peloponnesian  war  began  in  431,  the  colony  of  Thurii  was  founded,  ac- 
cording to  Dionysius,  in  443,  the  date  usually  accepted  by  modern  scholars.  Pais, 
Ancient  Italy,  330  sq.,  on  the  basis  of  other  data,  prefers  446.  Following  Dionysius, 
however,  we  arrive  at  458  (Attic  year  459-458)  for  the  date  of  his  birth.  He  may  have 
gone  to  Thurii  long  after  its  founding,  however,  and  this  possibility  leaves  us  at  sea  as 
to  the  date  of  his  birth.  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  I.  523,  prefers  445  for  his  natal  year  and 
429  for  his  migration  to  Thurii. 

2  413-412  B.C. 

S27 


528        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


his  life  at  Athens.  He  wrote  many  speeches  well  adapted  to  the 
courts  and  the  council  and  the  assembly,  and  in  addition  pane- 
gyrics and  amatory  addresses,  and  letters,  in  which  he  eclipsed  the 
fame  both  of  earlier  orators  and  of  those  who  flourished  in  his  own 
time.  To  few  of  his  successors  did  he  leave  an  opportunity  for 
glory,  inasmuch  as  he  excelled  in  all  the  forms  of  discourse  and  by 
no  means  in  those  of  inferior  worth.  Now  what  character  of  oratory 
he  employed,  what  improvements  he  introduced,  in  what  respect 
he  excelled  those  who  flourished  in  his  own  age,  in  what  respect  he 
was  inferior,  and  what  we  ought  to  learn  from  him,  I  shall  attempt 
to  explain. 

3.  In  style  he  is  exceedingly  pure  and  is  the  most  perfect  canon 
of  Attic,  not  the  archaic  form  used  by  Plato  and  Thucydides,  but 
the  form  in  vogue  during  his  own  age,  as  may,  be  proved  by  the 
speeches  of  Andocides,  of  Critias  and  of  many  others ;  for  in  this 
quality  which  is  the  first  and  the  controlling  element  in  discourse, 
I  mean  purity  of  dialect,  no  one  that  followed  ever  surpassed  him, 
and  no  great  number  possessed  the  capability  of  imitating  him, 
save  only  Isocrates.  In  the  use  of  words  the  latter  seems  to  me 
to  have  shown  himself  next  to  Lysias  the  purest  of  all.  This  merit 
in  the  orator  I  find  worthy  of  emulation  and  imitation,  and  I  should 
urge  it  upon  those  who  wish  to  write  and  to  speak  with  purity  to 
make  him  their  model  in  this  quality. 

4.  There  was  another  merit  in  no  respect  less  than  this  one, 
which  many  of  the  famous  men  of  his  time  emulated  but  no  one 
could  show  in  a  higher  degree.  What  is  this?  It  is  the  quality 
which  expresses  the  meaning  in  words  that  are  appropriate  and 
common  and  in  general  use ;  for  least  of  all  would  one  find  Lysias 
employing  figurative  speech.  He  is  worthy  of  commendation 
not  only  on  this  ground  but  also  because  he  makes  a  subject  appear 
singular  or  lofty  or  important  by  the  use  of  the  most  common 
terms,  never  resorting  to  poetic  devices.  His  predecessors  were 
not  so  reputed ;  but  any  who  wished  to  add  adornment  to  a  topic 
wholly  discarded  the  idiomatic  and  took  refuge  in  poetic  diction, 
employing  many  paraphrases  and  exaggerations  and  other  poetic 
forms,  along  with  obscure  and  alien  words,  unwonted  combinations, 
overmastering  every-day  speech  with  novel  diction.  .  .  . 

5.  A  third  quality  which  I  discover  in  this  man  is  clearness, 


LITERARY  QUALITIES  OF  LYSIAS  529 

not  only  in  words  but  in  the  treatment  of  the  subject  matter.  It 
is  a  certain  practical  clearness  unknown  to  many  writers.  A  proof 
is  that  many  points  in  the  style  of  Thucydides  and  Demosthenes, 
who  were  most  skilled  in  the  setting  forth  of  facts,  are  difficult  for 
us  to  make  out  and  obscure  and  in  need  of  an  interpreter,  whereas 
the  diction  of  Lysias  is  all  open  and  clear  even  to  one  far  removed 
from  classic  writings.  Now  if  clearness  arose  from  a  want  of  power, 
the  quality  would  not  be  worthy  of  praise ;  but  the  fact  is  that 
this  merit  is  displayed  by  the  wealth  of  masterful  words  which  he 
has  in  superabundance ;  so  that  his  clearness  is  a  merit  to  be  emu- 
lated. Moreover  the  expression  of  ideas  briefly,  along  with  clear- 
ness, is  naturally  a  difficult  matter,  that  is,  the  union  of  these  two 
qualities  and  their  blending  in  moderation,  which  especially  Lysias 
is  seen  to  employ  in  no  way  inferior  to  others.  .  .  . 

6.  Next  to  these  virtues  I  find  in  Lysias  another  merit  altogether 
wonderful,  which  Theophrastus  says  was  invented  by  Thrasymachus. 
This  may  be  true,  for  the  latter  seems  to  me  to  have  preceded 
Lysias  somewhat  in  time.  I  refer  to  the  acme  of  the  two  men's 
lives.  ...  I  make  no  assertion,  however,  at  the  present  time  as 
to  which  invented  the  quality,  but  that  Lysias  surpassed  in  it, 
this  point  I  would  boldly  affirm.  Now  what  is  this  merit?  It  is 
the  quality  of  style  which  compresses  the  ideas  and  sets  them 
forth  tersely,  a  merit  most  appropriate  and  necessary  to  judicial 
oratory  and  to  every  genuine  contest.  This  quality  few  have 
imitated.  Demosthenes,  however,  has  excelled  in  it,  not  in  the 
easy  simple  manner  of  Lysias,  but  elaborately  and  bitingly.  I 
mention  this  point  just  as  it  occurs  to  me,  but  in  regard  to  these 
matters  I  shall  discourse  at  length  when  the  occasion  arises. 

7.  The  style  of  Lysias  possesses  also  great  dramatic  vividness. 
This  is  the  power  which  subjects  the  things  said  to  the  feelings  (of 
the  hearers) ;  it  arises  from  grasping  the  facts  in  their  proper 
order.  One  who  pays  attention  to  the  words  of  Lysias  cannot  be 
so  dull,  so  morose,  so  slow  of  mind,  as  to  fail  to  see  the  details  of 
the  story  as  it  unfolds  and  be  present,  so  to  speak,  at  the  events 
which  the  orator  is  relating.  .  .  -1 

1  The  paragraph  numbering  is  the  present  editor's. 


530        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


164.  Life  or  Demosthenes 
(Pseudo-Plutarch,  Lives  of  the  Ten  Orators,  viii) 
The  following  selection  is  also  drawn  from  a  rhetorician,  whose  name  how- 
ever is  unknown  to  us.  His  work  has  been  preserved  among  the  Moralia  of 
Plutarch.  It  seems  clear  that  he  drew  his  material  chiefly  from  Dionysius  of 
Halicarnassus  and  from  Caecilius  of  Cale  Acte,  Sicily,  who  stood  next  to  Dio- 
nysius in  the  Augustan  age  as  a  rhetorician  and  critic ;  cf.  Brzoska,  in  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  III.  1174-88;  Christ,  Griech,  Lit.  II.  391.  The  work 
is  our  chief  source  for  the  biographies  of  the  ten  orators. 

1.  Demosthenes,  the  son  of  Demosthenes  and  of  Cleobule, 
daughter  of  Gylon,  was  a  Paeanian  by  descent.  He  was  left  an 
orphan  by  his  father,  when  he  was  but  seven  years  old,1  together 
with  a  sister  of  the  age  of  five.  Being  kept  by  his  mother  during 
his  minority,  he  went  to  school  to  Isocrates,  as  some  say ;  but  the 
generality  are  of  opinion  that  he  was  a  pupil  of  Isaeus  the  Chal- 
cidian,  who  lived  at  Athens  and  was  a  pupil  of  Isocrates.  He  imi- 
tated Thucydides  and  Plato,  and  some  affirm  that  he  more  especially 
attended  the  school  of  Plato.  Hegesias  the  Magnesian  writes  that 
he  entreated  his  master's  leave  to  go  and  hear  Callistratus,2  son 
of  Ampaedus  of  Aphidna,  a  noble  orator  and  sometime  commander 
of  a  troop  of  horse,  who  had  dedicated  an  altar  to  Hermes  Agoraeus, 
and  was  to  make  an  oration  to  the  people.  When  he  had  heard 
him,  he  became  devoted  to  oratory,  and  so  long  as  he  continued  at 
Athens,  he  remained  his  disciple. 

2.  Callistratus,  however,  was  soon  banished  to  Thrace;  and 
Demosthenes,  growing  more  mature,  joined  with  Isocrates  and 
Plato.  Afterward  he  took  Isaeus  into  his  house,  and  for  the  space 
of  four  years  labored  very  hard  in  his  desire  to  imitate  his  orations. 
But  Ctesibius  in  his  book  on  Philosophy  affirms  that  by  the  help 
of  Callias  of  Syracuse  he  got  the  orations  of  Zo'ilus  of  Amphipolis 
and  by  the  assistance  of  Charicles  the  Carystian  those  also  of  Alci- 
damas,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  imitation  of  them.3    When  he 

1  Some  of  the  circumstances  of  his  early  life,  including  the  trouble  with  his  guard- 
ians, is  told  by  himself  in  an  oration;  see  no.  156. 

2  Callistratus  was  the  most  eminent  orator  and  statesman  of  Athens  at  that  time ; 
Holm,  History  of  Greece,  III.  176-8.  He  retired  into  exile  and  was  succeeded  by 
Aristophon  mentioned  below. 

3  Most  of  these  statements  regarding  his  relations  to  various  authors  and  teachers 
are  doubted  by  modern  scholars.    The  idea  of  the  rhetorician  was  to  connect  him  as  a 


TRAINING  OF  DEMOSTHENES 


became  of  age  in  the  year  of  Timocrates,1  he  called  his  tutors  and 
guardians  to  account  for  their  maladministration,  in  not  allowing 
him  what  was  fitting  and  requisite  out  of  his  estate.  These  guard- 
ians were  three,  Aphobus,  Therippides,  and  Demophon  (or  Demeas), 
the  last  of  whom,  an  uncle,  he  charged  more  severely  than  the 
other  two.  He  prosecuted  each  of  them  in  an  action  for  ten  talents, 
and  won  the  cases,  but  did  not  exact  of  them  what  the  law  had 
given  him,  releasing  some  for  money  and  others  for  favor. 

3.  When  Aristophon  by  reason  of  his  age  could  not  hold  office 
any  longer,  he  was  chosen  choregus.2  During  the  administration 
of  this  office  Meidias  the  Anagyrasian  struck  him  as  he  was  order- 
ing the  dances  in  the  theater.  Thereupon  Demosthenes  sued  him, 
but  let  fall  the  prosecution  on  the  condition  that  Meidias  should 
pay  him  three  thousand  drachmas.3 

4.  It  is  reported  of  him  that  while  he  was  a  youth,  he  confined 
himself  to  a  cave  and  there  studied  his  orations,  and  shaved  half 
of  his  head  that  he  might  not  be  allured  to  divert  himself  from  it ; 4 
and  that  he  lay  upon  a  very  narrow  bed,  that  he  might  awake  and 
rise  the  sooner.  Further  because  he  could  not  well  pronounce 
the  letter  R,  he  practiced  upon  it  much  that  he  might  master  it  if 
possible.  As  he  had  the  habit  of  moving  his  shoulder  in  an  unseemly 
manner  when  he  spoke,  he  remedied  that  defect  by  a  spit  (or  as 
some  say,  by  a  sword)  stuck  in  the  ceiling  just  over  his  shoulder, 
that  the  fear  of  being  pricked  with  it  might  break  him  of  the  un- 
becoming gesture.  They  report  of  him  further  that  when  he  could 
declaim  fairly,  he  had  a  sort  of  mirror  made  as  large  as  himself, 
and  used  always  in  declaiming  to  look  in  that,  to  the  end  that  he 

pupil  with  as  many  contemporaries  as  possible  in  order  to  explain  his  prodigious  success 
as  an  orator.    There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt,  however,  that  he  was  aided  by  Isaeus. 

1  364-363  B.C.  This  author  places  his  birth  in  385-384,  whereas  Dionysius  and 
some  others  give  the  year  381-380.  The  date  of  his  birth,  accordingly,  has  not  been 
definitively  ascertained. 

2  The  author  seems  to  have  a  wrong  notion  of  the  choregus.  The  latter  was  not  a 
magistrate  in  the  ordinary  sense  but  a  wealthy  citizen  who  took  his  turn  in  performing 
the  liturgy  connected  with  the  equipment  and  training  of  the  dramatic  chorus;  cf. 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xii.  The  year  of  this  event  was  347 ;  cf.  Christ,  Griech. 
Lit.  I.  551. 

3  Drachma,  about  18  cents. 

4  This  anecdote  and  those  that  follow  are  doubtful ;  they  may  be  taken  as  his- 
torical impressions  of  the  marvelous  training  to  which  Demosthenes  subjected  himself. 


532        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


might  see  and  correct  what  was  amiss.  He  used  likewise  at  certain 
times  to  go  down  to  the  shore  at  Phalerum,  that,  being  accustomed 
to  the  surges  and  the  noise  of  the  waves,  he  might  not  be  daunted 
by  the  clamors  of  the  people,  when  he  should  declaim  in  public. 
Moreover  being  by  nature  short-winded,  he  gave  Neoptolemus,  a 
player,  ten  thousand  drachmas  to  teach  him  to  pronounce  long 
sentences  in  one  breath. 

5.  Afterward,  betaking  himself  to  the  affairs  of  the  state,  and 
rinding  the  people  divided  into  two  different  factions,1  one  in  favor 
of  Philip  and  the  other  standing  for  the  liberty  and  the  rights  of 
the  people,  he  took  part  with  those  who  opposed  Philip,  and  always 
persuaded  the  citizens  to  help  those  who  were  in  danger  and  trouble 
through  Philip's  oppression,  taking  for  his  companions  in  council 
Hypereides,  Nausicles,  Polyeuctus,  and  Diotimus.  Then  he  drew 
the  Thebans,  Eubceans,  Corcyrseans,  Corinthians,  Boeotians,  and 
many  more  into  a  league  with  the  Athenians.2 

6.  As  he  was  in  the  assembly  one  day  and  his  memory  failed 
him,  his  oration  was  hissed,  which  made  him  return  home  very 
heavy  and  melancholy.  On  this  occasion  he  was  met  by  Eunomus 
the  Thriasian  and  was  greatly  comforted  and  encouraged  by  him. 
He  was  chiefly  animated,  however,  by  Andronicus  the  player,  who 
told  him  that  his  orations  were  excellent  but  that  he  lacked  in 
action,  and  thereupon  rehearsed  certain  parts  of  the  oration  De- 
mosthenes had  delivered  in  that  same  assembly.  Demosthenes 
gave  good  ear  and  credit  to  what  he  said,  and  betook  himself  for 
instruction  to  Andronicus.  When  accordingly  he  was  afterward 
asked  what  was  the  first  part  of  oratory,  he  answered,  'Action'; 
and  which  was  the  second,  he  replied,  'Action' ;  and  which  was  the 
third,  he  still  answered,  'Action.'  At  another  time  when  declaim- 
ing publicly  and  using  expressions  too  youthful  for  one  of  his  years, 
he  was  laughed  at  and  ridiculed  by  the  comedians,  Antiphanes  and 
Timocles,  who  in  derision  used  to  repeat  from  him  such  phrases  as 
the  following:  "By  earth,  by  the  fountains,  by  the  rivers,  by  the 
floods!" 

1  The  statement  is  not  correct,  as  it  was  mainly  Demosthenes  himself  who  created 
the  anti-Macedonian  party. 

2  This  statement  refers  to  the  coalition  which  he  formed  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of 
Chaeroneia,  338. 


DEMOSTHENES'  DELIVERY 


533 


7.  For  having  sworn  thus  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  he 
raised  a  tumult  about  him.  He  likewise  used  to  swear  by  Asclepius, 
and  accented  the  second  syllable  1  through  some  mistake  but  after- 
ward defended  it ;  for  this  Asclepius,  he  said,  was  called  ^Vto?, 
that  is,  a  mild  God.  This  also  often  caused  him  to  be  interrupted. 
All  these  shortcomings,  however,  he  reformed  in  time,  through  asso- 
ciation with  Eubulides,  the  Milesian  philosopher.  Once  when 
present  at  the  Olympic  games  he  heard  Lamachus  the  Myrrhinaean 
sound  the  praises  of  Philip  and  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  decry 
the  cowardice  of  the  Thebans  and  Olynthians,  whereupon  he  stood 
up  in  their  defence  against  him,  and  from  the  ancient  poets  he 
proclaimed  the  great  and  noble  achievements  of  the  Thebans  and 
Olynthians.  So  elegantly  did  he  behave  himself  in  this  affair 
that  he  at  once  silenced  Lamachus  and  made  him  convey  himself 
out  of  the  assembly.  Even  Philip  himself,  when  he  had  heard 
what  harangues  Demosthenes  made  against  him,  replied  that  if 
he  had  heard  him,  he  should  have  chosen  him  general  in  the  war 
against  himself  (Philip).  He  used  to  compare  the  orations  of 
Demosthenes  to  soldiers,  for  the  force  which  they  carried  with 
them ;  but  the  orations  of  Isocrates  he  likened  to  fencers  because 
of  the  theatrical  delight  that  accompanied  them. 

8.  When  about  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  reckoning  from  Dexi- 
theus  to  Callimachus  2  (in  whose  time  the  Olynthians  sent  to  beg 
aid  of  the  Athenians  against  Philip,  who  was  then  making  war 
upon  them),  he  persuaded  the  Athenians  to  answer  the  request 
of  Olynthus  ;  but  in  the  following  year,  in  which  Plato  died,3  Philip 
overthrew  and  destroyed  the  Olynthians.  Xenophon  also,  the 
pupil  of  Socrates,  had  some  knowledge  of  Demosthenes,  either  at 
his  first  rise,  or  at  least  when  he  was  most  famous ;  for  he  narrated 
the  affairs  of  the  Greeks  as  touching  what  happened  at  the  battle 
of  Mantineia  in  the  year  of  Chariclides.4  Some  time  previously 
Demosthenes  overthrew  his  guardians  in  a  suit  he  had  brought 
against  them  in  the  year  of  Timocrates. 

9.  When  ^Eschines,  after  his  condemnation,  fled  from  Athens 

1  The  accent  is  properly  on  the  last  syllable,  A<tk\7jxc6s. 

2  The  two  dates  are  385-384  and  349-348  respectively.  3  348-347  B.C. 

4  363-362  b.c.  It  is  unlikely  that  Xenophon  knew  anything  of  Demosthenes. 
The  reason  here  given  is  insufficient. 


I 

534        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 

Demosthenes,  hearing  of  it,  took  horse  and  rode  after  him.  Ap- 
prized of  this  move,  and  fearing  to  be  apprehended  again,  ^Eschines 
came  to  meet  Demosthenes,  fell  at  his  feet,  covered  his  face,  and 
begged  for  mercy.  Thereupon  Demosthenes  bade  him  stand  up,  be 
assured  of  his  favor,  and  as  a  pledge  of  it,  gave  him  a  talent  of  silver. 

10.  He  advised  the  people  to  maintain  a  company  of  mercenary 
soldiers  in  Thasos,  and  thither  he  sailed  as  captain  of  a  trireme. 
Another  time,  when  commissioned  to  buy  grain,  he  was  accused 
of  defrauding  the  city,  but  cleared  himself  of  the  accusation  and 
was  acquitted.  When  Philip  had  seized  upon  Elateia,  Demos- 
thenes and  others  went  out  to  battle  at  Chaeroneia,1  where  he  is 
said  to  have  deserted  the  ranks.  While  fleeing  away,  he  was 
caught  by  a  bramble  in  his  chiton  behind,  when  turning  about 
in  haste  and  thinking  an  enemy  had  overtaken  him,  he  cried  out, 
"  Save  my  life  and  say  what  shall  be  my  ransom  !"  2  On  his  shield 
he  had  engraven  for  his  motto,  "To  Good  Fortune."  It  was  he 
who  made  the  oration  at  the  funeral  of  those  who  had  been  slain 
in  that  battle. 

11.  After  these  events  he  bent  his  whole  care  and  study  to  the 
reparation  of  the  city  and  its  walls ;  and  when  chosen  commissary 
for  repairing  the  walls,  besides  the  money  expended  from  the 
public  fund,  he  laid  out  of  his  own  at  least  a  hundred  minas.3  In 
addition  he  gave  ten  thousand  drachmas  to  the  festival  fund ;  and 
taking  ship,  he  sailed  from  coast  to  coast  to  collect  money  from  the 
allies.  For  these  services  he  was  often  crowned  with  golden 
crowns,  namely  on  the  motion  of  Demoteles,  Aristonicus,  and 
Hypereides,  and  afterward  of  Ctesiphon.  The  last  decree  came  near 
being  retracted,  for  Diodotus  and  ^schines  endeavored  to  prove  it 
contrary  to  the  laws ;  but  Demosthenes  defended  himself  4  so  well 
against  their  allegations  that  he  overcame  all  difficulties  and  that 
his  enemies  did  not  receive  a  fifth  part  of  the  votes  of  the  jurors.5 

1 338  B.C. 

2  Necessarily  all  the  Athenians  fled  who  were  not  killed  or  taken  captive,  Demos- 
thenes among  the  others.  It  is  unlikely,  however,  that  any  one  took  note  of  his  remarks 
during  the  retreat. 

3  A  mina  is  100  drachmas,  or  about  $18. 

4  In  his  oration  On  the  Crown  (De  Corona),  the  most  famous  of  all  his  speeches. 

5  In  an  indictment  of  the  kind,  for  an  illegal  proposal  (ypa<prj  irapavd/xup) ,  the 
prosecutor  who  failed  to  obtain  a  fifth  part  of  the  votes  was  fined  1000  drachmas  and 


THE  CASE  OF  HARPALUS 


535 


12.  Afterward  when  Alexander  the  Great  made  his  expedition 
into  Asia,  and  Harpalus  fled  to  Athens  with  a  great  sum  of  money, 
at  first  Demosthenes  would  not  let  him  be  entertained ;  but  after- 
ward when  Harpalus  landed  and  gave  him  a  thousand  darics,1  he 
was  of  another  mind.  When  the  Athenians  determined  to  give 
Harpalus  up  to  Alexander,  Demosthenes  opposed  it,  proposing  to 
deposit  the  money  in  the  Acropolis,  yet  without  declaring  the  amount 
to  the  people.  Thereupon  Harpalus  declared  that  he  had  brought 
with  him  from  Asia  seven  hundred  talents,  and  that  this  sum  had 
been  deposited  in  the  Acropolis.  But  only  three  hundred  and 
fifty  or  a  little  more  could  be  found,  as  Philochorus  relates.  But 
Harpalus  broke  out  of  the  prison  in  which  he  was  to  be  kept  till 
someone  should  come  from  Alexander,  and  escaped  to  Crete  —  or 
as  some  will  have  it,  to  Taenaron  in  Laconia.  On  this  occasion 
Demosthenes  was  accused  of  having  received  from  him  a  sum  of 
money  and  had  failed  therefore  to  give  a  true  account  of  the  sum 
delivered  to  him,  or  to  impeach  the  negligence  of  the  keepers.  He 
was  therefore  judicially  cited  by  Hypereides,  Pytheus,  Menesaech- 
mus,  Himeraeus  and  Patrocles,  who  prosecuted  him  with  such 
vigor  as  to  cause  him  to  be  condemned  by  the  council  of  the 
Areopagus. 

13.  On  his  conviction  he  went  into  exile,  as  he  was  unable  to 
pay  fivefold ;  for  he  was  accused  of  having  received  thirty  talents. 
Others  say  that  he  would  not  run  the  risk  of  a  trial  but  went  into 
exile  before  the  day  came.  After  this  tempest  was  over,  when  the 
Athenians  sent  Polyeuctus  to  the  commonwealth  of  Arcadia  to 
draw  it  from  the  Macedonian  alliance,  he  did  not  succeed.  De- 
mosthenes then  came  to  his  aid  and  reasoned  so  effectually  that 
he  easily  prevailed.  This  success  procured  him  so  much  credit 
and  esteem  that  after  a  time  a  trireme  was  despatched  to  call  him 
home  again.  The  Athenians  decreed,  too,  that  whereas  he  owed 
the  state  thirty  talents  as  a  fine  laid  on  him  for  the  misdemeanor 
of  which  he  was  accused,  he  should  be  excused  on  condition  of  build- 
ing in  Peiraeus  an  altar  to  Zeus  the  Deliverer.    This  decree  was 

disqualified  from  bringing  accusations  of  the  kind  for  the  future.  ^Eschines  suffered 
thus  for  his  failure ;  and  fearing  that  he  might  now  be  prosecuted  by  the  party  of 
Demosthenes,  he  retired  into  exile,  as  stated  by  the  text  above. 

1  Daric,  a  Persian  gold  coin  worth  20  drachmas,  or  about  $3.60. 


536        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


proposed  by  Demon,  his  near  kinsman.  When  it  had  passed,  he 
resumed  the  administration  of  affairs  in  the  commonwealth.  .  .  . 

Next  is  given  an  account  of  the  unsuccessful  Hellenic  war  of  independence 
after  the  death  of  Alexander.  Demanded  by  the  enemy,  Demosthenes  fled  to 
the  temple  of  Poseidon  at  Calauria,  where  he  was  pursued  by  Archias,  an  officer 
in  the  Macedonian  service. 

14.  When  Archias  attempted  to  force  him  thence,  the  towns- 
men would  not  suffer  it.  Demosthenes  told  them  that  he  did  not 
flee  to  Calauria  to  save  his  life,  but  that  he  might  convince  the 
Macedonians  of  their  violence  committed  even  against  the  Gods 
themselves.  Thereupon  he  called  for  a  writing-tablet;  and  if  we 
may  credit  Demetrius  the  Magnesian,  on  that  he  wrote  a  distich, 
which  afterward  the  Athenians  caused  to  be  affixed  to  his  statue  :  — ■ 

Orator  mighty  in  spirit,  if  only  thy  strength  had  been  equal, 
Ares,  of  Macedon  God,  ne'er  would  have  ruled  over  Greece. 

(Literally,  "Had  your  physical  power  equalled  your  intellect,  Demosthenes, 
the  Macedonian  war-god  would  never  had  ruled  over  the  Hellenes.") 

15.  This  statue,  made  by  Polyeuctus,  is  placed  near  the  cloister 
where  the  altar  of  the  Twelve  Gods  is  erected.  Some  say  this 
writing  was  found;  " Demosthenes  to  Antipater,  Greeting."  Phi- 
lochorus  tells  us  that  he  died  by  drinking  poison  ;  and  Satyrus  the 
historian  will  have  it  that  the  pen  was  poisoned  with  which  he  wrote 
his  epistle ;  and  putting  it  into  his  mouth,  he  soon  afterward  died. 
Eratosthenes  is  of  another  opinion,  that  being  in  continual  fear  of 
the  Macedonians,  he  wore  a  poisoned  bracelet  on  his  arm.  Others 
say  that  he  died  by  holding  his  breath ;  and  lastly  others  say  that 
he  carried  strong  poison  in  his  signet.  He  lived  to  the  age  of 
seventy,  according  to  those  who  give  the  highest  number  —  of 
sixty-seven  according  to  other  statements.  He  was  in  public  life 
twenty-two  years. 

16.  When  king  Philip  died,  Demosthenes  appeared  publicly  in 
a  splendid  mantle,  rejoicing  at  this  death,  although  he  but  just 
before  was  mourning  for  his  daughter.  He  assisted  the  Thebans 
likewise  against  Alexander,  and  animated  all  the  other  Greeks. 
Hence  when  Alexander  had  conquered  Thebes,  he  demanded 
Demosthenes  of  the  Athenians,  threatening  them  if  they  refused 
to  give  him  up.    When  Alexander  went  against  Persia,  and  de- 


THE  FAMILY  OF  DEMOSTHENES 


537 


manded  ships  of  the  Athenians,  Demosthenes  opposed  it,  saying, 
"  Who  can  assure  us  that  he  will  not  use  those  ships  we  should  send 
him  against  ourselves?" 

17.  He  left  behind  him  two  sons  by  one  wife,  the  daughter  of 
Heliodorus,  a  leading  citizen.  He  had  but  one  daughter,  who  died 
unmarried,  while  a  mere  child.  A  sister,  too,  he  had,  who  married 
Laches  of  Leuconoe,  his  kinsman,  and  to  him  bore  Demochares, 
who  proved  inferior  to  none  of  his  time  in  eloquence,  conduct,  and 
courage.  His  statue  is  still  standing  in  the  Prytaneum,  the  first 
on  the  right  as  you  approach  the  altar,  clothed  with  a  mantle  and 
girt  with  a  sword,  because  in  this  habit  he  delivered  an  oration  to 
the  people,  when  Antipater  1  demanded  of  them  their  orators. 

18.  After  some  time  the  Athenians  decreed  sustenance  should 
be  given  to  the  kindred  of  Demosthenes  in  the  Prytaneum,  and 
likewise  set  up  a  statue  in  his  memory,  when  he  was  dead,  in  the 
market,  in  the  year  of  Gorgias.  These  honors  were  paid  him  at  the 
request  of  Demochares,  his  sister's  son.2 

165.  Epaminondas 
(Cornelius,  Nepos) 

Although  Nepos  is  an  inferior  authority,  the  historian  is  obliged  to  make 
whatever  use  he  can  of  all  sources,  exercising  due  discrimination  as  to  the  trust- 
worthiness of  his  material.  Doubtless  the  general  picture  of  Epaminondas 
drawn  by  Nepos  is  correct,  though  the  anecdotes  given  for  the  illustration  of  his 
character  have  little  if  any  historical  basis. 

(1)  Epaminondas  was  the  son  of  Polymnis,  and  was  born  at 
Thebes.  ...  (2)  He  was  of  an  honorable  family,  though  left  poor 
by  his  ancestors ;  but  he  was  so  well-educated  that  no  Theban  was 
more  so ;  for  he  was  taught  to  play  upon  the  harp,  and  to  sing  to 
the  sound  of  its  strings,  by  Dionysius,  who  was  held  in  no  less 
honor  among  musicians  than  Damon  or  Lamprus,  whose  names 
are  well  known ;  to  play  on  the  flutes  by  Olympiodorus ;  and  to 

1  Antipater  commanded  the  Macedonians  in  the  so-called  Lamian  war  —  the  brief 
and  unsuccessful  struggle  of  the  Hellenes  to  shake  off  the  Macedonian  yoke  after  the 
death  of  Alexander.  After  crushing  the  Greeks,  Antipater  demanded  that  the  orators 
who  had  incited  the  people  to  war  be  delivered  up  to  him.  Among  these  orators  was 
Demosthenes,  who  thereupon  fled  from  Athens,  and  met  his  death,  322,  in  the  way 
described  in  the  text  above. 

2  The  paragraph  numbering  is  the  present  editor's. 


538        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


dance  by  Calliphron.  For  his  instructor  in  philosophy  he  had 
Lysis  of  Tarentum,  a  Pythagorean,  to  whom  he  was  so  devoted 
that,  young  as  he  was,  he  preferred  the  society  of  a  grave  and 
austere  old  man  before  that  of  all  those  of  his  own  age  ;  nor  did  he 
part  with  him  until  he  so  far  excelled  his  fellow  students  in  learning, 
that  it  might  easily  be  perceived  he  would  in  like  manner  excel 
them  all  in  other  pursuits.  These  acquirements  according  to  our 
habits  are  trifling,1  and  rather  to  be  despised ;  but  in  Greece,  at 
least  in  former  times,  they  were  a  great  subject  for  praise.  After 
he  grew  up,  and  began  to  apply  himself  to  gymnastic  exercises,  he 
studied  not  so  much  to  increase  his  strength  as  the  agility  of  his 
body ; 2  for  he  thought  that  strength  suited  the  purpose  of  wrestlers, 
but  that  agility  conduced  to  excellence  in  war.  He  used  to  exercise 
himself  very  much,  therefore,  in  running  and  wrestling,  as  long  as 
he  could  grapple  with  his  adversary  and  contend  standing.  But  he 
spent  most  of  his  labor  on  martial  exercises. 

To  the  strength  of  body  thus  acquired,  were  added  many 
good  qualities  of  the  mind ;  for  he  was  modest,  prudent,  grave, 
wisely  availing  himself  of  opportunities,  skilled  in  war,  brave  in 
action,  and  possessed  of  remarkable  courage.  He  was  so  great  a 
lover  of  truth  that  he  would  not  tell  a  falsehood  even  in  jest ;  he 
was  also  master  of  his  passions,  gentle  in  disposition,  and  patient 
to  a  wonderful  degree,  submitting  to  wrong  not  only  from  the 
people,  but  from  his  own  friends ;  he  was  a  remarkable  keeper  of 
secrets,  a  quality  which  is  sometimes  not  less  serviceable  than 
eloquence;  and  he  was  an  attentive  listener  to  others,  because 
he  thought  that  by  this  means  knowledge  was  most  easily  ac- 
quired. Whenever  he  came  into  a  company,  therefore,  in 
which  a  discussion  was  going  on  concerning  government,  or  a 
conversation  was  being  held  on  any  point  in  philosophy,  he  never 
went  away  till  the  discourse  was  brought  to  its  conclusion.  He 
bore  poverty  so  easily  that  he  received  nothing  from  the  state 
but  glory.  He  did  not  avail  himself  of  the  means  of  his  friends  to 
maintain  himself;  but  he  often  used  his  credit  to  relieve  others, 

1  The  Roman  Nepos  naturally  expresses  the  sentiment  of  the  society  in  which  he 
lived. 

2  This  aim  was  opposed  to  that  which  prevailed  in  his  own  country ;  the  main  ob- 
ject of  Boeotian  gymnastics  was  to  develop  strength  rather  than  agility. 


INCORRUPTIBLE 


539 


to  such  a  degree  that  it  might  be  thought  all  things  were  in  common 
between  him  and  his  friends ;  for  when  any  one  of  his  countrymen 
had  been  taken  by  the  enemy,  or  when  the  marriageable  daughter 
of  a  friend  could  not  be  married  for  want  of  fortune,  he  used  to  call 
a  council  of  his  friends,  and  to  prescribe  how  much  each  should 
give  according  to  his  means ;  and  when  he  had  made  up  the  sum 
required,  he  brought  the  man  who  needed  it  to  the  contributors 
and  made  them  pay  it  to  the  person  himself,  in  order  that  he,  into 
whose  hands  the  sum  passed,  might  know  to  whom  he  was  in- 
debted, and  how  much  to  each. 

(4)  His  indifference  to  money  was  put  to  a  proof  by  Diomedon 
of  Cyzicus ;  for  at  the  request  of  Artaxerxes  he  undertook  to  bribe 
Epaminondas.  Diomedon  accordingly  came  to  Thebes  with  a 
large  sum  in  gold ;  and  by  a  present  of  five  talents  brought  over 
Micythus,  a  young  man  for  whom  Epaminondas  then  had  great 
affection,  to  further  his  views.  Micythus  went  to  Epaminondas, 
and  told  him  the  cause  of  Diomedon's  coming.  But  Epaminondas 
in  the  presence  of  Diomedon  said  to  him:  "There  is  no  need  of 
money  in  the  matter ;  for  if  what  the  king  desires  is  for  the  good 
of  the  Thebans,  I  am  ready  to  do  it  for  nothing ;  but  if  otherwise, 
he  has  not  gold  and  silver  enough  to  move  me,  for  I  would  not 
accept  the  riches  of  the  world  in  exchange  for  my  love  of  country. 
I  do  not  wonder  at  you,  who  have  made  trial  of  me  without  know- 
ing my  character,  and  have  thought  me  like  yourself ;  and  I  for- 
give you.  But  quit  the  city  at  once,  lest  you  corrupt  others, 
though  you  have  been  unable  to  corrupt  me.  You,  Micythus,  give 
Diomedon  his  money;  unless  you  do  so  immediately,  I  shall  give 
you  up  to  the  magistrates."  Diomedon  then  entreated  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  depart  in  safety  and  carry  away  what  he  had 
brought.  "That,"  replied  Epaminondas,  "I  will  grant  you,  and 
not  for  your  sake  but  for  my  own,  lest  any  one,  if  your  money 
should  be  taken  from  you,  should  say  that  what  I  would  not  re- 
ceive when  offered  me,  had  come  into  my  possession  after  being 
taken  out  of  yours."  Epaminondas  then  asked  Diomedon  whither 
he  wished  to  go,  and  when  the  latter  replied,  "To  Athens,"  he  gave 
him  a  guard  that  he  might  reach  that  city  in  safety.  .  .  . 

(5)  He  was  also  an  able  speaker,  so  that  no  Theban  was  a 
match  for  him  in  eloquence ;  nor  was  his  language  less  pointed  in 


540        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


brief  replies  than  elegant  in  continued  discourse.  He  had  for  a 
traducer  and  opponent  in  managing  the  government  a  certain 
Menecleidas,  also  a  native  of  Thebes,  a  man  well  skilled  in  speaking, 
at  least  for  a  Theban ;  for  in  that  people  is  found  more  vigor  of 
body  than  of  mind.  Seeing  that  Epaminondas  was  distinguished 
in  military  affairs,  he  used  to  advise  the  Thebans  to  prefer  peace 
to  war,  in  order  that  his  services  as  general  might  not  be  required. 
Epaminondas  in  consequence  said  to  him  :  "You  deceive  your  coun- 
trymen in  dissuading  them  from  war,  since  under  the  name  of  peace 
you  are  bringing  upon  them  slavery ;  for  peace  is  procured  by  war, 
and  they  accordingly  who  would  enjoy  it  long  must  be  trained  to 
war.  If  therefore,  my  countrymen,  you  wish  to  be  leaders  of 
Greece,  you  must  devote  yourselves  to  the  camp,  not  to  the 
palaestra.  ..." 

(7)  He  was  of  a  patient  disposition,  and  ready  to  endure  wrongs 
from  his  countrymen,  because  he  thought  it  a  species  of  impiety 
to  show  resentment  towards  his  country.  There  are  the  following 
proofs.  When  the  Thebans  from  some  feeling  of  displeasure  toward 
him  refused  to  place  him  at  the  head  of  the  army,  a  leader  was 
chosen  who  was  ignorant  of  war,  by  whose  mismanagement  a  great 
multitude  of  soldiers  was  brought  to  such  a  condition  that  all  were 
alarmed  for  their  safety.  They  were  confined  within  a  narrow 
space  and  blocked  up  by  the  enemy,  whereupon  the  energy  of 
Epaminondas  began  to  be  in  request,  for  he  was  there  as  a  private 
among  the  soldiers.  When  they  desired  aid  from  him,  he  showed 
no  recollection  of  the  affront  that  had  been  put  upon  him,  but 
brought  the  army  safely  home  after  releasing  it  from  the  blockade. 
Nor  did  he  act  in  this  manner  once  only  but  often. 

The  most  remarkable  instance  was  when  he  had  led  an  army 
into  Peloponnesus  against  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  had  two  joined 
in  command  with  him,  of  whom  one  was  Pelopidas,  a  man  of  valor 
and  activity.  On  this  occasion,  when  through  the  accusations  of 
their  enemies  they  had  all  fallen  under  the  displeasure  of  their 
countrymen,  and  their  commission  was  in  consequence  taken  from 
them  and  other  commanders  came  to  take  their  places,  Epaminon- 
das did  not  obey  the  order  of  the  people,  and  persuaded  his  col- 
leagues to  follow  his  example,  continuing  to  prosecute  the  war  which 
he  had  undertaken;  for  he  saw  that  unless  he  did  so,  the  whole 


PUBLIC  SERVICES 


54i 


army  would  be  lost  through  the  incautiousness  and  ignorance  of 
its  leaders.  But  there  was  a  law  at  Thebes,  which  punished  any 
one  with  death  who  retained  his  command  longer  than  he  was 
legally  appointed.  Epaminondas,  however,  as  he  saw  that  this 
law  had  been  made  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  state,  was 
unwilling  to  make  it  contribute  to  its  ruin,  and  continued  to  exercise 
his  command  four  months  longer  than  the  people  had  prescribed. 

(8)  When  they  returned  home,  his  colleagues  were  impeached 
for  this  offence,  and  he  gave  them  leave  to  lay  all  the  blame  upon 
him,  and  to  maintain  that  it  was  through  his  means  that  they  did 
not  obey  the  law.  As  they  were  freed  from  danger  by  this  defence, 
nobody  thought  Epaminondas  would  make  any  reply,  because  it 
was  supposed  he  would  have  nothing  to  say.  But  he  stood  forth 
on  the  trial,  denied  nothing  of  what  his  adversaries  laid  to  his 
charge,  and  admitted  the  truth  of  all  that  his  colleagues  had  stated ; 
nor  did  he  refuse  to  submit  to  the  penalty  of  the  law ;  but  he  re- 
quested of  his  countrymen  one  favor,  namely,  that  they  would 
write  the  following  in  their  judicial  record  of  the  sentence  passed 
upon  him:  " Epaminondas  was  punished  by  the  Thebans  with 
death,  because  he  obliged  them  to  overthrow  the  Lacedaemonians 
at  Leuctra,  whom,  before  he  was  general,  none  of  the  Boeotians 
durst  look  upon  in  the  field,  and  because  he  not  only  by  one  battle 
rescued  Thebes  from  destruction,  but  also  secured  liberty  for  all 
Greece,  and  brought  the  power  of  both  peoples  to  such  a  condition 
that  the  Thebans  attacked  Sparta,  and  the  Lacedaemonians  were 
content  if  they  could  save  their  lives ;  nor  did  he  cease  to  prosecute 
the  war  till  after  restoring  Messene,  he  shut  up  Sparta  with  a  close 
siege."  When  he  had  said  this,  there  burst  forth  a  laugh  from  all 
present,  with  much  merriment,  and  no  one  of  the  judges  ventured 
to  pass  sentence  upon  him.  Thus  he  came  off  from  this  trial  for 
life  with  the  greatest  glory. 

166.  Philip  of  Macedon 

(Justin,  Epitome  of  the  Philippic  Histories  of  Pompeius  Trogus,  ix.  4,  5,  8) 

Regarding  the  Roman  epitomator  Justinus  nothing  certain  is  known. 
Some  are  of  the  opinion  that  he  lived  under  the  Antonines,  others  in  the  third 
century  a.d.  Pompeius  Trogus,  whom  he  abridged,  was  a  contemporary  of  Livy. 
He  was  by  descent  a  Gaul,  whose  grandfather  received  the  Roman  citizenship 


542        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


through  Pompey  the  Great.  His  Philippic  Histories  covered  the  whole  course 
of  human  events  from  the  earliest  times  to  his  own  day.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  for  the  period  represented  by  the  subjoined  excerpts  Pompeius 
drew  his  material  largely  from  the  Philippica  of  Theopompus,  a  contemporary 
of  Philip.  Naturally  it  is  impossible  to  say  to  what  degree  Justin  reflects  the 
opinions  of  his  far-off  original  source.  See  Schanz,  Geschichte  der  romischen 
Literatur,  II.  i.  444-54;  Peter,  Geschichtliche  Literatur  iiber  die  romische 
Kaiserzeit,  I.  118;  II.  215  sq.,  224,  298  sq. 

4.  Philip's  joy  for  this  victory  1  was  artfully  concealed.  He 
abstained  from  offering  the  usual  sacrifices  on  that  day;  he  did 
not  smile  at  table,  or  mingle  any  diversions  with  the  entertainment ; 
he  had  no  chaplets  or  perfumes  ;  and  as  far  as  was  in  his  power,  he 
so  managed  his  conquest  that  none  might  think  of  him  as  a  con- 
queror. He  desired  that  he  should  not  be  called  king  but  general 
of  Greece ;  and  conducted  himself  with  such  prudence  between 
his  own  secret  joy  on  the  one  hand  and  the  grief  of  the  enemy  on 
the  other,  that  he  neither  appeared  to  his  own  subjects  to  rejoice, 
nor  to  the  vanquished  to  insult  them.  To  the  Athenians,  whom 
he  had  found  to  be  his  bitterest  enemies,  he  sent  back  their  prisoners 
without  ransom,  and  gave  up  the  bodies  of  the  slain  for  burial, 
bidding  them  convey  the  relics  of  their  dead  to  the  sepulchres 
of  their  ancestors.  He  also  sent  Alexander,  his  son,  with  his 
friend  Antipater  to  Athens,  to  establish  peace  and  friendship  with 
them. 

The  Thebans,  however,  he  compelled  to  purchase  their  prisoners 
as  well  as  the  liberty  of  burying  their  dead.  Some  of  the  chief 
men  of  the  city,  too,  he  put  to  death ;  others  he  banished,  seizing 
upon  the  property  of  them  all.  Afterward  he  reinstated  in  their 
country  those  that  had  been  unjustly  banished,  of  whom  he  made 
three  hundred  judges  and  governors  of  the  city,  before  whom  when 
the  most  eminent  citizens  were  arraigned  on  this  very  charge, 
that  of  having  banished  them  unjustly,  they  had  such  spirit  that 
they  all  acknowledged  their  participation  in  the  fact,  and  proved 
that  it  was  better  with  the  state  when  they  were  condemned  than 
when  they  were  restored.  A  wonderful  instance  of  courage  !  They 
passed  sentence,  as  far  as  they  could,  on  those  who  had  the  disposal 
of  them  for  life  or  death,  and  set  at  naught  the  pardon  which  their 


1  The  battle  of  Chaeroneia,  338. 


PHILIP'S  POLICY 


543 


enemies  could  give  them ;  and  as  they  could  not  avenge  themselves 
by  deeds,  they  manifested  their  boldness  by  spirit  of  words. 

5.  War  being  at  an  end  in  Greece,  Philip  directed  deputies 
from  all  the  states  to  be  summoned  to  Corinth,  to  settle  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs.  Here  he  fixed  terms  of  peace  for  the  whole  of  Greece, 
according  to  the  merits  of  each  city ;  and  chose  from  them  all  a 
council,  to  form  a  senate  as  it  were  for  the  country.1  But  the 
Lacedaemonians,  standing  alone,  showed  contempt  alike  for  the 
terms  and  the  king.  They  regarded  the  state  of  things,  which  had 
not  been  agreed  upon  by  the  cities  themselves,  but  had  been  forced 
upon  them  by  a  conqueror,  as  a  state,  not  of  peace,  but  of  slavery. 
The  number  of  troops  to  be  furnished  by  each  city  was  then  deter- 
mined, whether  the  king  in  case  of  being  attacked  was  to  be  sup- 
ported by  their  united  force,  or  whether  war  was  to  be  made  on 
any  other  power  under  him  as  their  general.  In  all  these  prepara- 
tions for  war  it  was  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  kingdom  of  Persia 
was  the  object  in  view.  The  sum  of  the  force  was  two  hundred 
thousand  infantry  and  fifteen  thousand  cavalry.  Exclusive  of  this 
number  there  were  also  the  army  of  Macedonia  and  the  barbarians 
of  the  adjacent  conquered  nations.  .  .  . 

8.  As  a  king  he  was  more  inclined  to  display  in  war  than  in 
entertainments ;  and  his  greatest  riches  were  means  for  military 
operations.  He  was  better  at  getting  wealth  than  keeping  it,  and 
in  consequence  was  always  poor  amidst  his  daily  spoliations. 
Clemency  and  perfidy  were  equally  valued  by  him ;  and  no  road  to 
victory  was,  in  his  opinion,  dishonorable.  He  was  equally  pleasing 
and  treacherous  in  his  address,  promising  more  than  he  could  per- 
form. He  was  well  qualified  either  for  serious  conversation  or  for 
jesting.  He  maintained  friendship  more  with  a  view  to  interest 
than  good  faith.  It  was  a  common  practice  with  him  to  pretend 
kindness  where  he  hated,  and  to  counterfeit  dislike  where  he  loved ; 
to  sow  dissensions  among  friends,  and  try  to  gain  favor  from  both 
sides.  With  such  a  disposition,  his  eloquence  was  very  great,  his 
language  full  of  point  and  studied  effect ;  so  that  neither  did  his 
facility  fall  short  of  his  art,  nor  his  invention  of  his  facility,  nor 
his  art  of  his  invention. 

To  Philip  succeeded  his  son  Alexander,  a  prince  greater  than  his 

1  For  the  organization  of  the  Hellenic  league  under  Philip,  see  no.  128. 


544        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 

father  in  both  his  virtues  and  his  vices.  Each  of  the  two  had  a 
different  mode  of  conquering ;  the  one  prosecuted  his  wars  with 
open  force,  the  other  with  subtlety ;  the  one  delighted  in  deceiving 
his  enemies,  the  other  in  boldly  repulsing  them.  The  one  was  more 
prudent  in  council,  the  other  more  noble  in  feeling.  The  father 
would  dissemble  his  resentment,  and  often  subdue  it ;  when  the 
son  was  provoked,  there  was  neither  delay  nor  bounds  to  his  ven- 
geance. They  were  both  too  fond  of  wine,  but  the  ill  effects  of 
their  intoxication  were  totally  different ;  the  father  would  rush  from 
a  banquet  to  face  the  enemy,  cope  with  him,  and  rashly  expose  him- 
self to  dangers ;  the  son  vented  his  rage  not  upon  his  enemies  but 
on  his  friends.  A  battle  often  sent  Philip  away  wounded  ;  Alexan- 
der often  left  a  banquet  stained  with  the  blood  of  his  companions. 
The  one  wished  to  reign  with  his  friends,  the  other  to  reign  over 
them.  The  one  preferred  to  be  loved,  the  other  to  be  feared. 
To  literature  both  gave  equal  attention.  The  father  had  more 
cunning,  the  son  more  honor.  Philip  was  more  staid  in  his  words, 
Alexander  in  his  actions.  The  son  felt  readier  and  nobler  impulses 
to  spare  the  conquered;  the  father  showed  no  mercy  even  to  his 
allies.  The  father  was  more  inclined  to  frugality,  the  son  to  luxury. 
By  the  same  course  by  which  the  father  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
empire  of  the  world,  the  son  consummated  the  glory  of  conquering 
the  whole  world. 

167.  A  Contemporary  Estimate  of  Philip 

(Theopompus,  Philippica,  i,  xlix,  quoted  and  criticised  by  Polybius,  Histories, 
viii.  11  (Miiller,  Fragmenta  historicorum  grcBcorum,  I.  p.  282.  27)) 

In  the  beginning  of  his  Philippica  he  said  that  what  chiefly 
induced  him  to  undertake  it  was  the  fact  that  Europe  had  never 
produced  such  a  man  as  Philip  son  of  Amyntas ;  and  then  imme- 
diately afterward,  both  in  his  preface  and  in  the  whole  course  of 
his  history,  he  represents  this  king  as  so  madly  addicted  to  women 
that  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  ruin  his  own  family  by  this  inordi- 
nate passion,  —  as  having  behaved  with  the  grossest  unfairness 
and  perfidy  to  his  friends  and  allies;  as  having  enslaved  and 
treacherously  seized  a  vast  number  of  towns  by  force  or  fraud ; 
and  as  having  been  besides  so  violently  addicted  to  strong  drink 
that  he  was  often  seen  by  his  friends  drunk  in  open  day. 


PHILIP'S  CHARACTER 


545 


If,  however,  any  one  will  take  the  trouble  to  read  the  opening 
passage  of  the  forty-ninth  book,  he  would  be  indeed  astonished  at 
this  writer's  extravagance.  Besides  his  other  strange  statements 
he  has  ventured  to  write  as  follows  (for  I  here  subjoin  his  actual 
words) ;  "If  there  was  any  man  in  all  Greece  or  among  the  Barbarians 
whose  character  was  licentious  and  shameless,  he  was  invariably 
attracted  to  Philip's  court  in  Macedon,  and  got  the  title  of  the 
'King's  companion.'  For  it  was  Philip's  constant  habit  to  reject 
those  who  lived  respectably  and  were  careful  of  their  property ;  but 
to  honor  and  promote  those  who  were  extravagant,  and  passed  their 
lives  in  drinking  and  dicing.  His  influence  accordingly  tended  not 
only  to  confirm  them  in  these  vices,  but  to  make  them  proficients 
in  every  kind  of  rascality  and  lewdness.  What  vice  or  infamy  did 
they  not  possess  ?  What  was  there  virtuous  or  of  good  report  that 
they  did  not  lack?  Some  of  them,  men  as  they  were,  were  ever 
clean-shaven  and  smooth-skinned ;  and  even  bearded  men  did  not 
shrink  from  mutual  defilement.  They  took  about  with  them  two 
or  three  slaves  of  their  lust,  while  submitting  to  the  same  shameful 
services  themselves.  The  men  whom  they  called  'companions' 
deserved  a  grosser  name,  and  the  title  of  soldier  was  but  a  cover 
to  mercenary  vice ;  for  though  blood-thirsty  by  nature,  they  were 
lascivious  by  habit.  In  a  word,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  es- 
pecially as  I  have  such  a  mass  of  matter  to  deal  with,  I  believe  that 
the  so-called  '  friends '  and  '  companions'  of  Philip  were  more  bestial 
in  nature  and  character  than  the  Centaurs  1  who  lived  on  Pelion,  or 
the  Laestrygones  2  who  inhabited  the  Leontine  plain,  or  in  fact  any 
other  monsters  whatever." 

(Theopompus  xlix,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  iv.  62) 

When  Philip  became  master  of  great  treasures,  he  did  not  spend 
them  quickly,  but  threw  them  away  and  squandered  them.  Of  all 
men  that  ever  lived  he  was  not  only  the  worst  manager  himself,  but 
all  about  him  were  so  too.  Absolutely  not  one  of  them  had  any  idea 
of  living  properly  or  of  managing  his  household  with  moderation. 
Of  that  condition  he  was  himself  the  cause,  being  a  most  insatiable 


1  Here  perhaps  the  writer  has  in  mind  the  myth  first  told  by  Pindar,  Pyth.  ii.  78  sqq. 

2  A  mythical  race  of  cannibals  located  by  the  Greeks  (cf.  Homer,  Odyssey,  x.  119) 
in  eastern  Sicily  on  the  plain  of  Leontini. 


546        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


and  extravagant  man,  doing  everything  in  an  off-hand  manner, 
whether  he  was  acquiring  property  or  giving  it  away  ;  for  although 
he  was  a  soldier,  he  was  through  pure  laziness  unable  to  count  what 
he  had  coming  in  and  what  he  spent.  Then,  too,  his  /  companions ' 
were  men  collected  together  from  all  quarters ;  some  came  from  his 
own  country,  some  from  Thessaly,  and  some  from  other  parts  of 
Hellas,  not  selected  for  excellence ; 1  but  if  among  either  Greeks  or 
Barbarians  there  was  any  licentious,  impure,  or  avaricious  man,  he 
had  almost  every  one  of  the  same  character  assembled  in  Macedon, 
and  they  were  all  called  friends  of  Philip.  Even  if  any  one  came  who 
was  not  entirely  of  that  disposition,  still  under  the  influence  of  the 
life  and  manners  of  the  Macedonians,  he  very  soon  became  like  the 
rest.  The  reason  is  that  their  wars  and  military  expeditions  and 
other  great  expenses  encouraged  them  to  be  bold  and  to  live,  not  in 
an  orderly  fashion,  but  with  prodigality  and  like  robbers. 

(Polybius  viii.  12) 

Who  would  not  disapprove  of  such  bitterness  and  intemperance 
of  language  in  a  historian?  It  is  not  only  because  his  words  con- 
tradict his  opening  statement  that  he  deserves  stricture ;  but  also 
because  he  has  libelled  the  king  and  his  friends ;  and  still  more  be- 
cause his  falsehood  is  expressed  in  disgusting  and  unbecoming 
words.  .  .  .  When  speaking  of  Philip  and  his  friends  a  man  ought 
to  be  on  his  guard,  not  so  much  against  accusing  them  of  effeminacy 
and  want  of  courage,  or  still  more  of  shameless  immorality,  but  on 
the  contrary,  lest  he  should  prove  unequal  to  express  their  praises 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  their  manliness,  indefatigable  energy,  and 
the  general  virtue  of  their  character.  It  is  notorious  that  by  their 
energy  and  boldness  they  raised  the  Macedonian  empire  from  a  most 
insignificant  monarchy  to  the  first  rank  in  reputation  and  extent.2 

1  At  least  it  may  be  said  in  his  favor  that  under  him  Macedon  was  absolutely  open 
to  all  strangers  who  wished  to  enter,  that  all  who  desired  received  the  citizenship,  and 
those  whom  the  king  favored  were  promoted  to  office.  In  this  respect  his  kingdom 
contrasted  strangely  with  the  Hellenic  city-state. 

a  The  criticism  of  Polybius  is  to  a  certain  degree  warranted ;  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  Theopompus  took  pleasure  in  depicting  the  vices  of  individuals,  and  that  in  doing 
so  he  indulged  in  exaggeration.  In  the  main  point,  however,  the  argument  of  Po- 
lybius fails ;  Philip  may  well  have  been  the  ablest  man  who  had  thus  far  appeared  in 
European  history,  and  he  certainly  achieved  all  that  Polybius  says.    In  spite  of  ability 


PHILIP'S  GREATNESS 


547 


1 68.  Achievements  of  Philip 

(Arrian,  Anabasis  of  Alexander,  vii.  9) 

Arrian  was  a  writer  of  the  second  century  a.d.,  but  drew  his  material  from 
authors  who  were  with  Alexander  on  his  marches.  The  selection  is  an  alleged 
speech  of  Alexander  to  his  discontented  Macedonian  soldiers.  Whether 
Alexander  actually  spoke  these  words  we  cannot  say,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
they  give  a  trustworthy  summary  of  Philip's  achievements. 

He  (Philip)  found  you  (Macedonians)  vagabonds  and  destitute 
of  means,  most  of  you  clad  in  skins,  feeding  a  few  sheep  up  the  moun- 
tain sides,  for  the  protection  of  which  you  had  to  fight  with  small 
success  against  the  Illyrians,  Triballians,  and  the  border  Thracians. 
Instead  of  skins  he  gave  you  cloaks  to  wear,  and  from  the  mountains 
he  led  you  down  into  the  plains,  and  made  you  capable  of  fighting 
the  neighboring  barbarians,  so  that  you  were  no  longer  compelled 
to  preserve  yourselves  by  trusting  rather  to  the  inaccessible  strong- 
holds than  to  your  own  valor.  He  made  you  colonists  of  cities, 
which  he  provided  with  useful  laws  and  customs ;  and  from  being 
slaves  and  subjects,  he  made  you  rulers  over  those  very  barbarians 
by  whom  you  yourselves,  as  well  as  your  property,  were  previously 
liable  to  be  carried  off  or  ravaged.  He  added,  too,  the  greater 
part  of  Thrace  to  Macedon,  and  by  seizing  the  most  conveniently 
situated  places  on  the  seacoast,  he  spread  abundance  over  the  land 
by  commerce,  and  made  the  working  of  the  mines  a  secure  employ- 
ment. He  made  you  rulers  over  the  Thessalians,  of  whom  you  had 
formerly  been  in  mortal  fear ;  and  by  humbling  the  nation  of  the 
Phocians  he  rendered  the  avenue  into  Greece  broad  and  easy  for 
you,  instead  of  being  narrow  and  difficult.  The  Athenians  and 
Thebans,  who  were  always  lying  in  wait  to  attack  the  Macedonians, 
he  humbled  to  such  a  degree,  with  my  personal  aid  in  the  campaign, 
that  instead  of  paying  tribute  to  Athens  and  being  in  vassalage  to 
Thebes,  those  states  now  obtain  security  for  themselves  by  our 
assistance.    He  penetrated  into  Peloponnese  ;  and  after  regulating 

and  achievement,  however,  he  may  have  been  essentially  the  man  described  by  Theo- 
pompus  —  a  man  reckless  of  expense,  addicted  to  drink  and  to  worse  vices,  a  despiser 
of  the  sober-minded  among  the  Hellenes,  and  a  lover  of  low  wild  company.  What 
Polybius  says  would  hold  true  in  a  civilized  community,  but  he  forgets  that  the  Mace- 
donians were  barbarians,  who  revelled  in  vice,  and  that  Philip  had  but  a  veneer  of 
civilization. 


548        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


its  affairs,  he  was  publicly  declared  commander  in  chief  of  all  the 
rest  of  Greece  in  the  expedition  against  the  Persians,  adding  this 
glory  not  more  to  himself  than  to  the  commonwealth  of  the  Mace- 
donians. 

169.  Sculpture 
(Pliny,  Natural  History,  xxxiv.  9  sq.    Jex-Blake,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

The  material  given  below  for  the  illustration  of  the  history  of  Hellenic  art  is 
from  the  Natural  History  of  Pliny  the  Elder,  who  was  killed  in  the  eruption  of 
Mount  Vesuvius,  in  79  a.d.  As  the  selection  is  of  such  a  character  that  it 
cannot  be  conveniently  divided  into  parts  and  distributed  among  the  various 
periods,  the  editor  has  taken  the  liberty  of  assigning  it  somewhat  arbitrarily 
to  the  present  chapter.  The  reader  is  to  bear  in  mind  that  some  of  the  material 
belongs  to  an  earlier,  some  to  a  later,  age,  and  that  the  general  tone  is  Roman 
rather  than  Greek.  See  especially  K.  Jex-Blake,  The  Elder  Pliny's  Chapters 
on  the  History  of  Art,  with  commentary  by  E.  Sellers. 

The  bronze  most  celebrated  in  early  times  was  that  of  Delos ; 
for  as  all  nations  resorted  to  the  market  of  the  island,1  great  care 
was  bestowed  on  the  manufacture  of  bronze.  It  was  first  employed 
for  the  feet  and  framework  of  couches,  and  afterward  its  use  was 
extended  to  images  of  the  Gods  and  figures  of  men  and  of  animals. 

iEginetan  bronze  was  the  next  to  become  celebrated.  iEgina 
was  also  an  island ;  it  had  no  mines  but  owed  its  reputation  to  the 
admirable  alloys  produced  in  its  foundries.2  A  bronze  bull,  taken 
from  /Egina,  and  now  in  the  Cattle  Market  at  Rome,3  may  stand 
for  an  example  of  ^Eginetan  bronze  and  the  Jupiter  in  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  the  Thunderer  on  the  Capitol  for  an  example  of  Delian 
bronze.  ^Eginetan  bronze  was  employed  by  Myron,  and  Delian 
by  Polycleitus.4  These  two  artists  were  contemporaries  and  fellow- 
pupils,  who  carried  their  rivalry  even  into  their  choice  of  a  material. 
In  ,^Egina  it  was  the  trays,  at  Tarentum  the  stems  of  candelabra 
which  were  especially  elaborated,  so  that  the  efforts  of  several 
workshops  combine  to  recommend  these  utensils.    They  are  things 

1  In  the  Hellenistic  age  and  in  the  earlier  Roman  period  Delos  was  a  considerable 
center  of  commerce ;  V.  Schoeffer,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  IV.  2476  sqq. 

2  The  bronze  of  ^Egina  was  celebrated  not  so  much  for  its  quality  as  for  the  famous 
artists  who  wrought  in  this  material;  Sellers,  note. 

3  The  Forum  Boarium;  Tacitus,  Annals,  xii.  24.  In  general  the  works  of  art  in 
Rome  which  Pliny  mentions  were  brought  as  plunder  from  the  Greek  states. 

4  On  Myron  and  Polycleitus,  see  no.  1 70. 


MULTITUDES  OF  STATUES 


549 


without  even  a  name  except  one  which  they  borrow  from  the  light 
of  .their  candles,  and  yet  we  are  not  ashamed  to  give  as  much  for  them 
as  the  year's  pay  of  a  military  tribune. 

{Ibid,  xxxiv.  36-41) 

(36)  Mummius  filled  all  Rome  with  sculpture  after  his  conquest 
of  Achaia,1  and  yet  I  must  add  in  his  favor  that  he  eventually  died 
too  poor  to  leave  his  daughter  a  dowry.  The  Luculli 2  too  brought 
over  a  number  of  statues ;  seventy-three  thousand  are  still  to  be 
seen  at  Rhodes,  according  to  Mucianus,3  who  was  three  times  con- 
sul, and  it  is  supposed  that  at  least  as  many  still  remain  at  Athens, 
Olympia  and  Delphi.  (37)  A  detailed  knowledge  of  all  these  is 
unattainable  and  would  moreover  serve  no  purpose ;  still  I  should 
like  to  touch  on  the  most  famous,  and  those  which  any  particular 
circumstance  has  made  noteworthy,  and  to  name  the  illustrious 
artists. 

Even  the  works  of  individual  artists  are  too  numerous  to  be 
catalogued ;  Lysippus,4  for  example,  is  said  to  have  made  fifteen 
hundred  pieces  of  statuary,  all  of  such  merit  that  any  one  alone  would 
bring  him  fame.  Their  number  was  discovered  when  his  heir  broke 
open  his  money-box  after  his  death,  for  it  was  his  custom  to  lay  by 
a  piece  of  gold  out  of  the  price  he  received  for  each  statue. 

(38)  Art  has  made  extraordinary  progress,  in  technique  iirst 
and  afterward  in  audacity.  As  an  example  of  successful  technique 
I  shall  mention  a  figure  representing  neither  god  nor  man.  Before 
the  last  fire  in  the  Capitol,  caused  by  the  soldiers  of  Vitellius,  our 
own  generation  could  see  in  the  temple  of  Juno  a  bronze  dog  licking 
his  wound.  The  wonderful  workmanship  and  absolutely  life-like 
treatment 5  are  sufficiently  proved  not  only  by  the  sacred  spot 
where  the  work  was  dedicated,  but  also  by  the  unusual  guarantee 

1  After  his  destruction  of  Corinth,  146,  he  sent  shiploads  of  art,  chiefly  the  plunder 
of  that  city,  to  Rome. 

2  Lucius  Lucullus,  consul  in  74  B.C.,  the  conqueror  of  Mithridates,  and  his  brother 
Marcus;  Sellers,  note. 

3  C.  Licinius  Mucianus,  a  contemporary  of  Pliny  the  Elder,  wrote  a  book  of  notes  or 
observations  on  the  works  of  art  which  he  saw  during  a  sojourn  in  western  Asia  Minor 
and  the  neighboring  islands. 

4  A  contemporary  of  Alexander  the  Great,  the  most  famous  sculptor  of  his  age. 

5  Works  of  this  kind,  characterized  by  exaggerated  realism,  were  a  feature  of  the 
Hellenistic  age. 


550        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


demanded  for  it.  No  sum  of  money  was  considered  equivalent ; 
it  was  a  public  ordinance  that  they  should  pledge  their  lives  for  its 
safety. 

(39)  Of  audacity  countless  instances  can  be  given.  For  ex- 
ample, artists  have  conceived  the  idea  of  gigantic  statues  called 
colossi,1  as  tall  as  towers.  Of  this  class  is  the  Apollo  in  the  Capitol, 
brought  from  Apollonia  in  Pontus  by  Marcus  Lucullus.  It  is  forty- 
five  feet  high,  and  cost  five  hundred  talents.  Another  is  the  Jupi- 
ter dedicated  in  the  field  of  Mars  by  Claudius  Caesar,  which,  how- 
ever, is  dwarfed  by  its  proximity  to  the  theatre  of  Pompey.  (40)  Yet 
another  is  the  Zeus  at  Tarentum  by  Lysippus,  which  is  forty  cubits  2 
in  height,  and  is  noteworthy  because  the  weight  is  so  nicely  bal- 
anced that  the  colossus  can,  they  say,  be  turned  round  by  a  touch 
of  the  hand,  and  yet  cannot  be  overthrown  by  the  wind.  The  ar- 
tist is  said  to  have  provided  against  this  possibility  by  placing  a 
column  a  little  way  off,  on  the  side  where  it  was  most  necessary  to 
break  the  violence  of  the  wind.  The  size  of  the  statue  and  the 
difficulty  of  transporting  it  prevented  Fabius  Verrucosus  from 
touching  it,  although  he  brought  the  Heracles  in  the  Capitol  from 
Tarentum.  (41)  The  most  marvellous  of  all,  however,  is  the 
statue  of  the  Sun  at  Rhodes,3  made  by  Chares  of  Lindus,  a  pupil 
of  the  Lysippus  already  mentioned.  It  was  seventy  cubits  in 
height ;  and  after  standing  fifty- six  years,  it  was  overthrown  by  an 
earthquake,  but  even  as  it  lies  on  the  ground  it  arouses  wonder. 
Few  men  can  clasp  their  arms  about  its  thumb ;  its  ringers  are 
taller  than  most  statues,  and  wide  caverns  gape  within  its  broken 
limbs,  while  inside  can  be  seen  huge  fragments  of  rock,  originally 
used  as  weights  to  steady  it.  According  to  tradition  its  construc- 
tion lasted  twelve  years,  and  cost  three  hundred  talents,  contribu- 
ted by  the  Rhodians  from  the  siege-train  left  with  them  by  king 
Demetrius  when  he  wearied  of  the  siege  of  Rhodes. 

1  Statues  exceeding  the  human  standard  of  size  were  made  from  the  earliest  times, 
but  these  enormous  works  were  a  product  of  the  late  classical  and  Hellenistic  ages. 

2  58  feet. 

3  The  colossus  at  Rhodes  was  reckoned  among  the  "seven  wonders"  of  the  world. 
The  idea  that  it  stood  with  one  foot  on  each  of  the  moles  that  bordered  the  entrance  to 
the  harbor,  while  ships  passed  between  its  legs,  is  a  medieval  error;  Sellers,  note; 
C.  Torr,  Rhodes  in  Ancient  Times,  96  sq.   70  cubits  is  equivalent  to  102  feet. 


» 


PHEIDIAS  551 
170.  The  Famous  Sculptors  and  their  Works 

(Pliny,  Natural  History,  xxxiv.  53-84.  Jex-Blake,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 
The  following  are  among  the  more  convenient  and  reliable  manuals  of 
Hellenic  art.  Tarbell,  F.  B.,  History  of  Greek  Art  (Macmillan,  1896) ;  Fowler, 
H.  N.,  and  Wheeler,  J.  R.,  Handbook  of  Greek  Archceology  (Am.  Bk.  Co.,  1909) ; 
Gardner,  P.,  Principles  of  Greek  Art  (Macmillan,  1914) ;  Sculptured  Tombs  of 
Hellas  (Macmillan,  1896) ;  Von  Mach,  E.,  Greek  Sculpture,  Its  Spirit  and 
Principles  (Ginn,  1903) ;  Gardner,  E.  A.,  Handbook  of  Greek  Sculpture  (Mac- 
millan, 1896) ;  Six  Greek  Sculptors  (Scribner,  1910).  The  most  valuable  guide 
to  the  collections  at  Rome  is  Helbig,  W.,  Fiihrer  durch  die  djfentlichen  Samm- 
lungen  klassischcr  Altertiimer  in  Rom,  2  vols.,  3d  ed.  revised  by  Amelung  and 
other  eminent  scholars  (Teubner,  191 2) .  By  the  use  of  these  manuals  the  various 
artists  mentioned  in  the  subjoined  excerpt  may  be  identified  and  studied. 

(53)  I  shall  touch  briefly  on  the  great  names,  and  group  others 
under  various  heads.  The  most  famous  artists,  although  born  at 
some  distance  of  time  from  each  other,  still  came  into  competition, 
since  each  had  made  a  statue  of  an  Amazon,  to  be  dedicated  in  the 
temple  of  Artemis  at  Ephesus,  when  it  was  decided  that  the  prize 
should  be  awarded  to  the  one  which  the  artists  themselves,  who 
were  on  the  spot,  declared  to  be  the  best.  This  proved  to  be  the 
statue  which  each  artist  placed  second  to  his  own,  namely  that  of 
Polycleitus.  The  statue  of  Pheidias  was  second,  that  of  Cresilas 
third,  Cydon's  fourth,  and  Phradmon's  fifth. 

(54)  Besides  his  Olympian  Zeus,  a  work  which  has  no  rival, 
Pheidias  made  in  ivory  the  Athena  at  Athens,  which  stands  erect 
in  the  Parthenon.  In  bronze,  besides  the  Amazon  already  men- 
tioned, he  made  an  Athena  of  such  surpassing  beauty  that  she  was 
named  the  Fair  (Forma).1  He  also  made  the  Key-Bearer,  another 
Athena  which  iEmilius  Paullus  dedicated  at  Rome  in  front  of  the 
temple  of  the  Fortune  of  this  Day,2  two  draped  statues  dedicated 
by  Catulus  in  the  same  temple  and  a  nude  colossal  statue.  He  is 
rightly,  held  to  have  revealed  the  capabilities  of  sculpture  and 
indicated  its  methods. 

(55)  Polycleitus  of  Sicyon  was  a  pupil  of  Hageladas.3    He  made 

1  Also  known  as  the  Lemnian  Athena ;  Paus.  i.  28.  2. 

2  This  yEmilius  Paullus  was  the  conqueror  of  Perseus  at  Pydna,  168.  The  temple 
of  Fortune  of  this  Day  was  on  the  Palatine  Hill. 

3  Hageladas  of  Argos  flourished  in  the  sixth  century,  too  early  therefore  to  have 
been  the  master  of  Polycleitus.  The  connection  was  probably  deduced  from  a 
noticeable  influence. 


552        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


an  athlete  binding  the  diadem  about  his  head,  which  was  famous  for 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  talents  which  it  realized.  This  Diadu- 
menos  has  been  described  as  '  a  man,  yet  a  boy ; '  the  Doryphoros, 
or  ' Spear-Bearer'  as  '  a  boy,  yet  a  man.'  He  also  made  the  statue 
which  sculptors  call  the  'canon,'  referring  to  it  as  a  standard  from 
which  they  can  learn  the  first  rules  of  their  art.  He  is  the  only 
man  who  has  been  held  to  have  embodied  the  principles  of  his  art 
in  a  single  work.  He  also  made  an  athlete  scraping  himself,  a  nude 
figure  advancing  with  a  weapon,  and  two  boys,  also  nude,  playing 
with  knuckle-bones,  who  are  known  as  the  Astragalizontes,  and  are 
now  in  the  atrium  of  Imperator  Titus.  Many  think  that  the  fault- 
less execution  of  this  work  has  never  been  surpassed.  (56)  Other 
works  of  his  are  a  Hermes  which  was  at  Lysimacheia ;  a  Heracles 
at  Rome ;  a  Captain  putting  on  his  armor ;  and  finally  a  portrait 
of  Artemon,  known  by  the  name  of  Periphoretos  ('Man  in  the 
Litter').  He  is  considered  to  have  brought  the  scientific  knowl- 
edge of  statuary  to  perfection,  and  to  have  systematized  the  art 
of  which  Pheidias  had  revealed  the  possibilities.  It  was  his  pe- 
culiar characteristic  to  represent  his  figures  standing  on  one  leg. 
Varro,  however,  says  that  they  are  square  and  almost  exactly  after 
the  same  type. 

(57)  Myron  was  born  at  Eleutherae,1  and  was  also  a  pupil  of 
Hageladas.  He  is  best  known  by  his  heifer,  thanks  to  the  well- 
known  verses  written  upon  it,  for  people  generally  owe  their  repu- 
tations to  the  talent  of  others  rather  than  to  their  own.  He  made, 
too,  a  dog  and  a  Discobolos,  or  athlete  hurling  the  discus,  a  Perseus, 
sawyers,  a  Satyr  gazing  with  wonder  at  the  pipes  and  Athena,  win- 
ners in  the  five  contests  at  Delphi,  pancratiasts,  and  the  Heracles 
which  is  near  the  Circus  Maximus  in  the  temple  (aedes)  of  Pompey 
the  Great.  A  poem  by  Erinna  also  tells  us  that  he  made  the  monu- 
ment of  a  cicada  and  a  locust.  (58)  He  also  made  the  Apollo  which 
was  taken  from  the  Ephesians  by  the  triumvir  Antony,  and  re- 
stored to  them  by  the  deified  Augustus,  in  obedience  to  a  dream. 
Evidently  he  was  the  first  to  multiply  truth ; 2  he  was  more  pro- 

1  On  the  Boeotian  frontier  of  Attica. 

2  That  is,  he  "  widened  the  range  of  representation  in  art,  inasmuch  as  he  laid  hold 
on  moments  disclosed  by  attentive  observation  of  nature,  but  not  utilized  before  " ; 
quoted  from  Brunn  by  Sellers,  note. 


PYTHAGORAS;  LYSIPPUS 


553 


ductive  than  Polycleitus,  and  a  more  diligent  observer  of  symmetry. 
Nevertheless  he  too  cared  only  for  the  physical  form,  and  did  not 
express  mental  sensations,  and  his  treatment  of  the  hair  continued 
to  betray  an  archaic  want  of  skill. 

(59)  Pythagoras  of  Rhegium  in  Italy  surpassed  Myron  with 
the  pancratiast  placed  at  Delphi ;  with  the  same  statue  he  also 
surpassed  Leontiscus.  Furthermore  he  made  the  statues  of  the 
runner  Astylus  and  of  a  Libyan,  which  are  to  be  seen  at  Olympia. 
For  the  same  place  he  made  the  boy  holding  a  tablet,  and  a  nude 
male  figure  carrying  apples.  At  Syracuse  is  a  statue  by  him  of  a 
man  limping,  the  pain  of  whose  ulcer  even  the  spectators  seem  to 
feel.  He  was  the  first  to  make  the  sinews  and  veins  duly  prominent, 
and  to  bestow  greater  pains  upon  the  hair.  (60)  A  second  Py- 
thagoras, a  Samian,  was  in  early  life  a  painter.  Near  the  Temple 
of  the  Fortune  of  the  Day  are  seven  nude  figures  by  him,  and  an 
old  man,  which  are  praised.  According  to  tradition  his  personal 
resemblance  to  the  other  Pythagoras  was  so  strong  that  the  two 
could  be  mistaken.  It  was  the  Rhegine  Pythagoras,  however,  of 
whom  Sostratus  was  the  pupil  and  nephew. 

(61)  Duris  declared  that  Lysippus  of  Sicyon  was  no  man's 
pupil ;  that  he  was  originally  a  coppersmith,  and-  was  encouraged 
to  venture  on  a  higher  path  by  the  words  of  Eupompus.  That 
painter,  when  asked  which  of  the  earlier  artists  he  followed,  pointed 
to  a  crowd  of  people,  and  replied  that  nature  should  be  imitated 
and  not  any  artist.  (62)  Lysippus  produced  more  works  than  any- 
other  artist,  possessing,  as  I  have  said,  a  most  prolific  genius. 
Among  them  is  the  'man  scraping  himself  (Apoxyomenos) ,  which 
Marcus  Agrippa  dedicated  in  front  of  his  baths.  In  this  statue 
the  princeps  Tiberius  took  a  marvellous  delight,  and  though  capable 
of  self-control  in  the  first  years  of  his  principate,  he  could  not  refrain 
from  having  the  statue  removed  into  his  private  chamber,  substitut- 
ing another  in  its  place.  The  populace  of  Rome  resented  this  so 
deeply  that  they  raised  an  outcry  in  the  theatre,  demanding  the 
restitution  of  the  Apoxyomenos,  to  which  the  princeps  was  fain  to 
yield,  in  spite  of  the  passion  he  had  conceived  for  t,he  statue. 

(63)  Lysippus  has  also  won  fame  by  his  drunken  flute-player, 
his  dogs  and  huntsmen,  and  above  all  by  the  four-horse  chariot 
and  the  figure  of  the  Sun  made  for  the  Rhodians.    He  also  made  a 


554        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


number  of  portraits  of  Alexander  the  Great,  beginning  with  one  of 
him  as  a  boy,  which  the  princeps  Nero,  who  was  greatly  charmed 
with  the  statue,  ordered  to  be  gilded.  Then  as  this  costly  addition 
spoiled  the  beauty  of  the  work,  the  gold  was  removed,  and  the 
statue  was  considered  the  more  valuable  without  it,  in  spite  of  the 
scars  on  it  and  the  incisions  for  fastening  the  gold.  (64)  Further- 
more he  made  a  statue  of  Hephaestion,  the  friend  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  which  some  ascribe  to  Polycleitus,  although  that  artist  lived 
almost  a  hundred  years  earlier.  We  have  also  from  his  hand  an 
Alexander  in  a  hunting  group,  which  is  consecrated  at  Delphi,  a 
Satyr  at  Athens  and  a  troop  of  Alexander's  personal  guard,  in  which 
all  his  friends'  portraits  are  rendered  with  great  fidelity.  This 
group  was  transported  to  Rome  by  Metellus  after  the  conquest  of 
Macedonia.1  By  Lysippus  too  are  various  four-horse  chariots. 
(65)  His  chief  contributions  to  the  art  of  sculpture  are  said  to  con- 
sist in  his  vivid  rendering  of  the  hair,  in  making  the  heads  smaller 
than  older  artists  had  done,  and  the  bodies  slimmer  and  with  less 
flesh,  thus  increasing  the  apparent  height  of  the  figures.  There  is 
no  word  in  Latin  for  the  canon  of  symmetry  (symmetria)  which  he 
was  so  careful  to  preserve,  bringing  innovations  which  had  never 
been  thought  of  before  into  the  square  canon  of  the  older  artists, 
and  he  often  said  that  the  difference  between  himself  and  them  was 
that  they  represented  men  as  they  were,  and  he  as  they  appeared 
to  be.  His  chief  characteristic  is  extreme  delicacy  of  execution  even 
•in  the  smallest  details. 

(66)  He  left  artists  of  high  reputation  in  his  sons  and  pupils, 
Laippus,  Boedas,  and  above  all  Euthycrates.  The  latter  however 
imitated  not  so  much  the  refinement  as  the  perseverance  of  his 
father,  choosing  to  win  approval  by  an  austere  rather  than  a  lighter 
style  of  execution.  In  this  manner  he  made  for  Delphi  an  admi- 
rable statue  of  Heracles,  for  Thespiae  an  Alexander  hunting,  a  group 
of  the  Thespiades,  and  a  combat  between  horsemen,  a  statue  of 
Trophonius  with  his  oracular  cave,  several  chariots  with  four  horses, 
a  horse  carrying  hunting  prongs,  and  hunting  dogs. 

(67)  His  pupil  was  Teisicrates,  also  a  native  of  Sicyon,  who 
followed  more  closely  the  school  of  Lysippus,  so  that  many  of  his 
works  can  hardly  be  distinguished  from  those  of  the  master.  Wit- 

1 146  B.C. 


PRAXITELES 


555 


ness  his  portrait  of  an  old  man  at  Thebes,  of  King  Demetrius  and  of 
Peucestes,  who  saved  Alexander's  life  and  well  deserves  the  honor  of 
a  statue. 

(68)  Those  sculptors  who  have  written  treatises  on  the  subject 
give  high  praise  to  Telephanes  of  Phocaea,  who  is  otherwise  un- 
known, since,  they  say,  he  lived  in  Thessaly,  where  his  works  re- 
mained unnoticed.  These  writers,  however,  adjudge  him  a  place 
beside  Polycleitus,  Myron  and  Pythagoras,  praising  his  statues 
of  Larissa,  of  Spintharus,  a  winner  in  the  five  contests,  and  of 
Apollo.  Others  give  a  different  reason  for  his  comparative  obscurity 
saying  that  he  passed  into  the  service  of  king  Xerxes  and  of 
Darius. 

(69)  Praxiteles  also,  though  more  successful  and  consequently 
better  known  as  a  worker  in  marble,  created  admirable  works  in 
bronze;  a  rape  of  Persephone,  the  Catagousa  ('Spinning  Girl'),  a 
Dionysus,  a  figure  of  Intoxication  grouped  with  an  admirable  Satyr 
known  among  the  Greeks  as  the  ' Renowned,'  and  also  the  statues 
which  stood  in  front  of  the  temple  of  Felicity,  and  an  Aphrodite 
which  was  destroyed  when  the  temple  was  burned  down  in  the  prin- 
cipate  of  Claudius,  the  worthy  peer  of  his  famous  marble  Aphrodite. 
(70)  Other  works  of  his  are  the  Stephanousa  ('Woman  presenting  a 
Wreath'),  the  Pselioumene  ('Woman  clasping  a  Bracelet  on  her 
Arm'),  Opora  (Autumn),  and  statues  of  Harmodius  and  Aristo- 
geiton,  Slayers  of  the  Tyrant.  These  statues  were  carried  off  by 
Xerxes,  king  of  the  Persians,  and  restored  to  Athens  by  Alexander 
the  Great  after  his  conquest  of  Persia.  He  also  made  a  young 
Apollo  with  an  arrow  watching  a  lizard  as  it  creeps  up,  with  the 
intent  to  slay  it  close  at  hand.  This  is  known  as  the  Sauroctonos 
('Lizard-Slayer').  There  are  two  statues  by  him  expressing  con- 
trary emotions,  a  mourning  matron  and  a  rejoicing  courtesan. 
The  latter  is  believed  to  be  Phryne.  The  sculptor's  love  may  be 
read  in  the  whole  statue,  and  Phryne's  satisfaction  is  depicted  on 
her  face. 

(71)  There  is  also  a  statue  which  testifies  to  the  kindness  of 
Praxiteles ;  for  he  made  a  charioteer  for  a  four-horse  chariot  by 
Calamis,  not  wishing  it  to  be  thought  that  Calamis  failed  in  the 
man  after  succeeding  with  the  horses.  Calamis  made  other  four- 
horse  and  two-horse  chariot  groups  with  varying  success,  though 


556        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


unrivalled  in  his  horses.  And  yet,  for  it  must  not  be  thought  that 
he  was  inferior  to  others  in  representing  the  human  figure,  no  artist 
has  better  portrayed  the  poet  Alcman. 

(72)  Alcamenes,  a  pupil  of  Pheidias,  produced  works  in  marble 
as  well  as  a  winner  in  the  five  contests  in  bronze,  called  the  Enkri- 
nomenos  ('Undergoing  the  Test').  A  pupil  of  Polycleitus,  Aris- 
teides,  made  chariots  with  four  horses  and  with  two.  Amphicrates 
is  famous  for  his  Leaina  ('Lioness').  This  Leaina  was  a  courte- 
san, intimate,  through  her  playing  on  the  lyre,  with  Harmodius 
and  Aristogeiton,  whose  plot  of  assassination  she  refused  to  betray, 
though  tortured  to  death  by  the  tyrants.  The  Athenians  were 
anxious  to  pay  her  honor,  and  yet  unwilling  to  commemorate  a 
courtesan  by  a  statue.  Accordingly  they  made  a  figure  of  the 
animal  whose  name  she  bore,  and  to  indicate  their  reason  for  honor- 
ing her,  they  forbade  the  artist  to  give  it  a  tongue.  (73)  Bryaxis 
made  an  Asclepius  and  a  Seleucus  ;  Boedas  a  praying  figure  ;  Baton 
the  Apollo  and  Hera  which  are  in  the  temple  of  Concord  at  Rome ; 
(74)  Cresilas  a  wounded  man  at  the  point  of  death,  whose  face 
betrays  how  fast  his  blood  is  ebbing,  and  also  an  Olympian  Pericles, 
worthy  of  the  epithet.  The  marvel  of  his  art  is  that  it  made  famous 
men  yet  more  famous.  Cephisodorus  made  a  wonderful  Athena  in 
the  harbor  of  Athens,  and  in  the  same  city,  in  the  temple  of  Zeus 
the  Saviour,  an  altar  to  which  few  are  comparable.  (75)  Canachus 
made  the  nude  Apollo,  which  is  named  the  Lover  and  is  in  the 
temple  of  Didyma,  of  iEginetan  bronze,  and  with  it  a  stag  so  poised 
upon  its  feet  that  a  thread  can  be  drawn  beneath  them  while  the  heel 
and  toe  alternately  catch  the  ground,  both  parts  working  with  a 
jointed  mechanism  in  such  a  way  that  the  impact  suffices  to  make 
them  spring  backward  and  forward.  He  also  made  boys  on  race- 
horses. {Then  follow  several  less-known  artists  omitted  from  this 
selection).  .  .  . 

(79)  Lycius  was  a  pupil  of  Myron.  In  the  boy  blowing  a  dying 
fire  he  created  a  work  worthy  of  his  master;  further,  he  made 
statues  of  the  Argonauts.  The  eagle  of  Leochares  appears  to 
know  how  precious  a  burden  it  is  ravishing  in  Ganymede  and  to 
what  master  it  bears  him,  and  its  talons  hold  the  boy  tenderly 
though  his  dress  protects  him.  He  also  made  a  statue  of  Autolycus, 
who  was  victorious  in  the  pancration  and  in  whose  honor  Xenophon 


VARIOUS  SCULPTORS 


557 


wrote  the  Banquet;  the  celebrated  Zeus  with  the  thunderbolt  in 
the  Capitol,  a  work  of  supreme  excellence ;  Apollo  wearing  the 
diadem ;  the  slave-dealer  Lyciscus  and  a  boy,  on  whose  face  may 
be  read  the  wily  craft  of  the  servile  character.  Lycius  too  made  a 
woman  burning  perfumes.  .  .  . 

(81)  Styppax  of  Cyprus  is  known  by  one  statue  only,  the 
Splanchnoptes  ('Roaster  of  Entrails')-  This  was  a  slave  of  Pericles 
the  Olympian ;  he  is  roasting  entrails  and  blowing  hard  on  the  fire 
to  kindle  it,  till  his  cheeks  swell.  Seilanion  cast  a  portrait  of  Apol- 
lodorus,  who  was  also  a  sculptor,  who  often  broke  up  a  finished 
statue,  being  unable  to  reach  the  ideal  he  aimed  at ;  from  this  cir- 
cumstance he  was  called  the  'Madman.'  (82)  This  characteristic 
Seilanion  rendered,  and  made  his  bronze,  not  a  portrait  of  an  in- 
dividual, but  of  a  figure  of  Vexation  itself.  He  also  made  a  famous 
Achilles  and  a  trainer  exercising  his  athletes. 

Strongylion  made  the  Amazon  called  Euknemos,  from  the 
beauty  of  its  legs.  It  was  because  of  this  special  feature  that  the 
princeps  Nero  carried  the  statue  about  with  him  in  his  train.  He 
also  made  the  boy  which  Brutus  of  Philippi  loved,  and  rendered 
illustrious  by  his  name.  (83)  Theodorus,  the  maker  of  the  laby- 
rinth at  Samos,  also  cast  a  portrait  of  himself  in  bronze,  famed  as  a 
wondrous  likeness,  and  celebrated  for  the  extreme  delicacy  of  the 
workmanship.  The  right  hand  holds  a  file,  while  three  ringers  of 
the  left  hand  support  a  tiny  team  of  four  horses,  which  is  now  at 
Praeneste  —  so  small  that  the  team,  marvellous  to  relate,  with 
chariot  and  charioteer,  could  be  covered  by  the  wings  of  a  fly  which 
the  artist  made  to  accompany  it.  Xenocrates  was  a  pupil  of  Teisi- 
crates,  or  according  to  some  authorities,  of  Euthycrates.  He  out- 
did both  in  the  number  of  statues  which  he  produced,  and  he  also 
wrote  books  on  his  art. 

(84)  The  battles  of  Attalus  and  Eumenes  against  the  Gauls  were 
represented  by  several  artists,  Isogonus,  Pyromachus,  Stratonicus 
and  Antigonus,  who  also  wrote  books  on  his  art. 

Boethus,  though  greater  as  a  worker  in  silver,  made  a  child 
hugging  a  goose  till  he  throttles  it. 

The  best  of  all  the  works  I  have  mentioned  have  now  been 
dedicated  at  Rome  by  the  princeps  Vespasian  in  the  temple  of 
Peace  and  in  his  other  galleries,  Nero  having  first  brought  them  by 


558        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


the  strong  hand  to  Rome,  and  placed  them  in  the  apartments  of 
the  Golden  House. 

171.  The  Most  Famous  Painters  and  their  Works 
(Pliny,  Natural  History,  xxxv.  15,  53-97.    Jex-Blake,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.) 

(15)  The  origin  of  painting  is  obscure,  and  hardly  falls  within 
the  scope  of  this  work.  The  claim  of  the  Egyptians  to  have  dis- 
covered the  art  six  thousand  years  before  it  reached  Greece  is  ob- 
viously an  idle  boast,1  while  among  the  Greeks  some  say  that  it 
was  first  discovered  at  Sicyon,  others  at  Corinth.  All  however 
agree  that  painting  began  with  the  outlining  of  a  man's  shadow. 
This  was  the  first  stage  ;  in  the  second  a  single  color  was  employed  ; 
and  after  the  discovery  of  more  elaborate  methods  this  style,  which 
is  still  in  vogue,  received  the  name  of  monochrome.  .  .  . 

(53)  I  now  propose  to  mention  the  most  famous  painters  as 
briefly  as  may  be,  for  a  detailed  account  would  be  inconsistent  with 
the  scheme  of  my  work.  It  will  therefore  be  enough  if  I  give  some 
artists  only  a  passing  notice,  or  name  them  in  connection  with  others. 
But  I  must  still  make  separate  mention  of  the  most  renowned 
paintings,  whether  they  be  still  in  existence  or  whether  they  have 
perished.  .  .  . 

(57)  Panaenus,  brother  of  Pheidias,  painted  the  battle  between 
the  Athenians  and  Persians  at  Marathon.2  So  extensively  were 
colors  now  used,  so  perfect  had  technique  now  become,  that  he  is 
actually  said  to  have  given  the  real  portraits  of  the  commander 
on  each  side,  of  Miltiades,  Callimachus  and  Cynaegeirus  among 
the  Athenians,  of  Datis  and  Artaphrenes  among  the  barbarians. 
(58)  Nay  more,  competitions  for  painters  were  instituted  at  Corinth 
and  Delphi  in  the  time  of  Panaenus,  when  in  the  first  contest  he 
tried  for  the  prize  against  Timagoras  of  Chalcis,  who  conquered  him 
—  as  we  know  from  an  old  epigram  by  Timagoras  himself  —  at  the 
Pythian  games  —  an  evident  proof  that  the  chroniclers  are  wrong 
in  their  dates.  Yet  other  painters  became  famous  before  the  nine- 
tieth Olympiad,3  as  for  example,  Polygnotus  of  Thasos,  who  first 

1  Though  ridiculed  by  the  Greeks,  the  claim  of  the  Egyptians  is  now  known  to  be 
substantially  true. 

2  This  picture  is  variously  assigned  to  Panaenus,  Micon,  and  Polygnotus ;  Sellers, 
note.  3  420-417  b.c. 


POLYGNOTUS;  ZEUXIS 


559 


painted  women  with  transparent  garments  and  gave  them  head- 
dresses of  various  colors.  This  artist  made  a  first  serious  contri- 
bution to  the  development  of  painting  by  opening  the  mouth, 
showing  the  teeth,  and  varying  the  stiff  archaic  effect  of  the  features. 
(59)  He  painted  the  picture  now  in  the  Portico  of  Pompey  and  for- 
merly in  front  of  his  Senate-Chamber,  representing  a  warrior  armed 
with  a  shield,  about  whom  people  argue  whether  he  is  ascending  or 
descending.  He  also  decorated  the  temple  at  Delphi,  and  at 
Athens  the  Painted  Porch  as  it  is  called.  For  this  work  he  took 
no  money,  while  Micon,  to  whom  part  of  the  work  was  intrusted, 
accepted  payment.  The  position  he  thus  won  for  himself  was  all 
the  greater,  so  much  so  that  the  Aniphictyonic  council,  or  national 
assembly  of  Hellas,  decreed  that  he  should  be  a  public  guest.  There 
was  another  Micon,  distinguished  as  the  Younger,  whose  daughter 
Timarete  was  also  an  artist. 

(60)  In  the  ninetieth  Olympiad  lived  Aglaophon,  Cephisodorus, 
Erillus,  and  Evenor,  the  father  and  master  of  the  great  artist 
Parrhasius,  whom  I  shall  mention  in  due  time.  They  were  all  not- 
able painters,  yet  they  need  not  prevent  my  hastening  on  to  the 
true  luminaries  of  art,  among  whom  the  first  to  shine  was  Apollo- 
dorus  of  Athens  in  the  ninety-third  Olympiad.1  He  was  the  first 
to  give  his  figures  the  appearance  of  reality,  and  he  first  bestowed 
true  glory  on  the  brush.  He  painted  a  priest  at  prayer,  and  an 
Aias  struck  by  lightning,  which  is  still  to  be  seen  at  Pergamon.  No 
picture  of  any  of  his  predecessors  really  rivets  the  gaze.  (61)  It 
was  he  who  opened  the  gates  of  art  through  which  Zeuxis  of 
Heracleia  passed  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  ninety-fifth  Olympiad,2 
giving  to  the  painter's  brush  (for  of  the  brush  alone  I  speak  as  yet) 
the  full  glory  to  which  it  already  aspired.  Zeuxis  is  erroneously 
placed  by  some  in  the  eighty-ninth  Olympiad ; 3  it  is  evident  that 
Demophilus  of  Himera  and  Neseus  of  Thasos  were  among  his  con- 
temporaries, seeing  that  there  is  a  controversy  as  to  which  of  the 
two  was  his  master.  (62)  In  an  epigram  written  against  him  by  the 
Apollodorus  whom  I  mentioned  above,  it  is  said  that  'Zeuxis  bore 
away  with  him  the  art  he  had  stolen  from  his  masters.'  He  amassed 
great  wealth ;  and  in  order  to  make  a  parade  of  it  at  Olympia,  he 
showed  his  name  woven  in  golden  letters  into  the  embroideries  of 

1  408-405  B.C.  2  397  B.C.  3  424-421  B.C. 


560        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


his  garments.  Afterward  he  began  to  make  presents  of  his  pictures, 
saying  that  they  were  beyond  all  price.  In  this  way  he  gave  his 
Alcmena  to  the  city  of  Agrigentum  and  his  Pan  to  Archelaus.  He 
also  painted  a  Penelope,  in  whom  he  embodied  Virtue's  self,  and 
an  athlete  with  whom  he  was  so  well  pleased  that  he  wrote  beneath 
it  the  line  thenceforward  famous;  (63)  "Another  may  carp  more 
easily  than  he  may  copy."  He  also  painted  a  superb  Zeus  en- 
throned amid  the  assembled  Gods,  with  the  infant  Heracles  stran- 
gling the  snakes  in  presence  of  his  trembling  mother  Alcmena  and  of 
Amphitryon.  (64)  Zeuxis  is  criticised,  however,  as  having  exag- 
gerated the  heads  and  extremities  of  his  figures.  For  the  rest  he 
bestowed  such  minute  pains  upon  his  work  that  before  painting 
for  the  people  of  Agrigentum  a  picture  to  be  dedicated  in  the 
temple  on  the  Lacinian  promontory,  he  inspected  the  girls  of  the 
city  unclad,  and  chose  out  five,  whose  peculiar  beauties  he  proposed 
to  reproduce  in  his  picture.  He  also  painted  monochromes  in  white. 
Timanthes,  Androcydes,  Eupompus  and  Parrhasius  were  con- 
temporaries and  rivals  of  Zeuxis. 

(65)  The  story  runs  that  Parrhasius  and  Zeuxis  entered  into 
competition,  Zeuxis  exhibiting  a  picture  of  some  grapes  so  true  to 
nature  that  the  birds  flew  up  to  the  wall  of  the  stage.  Parrhasius 
then  displayed  a  picture  of  a  linen  curtain  realistic  to  such  a  degree 
that  Zeuxis,  elated  by  the  verdict  of  the  birds,  cried  out  that  now 
at  last  his  rival  must  draw  the  curtain  and  show  his  picture.  On 
discovering  the  mistake  he  surrendered  the  prize  to  Parrhasius, 
admitting  candidly  that  he  had  deceived  the  birds,  while  Parrhasius 
had  deluded  himself,  a  painter.  (66)  Afterward  we  learn  that 
Zeuxis  painted  a  boy  carrying  grapes,  and  when  the  birds  flew  down 
to  settle  on  them,  he  was  vexed  with  his  own  work,  and  came  for- 
ward saying  with  like  frankness  :  '  I  have  painted  the  grapes  better 
than  the  boy ;  for  had  I  been  perfectly  successful  with  the  latter, 
the  birds  must  have  been  afraid.'  He  also  modeled  certain  terra- 
cottas which  were  the  only  works  of  art  left  in  Ambracia  when 
Fulvius  Nobilior  brought  the  statues  of  the  Muses  to  Rome.  The 
paintings  in  Rome  by  the  hand  of  Zeuxis  are :  the  Helen  in  the 
Portico  of  Philippus  and  the  bound  Marsyas  in  the  temple  of 
Concord. 

(67)  Parrhasius,  a  native  of  Ephesus,  also  made  great  contri- 


PARRHASIUS 


56i 


butions  to  the  progress  of  art.  He  first  gave  painting  symmetry, 
and  added  vivacity  to  the  features,  daintiness  to  the  hair,  and 
comeliness  to  the  mouth,  while  by  the  verdict  of  artists  he  is  un- 
rivalled in  the  rendering  of  outline.  This  is  the  highest  subtlety 
attainable  in  painting.  Merely  to  paint  a  figure  in  relief  is  no  doubt 
a  great  achievement,  yet  many  have  succeeded  thus  far.  But  where 
an  artist  is  rarely  successful  is  in  finding  an  outline  which  shall 
express  the  contours  of  the  figure.  (68)  For  the  contour  should 
appear  to  fold  back,  and  so  enclose  the  object  as  to  give  assurance 
of  the  parts  behind,  thus  clearly  suggesting  even  what  it  conceals. 
Preeminence  in  this  respect  is  conceded  to  Parrhasius  by  Antigonus 
and  Xenocrates,  writers  on  painting,  who  indeed  not  only  concede 
but  insist  upon  it.  Many  other  traces  of  his  draughtsmanship 
remain  both  in  pictures  and  on  parchments,  which  are  said  to  be 
instructive  to  artists.  Still,  if  tried  by  his  own  standard,  he  fails 
in  modeling.  (69)  He  painted  an  ingenious  personification  of  the 
Athenian  'Demos,'  discovering  it  as  a  fickle,  passionate,  unjust, 
changeable,  yet  exorable,  compassionate  and  pitiful,  boastful,  proud 
and  humble,  bold  and  cowardly,  in  a  word,  everything  at  once.  He 
also  painted  the  Theseus  formerly  in  the  Capitol  at  Rome,  an  ad- 
miral in  armor,  and  Meleager,  Heracles  and  Perseus  in  a  picture  at 
Rhodes,  where  it  has  thrice  been  set  on  fire  by  lightning  with- 
out being  destroyed,  a  miracle  which  increases  our  wonder. 
(70)  Further,  he  painted  a  priest  of  Cybele  —  a  picture  of  which 
the  princeps  Tiberius  was  fond,  and  which  according  to  Deculo,1 
although  valued  at  6,000,000  sesterces,  he  placed  in  his  private 
apartments.  Moreover  he  painted  a  Thracian  nurse  with  an  infant 
in  her  arms  ;  a  portrait  of  Philiscus,  Dionysus  by  the  side  of  Virtue, 
two  boys  whose  features  express  the  confidence  and  the  simplicity 
of  their  age,  and  a  priest  with  a  boy  at  his  side  holding  a  censer 
and  a  wreath.  (71)  Two  other  pictures  by  him  are  most  famous, 
a  hoplite  in  a  race  who  seems  to  sweat  as  he  runs,  and  a  hoplite 
laying  aside  his  arms,  whose  laboring  breath  we  seem  to  hear. 
His  picture  of  ^Fmeias,  Castor  and  Polydeuces  is  praised ;  so  is  his 
Telephus  with  Achilles,  Agamemnon  and  Odysseus.  He  was  a 
prolific  artist  but  carried  his  success  with  an  arrogance  that  none 

1  One  of  Pliny's  sources ;  he  lived  under  or  shortly  after  Tiberius ;  cf.  F.  Miinzer, 
Beitrage  zur  Quellenkritik  der  Naturgeschichte  des  Plinius  (Berlin,  1897),  400  sq. 


562        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


have  equalled.  He  called  himself  the  'luxurious,'  and  said  in  an- 
other epigram  that  he  was  the  prince  of  painting,  that  he  had 
brought  it  to  the  highest  point  of  perfection,  and  more  than  all, 
that  he  was  of  the  seed  of  Apollo  and  had  painted  the  Heracles  of 
Lindos  precisely  as  he  had  often  seen  him  asleep.1  (72)  Hence  it 
was  that  when  he  was  defeated  by  a  large  majority  of  votes  in  a 
competition  with  Timanthes  at  Samos,  the  subject  of  his  picture 
being  Aias  and  the  Award  of  the  Arms,  he  said  in  the  name  of  the 
hero  that  he  was  grieved  at  being  worsted  a  second  time  by  an  un- 
worthy rival.  Further,  he  painted  small  pictures  of  licentious 
subjects,  seeking  relaxation  in  this  wanton  humor.2 

(73)  To  return  —  Timanthes  was  a  painter  most  curious  in  in- 
vention, for  by  him  is  that  Iphigeneia,  praised  by  the  orators,  whom 
he  depicted  standing  by  the  altar  ready  for  death.  Having  rep- 
resented all  the  onlookers,  and  especially  her  father's  brothers,  as 
plunged  in  sorrow,  and  having  thus  exhausted  every  presentment  of 
grief,  he  has  veiled  the  face  of  her  father,  for  which  he  had  reserved 
no  adequate  expression.  (74)  There  are  other  examples  of  his 
inventiveness ;  for  instance,  being  desirous  of  emphasizing,  even 
in  a  small  picture,  the  huge  size  of  a  sleeping  Cyclops,  he  painted 
some  Satyrs  at  his  side,  measuring  his  thumb  with  a  thyrsos.  He  is 
the  only  artist  whose  works  always  suggest  more  than  is  in  the 
picture ;  and  great  as  is  his  dexterity,  his  power  of  invention  yet 
exceeds  it.  He  also  painted  a  hero,  a  picture  in  which  he  touched 
perfection,  having  comprehended  in  it  the  whole  art  of  painting  the 
male  form.    The  picture  is  now  at  Rome  in  the  temple  of  Peace. 

(75)  In  this  period  Euxeinidas  was  the  master  of  Aristeides,  a 
famous  artist,  and  Eupompus  of  Pamphilus,  who  in  turn  was  the 
master  of  Apelles.  We  have  by  Eupompus  a  victor  in  an  athletic 
contest  holding  a  palm.  So  great  was  this  artist's  reputation  that 
it  occasioned  a  new  division  of  the  schools  of  painting.  Before  his 
time  there  had  been  two  schools,  known  as  the  Helladic  proper  and 
the  Asiatic ;  but  now  the  Helladic  was  subdivided  in  his  honor,  and 

1  This  anecdote  and  the  epigrams  mentioned  above  may  be  found  in  Athenaeus 
xii.  62.    The  following  especially  he  used  to  inscribe  on  his  works: 

Parrhasius,  a  most  luxurious  man, 

And  yet  a  follower  of  purest  virtue, 

Painted  this  work. 
8  Cf.  Suetonius,  Tiberius,  44. 


PAMPHILUS;  APELLES 


563 


thus  the  schools  became  three ;  the  Ionic,  the  Sicyonian,  and  the 
Attic,  Eupompus  himself  being  a  Sicyonian. 

(76)  By  Pamphilus  we  have  a  family  group,  the  victorious  en- 
gagement of  the  Athenians  at  Phlius,  and  a  picture  of  Odysseus 
on  his  raft.  A  Macedonian  by  birth,  Pamphilus  was  the  first 
painter  who  was  thoroughly  trained  in  every  branch  of  learning, 
more  particularly  in  arithmetic  and  geometry,  without  which,  so 
he  held,  art  could  not  be  perfect.  He  taught  no  one  for  less  than  a 
talent  —  rive  hundred  denarii 1  —  a  year  —  the  fee  paid  him  both 
by  Apelles  and  by  Melanthius.  (77)  It  was  owing  to  his  influence 
that  first  at  Sicyon,  and  afterward  throughout  Hellas,  drawing,  or 
rather  painting,  on  tablets  of  boxwood  was  the  earliest  subject 
taught  to  freeborn  boys,  and  that  this  art  was  accepted  as  the 
preliminary  step  toward  a  liberal  education.  At  all  events  it  was 
held  in  such  honor  that  at  all  times  the  freeborn  and  afterward 
persons  of  distinction  practised  it,  while  by  standing  prohibition 
no  slaves  might  ever  acquire  it ;  and  this  is  why  neither  in  painting 
nor  in  statuary  are  there  any  celebrated  works  by  artists  who  had 
been  slaves.  .  .  . 

(79)  In  the  hundred  and  twelfth  Olympiad  2  Apelles  of  Cos 
excelled  all  painters  who  came  before  or  after  him.  He  of  himself 
perhaps  contributed  more  to  painting  than  all  the  others  together ; 
he  wrote  treatises,  too,  on  the  theory  of  his  art.  The  grace  of  his 
genius  remained  quite  unrivalled,  although  the  very  greatest  painters 
were  living  at  the  time.  He  would  admire  their  works,  praising 
every  beauty  and  yet  observing  that  they  failed  in  the  grace,  called 
charts  in  Greek,  which  was  distinctly  his  own.  Everything  else 
they  had  attained ;  in  this  alone  none  equalled  him.  (80)  He  laid 
claim  to  another  merit ;  while  admiring  a  work  of  Protogenes  that 
betrayed  immense  industry  and  the  most  anxious  elaboration,  he 
said  that,  though  Protogenes  was  his  equal  or  even  his  superior  in 
everything,  he  yet  surpassed  that  painter  in  one  point  —  namely 
in  knowing  when  to  take  his  hand  from  a  picture  —  a  memorable 
saying,  which  shows  that  too  much  care  may  often  be  hurtful. 
His  candor  was  equal  to  his  genius ;  he  acknowledged  the  supe- 
riority of  Melanthius  in  the  distribution  of  figures,  and  that  of  Ascle- 

1  In  the  time  of  Pliny  a  denarius  was  about  16  cents. 

2  332-329  B.C. 


564        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


piodorus  in  perspective  arrangement,  that  is,  in  giving  accurate 
distances  between  different  objects. 

(81)  A  neat  story  is  told  of  him  in  connection  with  Protogenes, 
who  was  living  at  Rhodes.  Thither  Apelles  sailed,  eager  to  see 
the  works  of  a  man  known  to  him  only  by  reputation,  and  on  his 
arrival  immediately  repaired  to  the  studio.  Protogenes  was  not 
at  home,  but  a  solitary  old  woman  was  keeping  watch  over  a  large 
panel  placed  on  the  easel.  In  answer  to  the  questions  of  Apelles, 
she  said  that  Protogenes  was  out  and  asked  the  name  of  the  visitor. 
'Here  it  is,'  said  Apelles,  and  snatching  up  a  brush,  he  drew  a  line  of 
great  delicacy  across  the  board.  (82)  On  the  return  of  Protogenes 
the  old  woman  told  him  what  had  happened.  When  he  had  con- 
sidered the  delicate  precision  of  the  line,  he  at  once  declared  that 
his  visitor  was  Apelles,  for  no  one  else  could  have  drawn  anything 
so  perfect.  Then  in  another  color  he  drew  a  second  still  finer  line 
upon  the  first,  and  went  away,  bidding  her  show  it  to  Apelles  if  he 
came  again,  and  add  that  this  was  the  man  he  was  seeking.  It 
fell  out  as  he  had  expected  :  Apelles  did  return,  and  ashamed  to  be 
beaten,  drew  a  third  line  of  another  color  cutting  the  two  first  down 
their  length  and  leaving  no  room  for  any  further  refinements. 
(83)  Protogenes  owned  himself  beaten  and  hurried  down  to  the 
harbor  to  find  his  visitor.  They  agreed  to  hand  down  the  painting 
just  as  it  was  to  posterity,  a  marvel  to  all  but  especially  to  artists. 
It  perished,  I  am  told,  in  the  first  fire  of  the  house  of  the  Caesars  on 
the  Palatine.  Formerly  we  might  look  upon  it;  its  wide  surface 
disclosed  nothing  save  lines  which  eluded  the  sight,  and  among  the 
numerous  works  of  excellent  painters  it  was  like  a  blank,  and  it  was 
precisely  this  feature  that  lent  it  surpassing  attraction  and  renown. 

(84)  Apelles  further  made  it  an  unvarying  rule  never  to  spend 
a  day,  however  busy,  without  drawing  a  line  by  way  of  practise ; 
hence  the  proverb.1  It  was  also  his  habit  to  exhibit  his  finished 
works  to  the  passers-by  in  a  balcony,  and  he  would  lie  concealed  be- 
hind the  picture  and  listen  to  the  faults  that  were  found  with  it,  re- 
garding the  public  as  more  accurate  critics  than  himself.  (85)  There 
is  a  story  that  when  found  fault  with  by  a  cobbler  for  putting 
one  loop  too  few  on  the  inner  side  of  a  sandal,  he  corrected  the  mis- 
take.   Elated  by  this,  the  cobbler  next  day  proceeded  to  find  fault 

1  The  proverb  is  Nulla  dies  sine  linea  (No  day  without  a  line) ;  Sellers,  note. 


APELLES 


56S 


with  the  leg,  whereupon  Apelles  thrust  out  his  head  in  a  passion 
and  bade  the  cobbler  'stick  to  his  last/  a  saying  which  has  also 
passed  into  a  proverb.  .  .  . 

(88)  His  portraits  were  such  perfect  likenesses  that,  incredible 
as  it  may  sound,  Apio  the  grammarian  has  left  it  on  record  that  a 
physiognomist  was  able  to  tell  from  the  portraits  alone  how  long 
the  sitter  had  to  live  or  had  already  lived.  (89)  When  in  Alexan- 
der's train  he  had  been  on  unfriendly  terms  with  Ptolemy,  during 
whose  reign  he  was  once  driven  into  Alexandria  by  a  violent  storm. 
As  Apelles  appeared  at  a  banquet,  to  which  his  rivals  had  maliciously 
induced  the  king's  fool  to  invite  him,  Ptolemy  flew  into  a  passion, 
and  pointing  to  his  chamberlains  bade  him  say  from  which  of  them 
he  had  received  his  invitation.  Thereupon  the  painter,  snatching 
up  a  charred  stick  from  the  hearth,  traced  on  the  wall  a  likeness 
whose  first  strokes  the  king  at  once  recognized  as  the  face  of  the 
fool. 

(90)  He  also  painted  a  portrait  of  king  Antigonus,  who  was 
blind  of  one  eye ;  and  he  was  the  first  to  devise  a  means  of  con- 
cealing the  infirmity  by  presenting  his  profile,  so  that  the  absence 
of  the  eye  would  be  attributed  to  the  position  of  the  sitter  merely, 
not  to  a  natural  defect ;  for  he  gave  only  the  part  of  the  face  which 
could  be  shown  uninjured.  There  are  among  his  works  some  pic- 
tures of  dying  people,  though  it  were  difficult  to  say  which  were 
best.  (91)  His  Aphrodite  rising  from  the  sea  was  dedicated  by 
the  deified  Augustus  in  the  temple  of  his  father  Caesar.  She  is 
known  as  the  Anadyomene,  being  like  other  works  of  the  kind  at 
once  eclipsed  yet  rendered  famous  by  the  Greek  epigrams  written 
in  her  praise.  When  the  lower  part  was  damaged,  no  one  could  be 
found  to  restore  it,  and  thus  the  very  injury  redounded  to  the  glory 
of  the  artist.  In  time  the  panel  of  the  picture  fell  to  decay,  and 
Nero  when  princeps  substituted  for  it  another  picture  by  the  hand 
of  Dorotheus. 

(92)  Apelles  had  begun  another  Aphrodite  at  Cos,  intending  to 
surpass  even  the  fame  of  his  earlier  achievement,  but  when  only  a 
part  was  finished  envious  death  interposed,  and  no  one  was  found 
to  complete  the  outlines  already  traced.  Further  he  painted,  for 
twenty  talents,  in  the  temple  of  Artemis  at  Ephesus  a  portrait  of 
Alexander  holding  a  thunderbolt.    The  fingers  seem  to  stand  out 


566        PERSONALITY,  LITERATURE,  AND  ART 


and  the  thunderbolt  to  project  from  the  picture.  The  reader  should 
remember  that  all  this  was  done  with  four  colors.  For  this  picture 
he  was  paid  in  gold  coins,  reckoned  not  by  number  but  by  measure. 

(93)  He  painted  too  the  train  of  a  megabyzus,  or  priest  of  Artemis 
at  Ephesus,  Cleitus  on  horseback  going  out  to  battle,  and  the  pic- 
ture of  a  squire  handing  a  helmet  to  one  who  asks  for  it.  It  were 
vain  to  enumerate  the  number  of  times  he  painted  Alexander  and 
Philip.  At  Samos  we  admire  his  Habron,  at  Rhodes  his  Menander 
king  of  Caria  and  his  Antaeus,  at  Alexandria  his  Gorgosthenes  the 
tragic  actor,  at  Rome  Castor  and  Polydeuces  with  Victory  and 
Alexander  the  Great,  and  also  a  figure  of  War  with  his  hands  bound 
behind  his  back,  and  Alexander  riding  in  triumph  in  a  chariot. 

(94)  These  two  pictures  had  been  placed  in  the  most  crowded  parts 
of  his  Forum  with  the  restraint  of  good  taste  by  the  deified  Augus- 
tus ;  but  the  deified  Claudius  thought  fit  to  cut  out  in  both  the  face 
of  Alexander  and  substitute  that  of  Augustus. 

The  Heracles  with  averted  face,  in  the  temple  of  Diana,  is  also 
attributed  to  Apelles ;  by  a  triumph  of  art  the  picture  seems  not 
only  to  suggest,  but  actually  to  give  the  face.  Moreover  he  painted 
a  nude  hero,  a  picture  which  challenges  comparison  with  Nature 
herself.  (95)  A  horse  also  exists,  or  did  exist,  painted  for  a  com- 
petition, in  which  he  appealed  from  the  judgment  of  men  to  that 
of  dumb  beasts.  When  he  saw  that  his  rivals  were  likely  to  be 
placed  above  him  through  intrigue,  he  caused  some  horses  to  be 
brought  in  and  showed  them  each  picture  in  turn.  They  neighed 
only  at  the  horse  of  Apelles,  and  this  was  invariably  the  case  ever 
afterward,  so  that  the  test  was  applied  purposely  to  afford  a  dis- 
play of  his  skill.  (96)  He  also  painted  Neoptolemus  1  on  horseback 
fighting  against  the  Persians,  Archelaus  in  a  group  with  his  wife 
and  daughter,  and  a  portrait  of  Antigonus  in  armor  advancing  with 
his  horse.  Skilled  judges  of  painting  prefer  among  all  his  works 
his  equestrian  portrait  of  Antigonus  and  his  Artemis  amid  a  band 
of  girls  offering  sacrifice,  a  painting  thought  to  have  excelled  the 
lines  of  Homer  2  that  describe  the  same  scene.  Further,  he  painted 
the  unpaintable,  thunder  for  example,  lightning  and  thunder- 
bolts. .  .  . 

^his  Neoptolemus  and  the  Archelaus  following  were  officers  of  Alexander  the 
Great;  Sellers,  note.  2  Odyssey  vi.  102  sqq. 


APELLES 


567 


(97)  All  have  profited  by  his  innovations,  though  one  of  them 
could  never  be  imitated ;  he  used  to  give  his  pictures  when  finished 
a  black  glazing  so  thin  that  by  sending  back  the  light  it  could  call 
forth  a  whitish  color,  while  at  the  same  time  it  afforded  a  protection 
from  dust  and  dirt,  only  becoming  visible  itself  on  the  closest  in- 
spection. In  using  this  glazing  one  main  purpose  was  to  prevent 
the  brilliance  of  the  colors  from  offending  the  eyes  —  the  effect  was 
as  when  they  are  looked  at  through  talc  —  and  also  that  when  seen 
at  a  distance,  those  which  were  excessively  vivid  might  be  toned 
down.1 

1  For  an  explanation  of  this  rendering  see  Sellers,  note. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


ADMINISTRATION,  INDUSTRY,  AND  EDUCATION  IN  THE 
HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS  337-30  b.c. 

A.  ALEXANDER  AND  THE  GREEK  CITIES 
172.  Letter  of  Alexander  to  the  People  of  Chios 

(333-332  B.C.) 

(Hicks  aiid  Hill,  no.  158;  Ditt.,  Syll.  I.  no.  150.     Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

When  Alexander  invaded  Asia,  334  B.C.,  Macedon  was  already  an  imperial 
state,  and  his  position  was  a  double  one :  he  was  king  of  Macedon  and  hege- 
mon  (war-leader)  of  those  Greek  cities  which  had  joined  the  league  of  the 
Hellenes  established  by  Philip,  his  father,  in  the  winter  of  338-337  (no.  128). 
The  Greek  cities  of  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  which  were  freed  from  Persia  in  the 
campaign  of  334,  added  another  and  different  element  to  the  two  already 
under  Alexander's  sway.  His  plans  for  the  final  disposition  of  these  cities, 
also  his  intentions  in  regard  to  the  extent  and  the  character  of  the  authority 
of  the  council  of  the  Hellenic  league,  are  foreshadowed  in  this  letter. 

The  Persian  admiral,  Memnon,  had  occupied  Chios  in  333,  and  had  estab- 
lished in  power  the  oligarchic  or  Persian  party,  which  had  aided  him  in  taking 
the  city.  Soon  thereafter,  probably  in  332,  the  popular  party  handed  the  city 
over  to  the  troops  who  were  attempting  to  recapture  it  from  the  Persians. 
This  letter  was  probably  written  immediately  before  the  Macedonians  retook 
the  city.  See  Niese,  B.,  Geschichte  der  griechischen  und  makedonischen  Staaten, 
I.  37-40;  Ferguson,  Greek  Imperialism,  ch.  iv. 

When  Dositheus  was  prytanis  : 1  From  Alexander  to  the  demus 
of  the  Chians.  The  exiles  from  Chios  are  to  return,  all  of  them,  and 
the  form  of  government  of  Chios  is  to  be  a  democracy.  Law-givers  2 
are  to  be  chosen  who  shall  write  the  laws  and  set  them  in  order  in 
such  a  way  that  nothing  in  them  shall  oppose  the  democracy  or  the 
return  of  the  exiles.  When  arranged  or  written  the  laws  are  to  be 
referred  to  Alexander. 

1  The  prytanis  was  the  leading  magistrate  of  the  Chians  by  whose  name  the  year 
was  officially  designated  ;  cf.  Ditt.,  Syll.  II.  no.  570. 

2  A  special  committee.    Called  in  Greek  voixoypd(poi. 

568 


STATUS  OF  THE  CHIANS 


569 


The  Chians  are  to  furnish  twenty  triremes,  with  a  full  com- 
plement for  them,  and  these  are  to  sail  so  long  as  the  rest  of  the 
naval  force  of  the  Hellenes  shall  sail  with  us. 

Of  those  who  betrayed  the  city  to  the  barbarians,  as  many  as 
may  already  have  escaped,  are  to  be  exiled  from  all  the  cities  which 
have  shared  in  the  peace,  and  they  are  to  be  considered  as  outlaws 
according  to  the  decree  of  the  Hellenes.  As  many  as  may  be  cap- 
tured, are  to  be  brought  before  the  Council  of  the  Hellenes  for 
judgment. 

If  any  difficulty  arises  between  the  restored  exiles  and  those  in 
the  city,  they  are  to  receive  judgment  in  this  matter  in  our  presence. 
Until  the  Chians  shall  be  reconciled,  a  garrison  is  to  be  stationed 
among  them  from  Alexander,  the  king,  as  many  as  may  be  neces- 
sary.   And  the  Chians  shall  support  this  garrison. 

173.  Award  made  by  the  Argive  Assembly  in  a  Case 
of  Arbitration  (337-330  b.c.) 

(Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  150;  Ditt.,  Syll.  II.  no.  428.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

The  following  award  of  the  assembly  of  Argos  is  interesting  as  an  example 
of  Greek  arbitration  and  for  the  light  it  throws  upon  the  use  of  the  Common 
Council  of  the  Hellenic  League  by  Philip  or  Alexander.  The  date  can  only  lie 
within  a  few  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  Hellenic  League  by  Philip  II 
in  338-337  ;  see  Class.  Joum.  II  (1906-1907),  197  sqq. 

in  god's  name  !  1 

The  demus  of  the  Argives  has  made  the  following  decision  in 
the  case  referred  to  it  by  the  council  of  the  Hellenes.  The  Cimo- 
lians  and  the  Melians  have  agreed  to  abide  by  whatever  decision 
the  Argives  might  make  regarding  the  islands.  The  judgment  is 
that  the  islands  Polyaegas,  Etereia,  and  Libeia 2  belong  to  the 
Cimolians.  They  have  adjudged  that  the  Cimolians  have  won 
their  case.  Leon  was  priest  in  the  second  boule  of  the  year; 
Poseidaon  was  secretary  of  the  boule ;  Perillus  was  assistant. 

1  Oe6s,  an  abbreviated  prayer  often  found  at  the  beginning  of  inscriptions. 

2  These  are  small  islands  lying  near  Cimolos  and  Melos. 


570  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


B.  THE  ROYAL  DOMAINS  IN  ASIA  UNDER  ALEXANDER  AND 

HIS  SUCCESSORS 

174.  Edict  of  Alexander  Regarding  Priene  and  the 
Royal  Domains  in  its  Vicinity  (334  b.c.) 

(Hicks  and  Hill,  no.  155  ;  Ditt.,  Or.  grcec.  inscrs.  no.  1.   Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

When  the  westernmost  portion  of  the  Persian  empire  fell  to  Alexander  by 
conquest,  334-333,  a  new  administrative  problem  of  vast  importance  was 
presented  to  the  young  king.  This  was  the  question  of  the  handling  of  the 
royal  domains  of  the  Persian  ruler.  The  elements  at  that  time  comprised 
within  Alexander's  sway  may  best  be  listed  under  four  divisions,  partly  terri- 
torial and  partly  ethnic.  They  were  the  kingdom  of  Macedon,  the  Hellenic 
league,  the  Greek  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  and  the  conquered  Persian  territory. 
To  each  of  these  elements  Alexander  stood  in  a  peculiar  relation ;  he  was  king 
of  Macedon,  hegemon  of  the  Hellenic  league,  liberator  of  the  Greek  cities  of 
Asia  (he  addresses  them  as  king),  and  to  the  conquered  population  he  was  suc- 
cessor to  the  power  and  appurtenances  of  the  Persian  king.  All  this  is  shown  in 
the  present  edict.  The  land  about  Priene  was  divided  into  the  domain  of  that 
city-state,  and  the  royal  domain,  which  belonged  by  conquest  to  Alexander. 
The  royal  domains  paid  the  phoros,  tribute,  the  city-states  a  syntaxis,  contribu- 
tion, unless  as  here  they  were  especially  exempt.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  problem  of  the  royal  domains  confronting  Alexander  and  his  successors. 

EDICT  OF  KING  ALEXANDER 

Of  those  settled  in  Naulochon,1  as  many  as  are  Prienians  are  to 
be  autonomous  and  free,  keeping  their  plots  of  ground  and  all  their 
houses  in  the  city  2  and  their  country  property  .  .  .  (two  broken 
lines).  .  .  .  And  all  the  land  round  about  I  regard  as  my  own,3 
and  that  they  who  dwell  in  these  villages  bear  the  tribute  (phoros). 
I  absolve  the  city  of  the  Prienians  from  the  contribution  (syntaxis) 
and  the  guard  for  which.  .  .  . 

175.  The  Feudal  Estates  of  the  Persian  Nobles 

(Plutarch,  Eumenes,  8.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

When  Eumenes  of  Cardia,  after  defeating  Craterus  and  Neoptolemus  in 
Phrygia,  321,  was  preparing  to  defend  his  rights  against  the  combined  forces 
of  the  Macedonian  generals,  he  found  himself  in  financial  straits.    In  order  to 

1  Naulochon  was  the  harbor  of  Priene,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maeander  river. 

2  This  must  refer  to  Priene,  since  Naulochon  was  not  a  city. 

3 The  land  round  about  is  therefore  x&Pa  purtkuej  (royal  domain),  and  distinct 
from  the  land  belonging  to  the  city-state  of  Priene,  as  does  Naulochon. 


LAND-HOLDING  571 

• 

keep  the  loyalty  of  his  Macedonian  troops,  it  was  necessary  to  devise  a  method 
of  paying  them.  The  means  he  employed  throws  light  upon  the  agrarian  con- 
ditions then  existing  in  Phrygia.  A  land-holding  nobility  evidently  controlled 
great  estates,  and  owned  the  peasants  who  tilled  the  soil,  governing  them  from 
their  tetrapyrgiai,  ' four-turreted  castles.'  Eumenes  had  accepted  the  theory 
of  Alexander  that  the  domains  of  the  conquered  Persians  were  the  spoils  of  the 
conqueror  (no.  174).    See  Rostowzew,  Romisches  Kolonat,  253  sq. 

He  had  promised  to  give  the  soldiers  their  pay  within  three  days. 
He  therefore  sold  them  the  farms  and  turreted  castles  in  the  country 
district  with  their  peasants  1  and  cattle.  The  captain  of  a  Mace- 
donian company  or  the  officer  of  a  foreign  troop  who  bought  these 
places  captured  them  by  siege,  using  war  implements  and  siege 
engines  furnished  by  Eumenes.  Thereupon  the  soldiers  divided 
each  of  the  captured  places  proportionally  according  to  the  pay  due 
them. 

176.  The  Alienation  of  Royal  Domains  by  the  Successors 
of  Alexander  (306-303?) 

(Am.  Journ.  Arch.  XVI  (191 2).  12-82;  Rostowzew,  Romisches  Kolonat, 
248-53.    Translated  by  Buckler  and  Robinson.) 

This  document  is  the  record  of  a  mortgage  deed  made  out  by  a  certain 
Mnesimachus  to  the  treasury  of  the  goddess  Artemis,  as  represented  by  the 
priests  of  her  temple  at  Sardis.  The  inscription  was  discovered  in  19 10  by  the 
American  archaeologists,  W.  H.  Buckler  and  D.  M.  Robinson,  on  one  of  the  in- 
ner walls  of  the  opisthodomus,  or  treasury,  of  the  temple  of  Artemis.  The 
circumstances  which  led  to  the  mortgaging  of  these  estates,  which  were  evi- 
dently very  large,  can  only  be  learned  from  the  document  itself.  They  are  as 
follows : 

At  some  period  before  the  date  of  the  mortgage  Antigonus  Monophthalmos, 
in  control  of  Asia  Minor  with  the  title  of  king  from  306  to  301,  made  a  large 
grant  of  lands  in  Lydia  to  this  Mnesimachus,  for  reasons  which  do  not  appear. 
This  grant  is  probably  to  be  placed  before  306,  since  Antigonus  was  not  ad- 
dressed as  king  at  the  time  when  the  grant  was  made  (lines  1  and  2).  Mnesi- 
machus was  compelled  later  to  borrow  1325  gold  staters  from  the  treasury  of 
Artemis.  When  the  loan  became  due  he  was  unable  to  pay  the  debt.  He, 
therefore,  mortgaged  the  estates  which  he  had  received  from  Antigonus,  to 
the  goddess  Artemis  under  a  form  called  -rrpams  €ttl  Avo-«,  '  sale  subject  to 
redemption.'  The  limit  of  the  period  of  redemption  is  lost  through  an  erasure 
of  a  part  of  the  inscription.    The  present  inscription  is  a  copy  of  the  original 

1  The  Greek  word  a-difiara  undoubtedly  includes  the  serfs  of  these  manorial  es- 
tates as  well  as  the  slaves. 


572  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 

• 

mortgage.  It  was  inscribed  on  the  temple  wall  most  probably  after  the  period 
of  redemption  was  past.  It  therefore  represents  a  title-deed  to  the  property, 
which  fell  to  the  temple  at  the  end  of  the  period  of  redemption. 

The  document  illustrates  the  attitude  of  Alexander's  immediate  successors 
toward  the  domain  land  of  the  former  Persian  kings.  In  western  Asia  the 
tendency  followed  by  the  Seleucids  was  to  lessen  these  royal  domains  by  gift 
or  sale  of  large  tracts  to  individuals  or  to  city-states.  The  information  that 
may  be  gleaned  regarding  the  position  of  the  peasants  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant features  of  this  selection. 

Column  i 

.  .  .  Chaireas  1  having  made  inquiry  .  .  .  and  afterwards  An- 
tigonus  awarded  the  estate  to  me.  Whereas  now  the  temple- 
wardens  are  demanding  from  me  the  gold  lent  on  deposit  and  be- 
longing to  Artemis,  but  I  have  no  funds  wherewith  to  pay  it  to  them, 
there  are  then  the  items  of  which  the  estate  consists ;  to  wit,  the 
villages  named  as  follows :  Tobalmoura,  a  village  in  the  Sardian 
plain  on  the  Hill  of  Ilus,  and  as  appurtenances  thereto  other  villages 
also :  Tandus,  as  it  is  called,  and  Kombdilipia ;  the  rent  payable 
by  the  said  villages  to  the  chiliarchy  2  of  Pytheus  ...  is  fifty  gold 
staters  a  year.  There  is  also  an  allotment  at  Kinaroa  near  Tobal- 
moura. Its  rent  is  three  gold  staters  a  year.  There  is  also  another 
village,  Periasasostra,  in  the  River  District  of  Morstas ;  its  rent 
payable  to  the  chiliarchy  of  ...arius,  is  fifty-seven  gold  staters 
a  year.  There  is  also  in  the  River  District  of  Morstas  an  allotment 
at  Nagrioa ;  its  rent,  payable  to  the  chiliarchy  of  Sagarius,  son  of 
Coreis,  is  three  gold  staters  and  four  gold  obols.  There  is  also 
another  village  in  the  district  of  Attouda  called  Ilus'  village ;  its 
rent  is  three  gold  staters  and  three  obols.  Now  from  all  the  villages, 
and  from  the  allotments  and  the  dwelling-plots  thereto  appertaining, 
and  from  the  serfs  (t5>v  Xa&v)  with  all  their  households  and  be- 
longings, and  from  the  wine- vessels  and  the  dues  rendered  in  money 

1  Who  Chaireas  was  and  the  nature  of  his  inquiry  cannot  be  determined  because 
of  the  mutilation  of  the  inscription. 

2  The  chiliarchies  were  subdivisions  of  the  satrapy  of  Lydia,  evidently  financial 
in  character.  The  chiliarchy  of  Pytheus  adjoined  and  probably  included  the  city  of 
Sardis.  The  editors  are  inclined  to  differentiate  the  chiliarchy  of  ...arius,  placing 
it  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Lydian  satrapy,  from  that  of  Sagarius,  which  they  place 
on  the  Phrygian  border  of  Lydia.  The  only  known  Attouda  lies  on  the  Lydian-Phry- 
gian  border. 


ALIENATION  OF  ESTATES 


573 


and  in  labor,  and  from  the  revenues  of  other  kinds  accruing  from  the 
villages  and  still  more  beside  these  when  the  division  took  place, 
Pytheus 1  and  Adrastus 2  received  as  their  separate  property  a 
farmstead  at  Tobalmoura ;  and  outside  the  farmstead  are  the 
houses  of  the  serfs  and  slaves,  and  two  gardens  requiring  fifteen 
artabas  3  of  seed,  and  at  Periasasostra  dwelling-plots  requiring  three 
artabas  of  seed,  and  gardens  requiring  three  artabas  of  seed,  as  well 
as  the  slaves  dwelling  at  that  place :  at  Tobalmoura,  Ephesus,  son 
of  Adrastus  ;  Kadoas,  son  of  Adrastus  ;  Heraclides,  son  of  Beletras  ; 
Tuius,  son  of  Maneus  the  son  of  Calais ;  also  those  dwelling  at 
Periasasostra,  Kadoas  son  of  Armanandes,  Adrastus  son  of  Ma- 
neus. .  .  . 

Column  2 

neither  to  me  [nor  to  my  heirs,  nor  ...]...  nor  to  anyone  else 
any  longer  the  right  of  redemption.  Should  any  person  lay  claim 
to  any  of  the  villages  or  of  the  allotments  or  to  the  other  things  here 
specified  in  writing,  I  and  my  heirs  will  act  as  warrantors,  and  will 
oust  the  claimant.  If,  however,  we  shall  fail  so  to  act,  or  if  we  shall 
commit  any  breach  of  the  contract  hereby  drawn  up  in  respect  to 
the  villages  and  the  allotments  and  the  lands  and  all  the  slaves, 
these  shall  remain  the  property  of  Artemis,  and  the  temple-wardens 
shall  on  account  of  the  same  conduct  legal  proceedings  and  obtain 
judgment  against  the  claimants  in  any  way  that  they  may  see  fit ; 
and  I  Mnesimachus  and  my  heirs  will  pay  to  the  treasury  of  Artemis 
2650  gold  staters ; 4  and  on  account  of  the  produce  and  of  the 
fruits,  should  the  temple-wardens  receive  no  fruits  in  that  year, 
we  will  further  pay  to  the  treasury  of  Artemis  such  sum  in  gold  as 
the  same  may  be  worth ;  and  the  value  of  the  buildings  erected  and 
of  the  lands  brought  under  cultivation  by  Artemis,  or  of  such  other 
things  as  the  temple-wardens  may  do,  whatever  the  same  may  be 
worth,  we  will  pay ;  and  so  long  as  we  shall  not  have  paid,  the  debt 

1  This  Pytheus  may  be  the  chiliarch  mentioned  before.  But  the  identity  of  the 
two  is  uncertain. 

2  This  Adrastus  must  have  been  some  important  person,  and  cannot  be  identified 
with  the  father  of  the  slaves  mentioned  below.  The  farmstead  once  owned  by  Pytheus 
and  Adrastus  is  now  listed  in  the  property  of  Mnesimachus. 

3  The  artaba  was  a  unit  of  measure  equaling  about  55.8  liters.  The  measure  here 
used  was  the  Persian  artaba. 

4  The  Macedonian  gold  stater  was  worth  about  $4.70. 


574  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


shall  continue  a  deposit-loan  owing  by  us  till  we  shall  have  paid  the 
whole  amount.  Should  the  king  on  account  of  Mnesimachus  take 
away  from  Artemis  the  villages  or  the  allotments  or  any  of  the  other 
things  mortgaged,  then  the  principal  in  gold  of  the  deposit-loan, 
namely  the  1325  gold  staters,  we  ourselves  —  I  Mnesimachus  and 
my  heirs  —  will  forthwith  pay  to  the  treasury  of  Artemis  ;  and  the 
value  of  the  buildings  erected  and  of  the  lands  brought  under 
cultivation  by  Artemis,  whatever  they  may  be  worth,  we  will  pay 
forthwith ;  and  on  account  of  the  produce  and  the  fruits,  should 
they  receive  no  fruits  in  that  year,  we  will  further  pay  to  the  treasury 
of  Artemis  such  sum  in  gold  as  the  same  may  be  worth  ;  and  so  long 
as  we  shall  not  have  paid,  the  debt  shall  constitute  a  deposit-loan 
owing  by  me  and  my  heirs  until  we  shall  have  paid  the  whole  to  the 
treasury  of  Artemis ;  and  so  long  as  this  still  remains  unpaid  by  us, 
execution  shall  be  lawful. 

177.  Alienation  of  Royal  Domains  by  the  Seleucids 

(Ditt.  Or.  grcec.  inscrs.  no.  221.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

On  this  inscription  see  introduction  to  no.  176.  The  documents  given 
under  this  heading  illustrate  the  transfer  of  land  from  the  Royal  Domain  to 
the  Land  Register  of  a  city-state ;  see  Droysen,  Geschichte  des  Hellenismus, 
II.  2.  377  ;  Haussoullier,  in  Rev.  de  Philologie,  XXV  (1901).  30  sqq. ;  Rostowzew, 
Romisches  Kolonat,  247  sqq. 

When  a  sale  or  gift  occurred  it  was  necessary  that  the  transfer  of  the 
property  be  recorded  upon  the  official  registers  containing  the  records  and  the 
plots  of  the  Royal  Domain.  Since,  for  purposes  of  taxation,  all  the  land  must 
appear  somewhere  upon  the  state  records,  when  any  tract  was  to  be  sold  or 
given  away  it  became  necessary  to' cancel  that  tract  from  the  land  register  of  the 
Royal  Domain  and  transfer  it  to  the  land  register  of  the  city-state  concerned. 
In  other  words,  the  great  sources  of  revenue  of  the  Seleucid  state  were  two; 
namely,  the  phoros,  or  tribute,  from  the  Royal  Domains,  and  the  taxes  which 
came  in  from  the  city-states.  The  peasants  and  the  land,  therefore,  must  be 
found  enrolled  either  upon  the  register  of  the  Royal  Domains  or  upon  that  of 
some  city-state.  When  land  was  alienated  by  sale  or  gift  from  the  Royal 
Domain,  the  buyer  or  the  person  receiving  the  land  was  usually  permitted  to 
assign  the  land  and  its  serfs  to  any  city-state  which  he  desired.  The  land 
thereupon  became  a  part  of  the  city-state  territory. 

The  following  document  contains  three  letters  of  Antiochus,  king  of  Syria, 
in  all  probability  Antiochus  I  (280-261  B.C.),  addressed  to  Meleager,  governor  of 
the  Hellespontine  satrapy.  In  these  letters  Antiochus  gives  orders  to  Meleager 
to  measure  off  to  a  certain  Aristodicides,  a  portion  of  the  Royal  Domain  in  the 


A  ROYAL  GRANT 


575 


neighborhood  of  Ilium.  Aristodicides  is  permitted  to  register  the  land  thus 
granted  him  in  any  one  of  a  group  of  neighboring  city-states.  Of  the  several 
cities  which  were  anxious  to  have  this  territory  attached  to  their  city-state 
domain,  he  had  selected  Ilium.  Then  Meleager  sent  copies  of  the  three  letters 
of  the  king  to  the  people  of  Ilium,  headed  by  a  letter  from  himself  to  them  (I). 
In  this  letter  Meleager  advises  them  to  pay  the  customary  honors  to  Aristodi- 
cides. 

I.  Meleager  to  the  Boule  and  the  Demus  of  Ilium,  greeting : 
Aristodicides  of  Assos  has  given  me  letters  from  the  king,  Antio- 
chus, copies  of  which  I  have  appended  below  for  you.  He  also  ap- 
peared in  person  before  me  and  stated  that  many  others  also  were 
discussing  the  matter  with  him  and  granting  him  a  crown  ;  and  I  also 
know  this  to  be  true,  because  certain  of  the  cities  have  sent  em- 
bassies to  me.  Despite  this  he  said  that  he  desired  the  land  granted 
to  him  by  the  king,  Antiochus,  to  be  attached  to  your  city,  both 
because  of  the  temple  and  because  of  his  good- will  toward  you. 
What  he  then  desires  to  receive  from  your  city,  he  himself  will 
declare  to  you.  You  would  do  well  to  vote  him  all  the  customary 
decrees  of  friendship  and  to  make  a  copy,  according  as  he  may  agree, 
and  inscribe  it  on  a  stele  1  and  set  it  up  in  the  temple,  in  order  that 
the  agreements  may  remain  secure  for  you  for  all  time. 

II.  King  Antiochus  to  Meleager,  greeting :  We  have  granted  to 
Aristodicides  of  Assos  two  thousand  plethra 2  of  arable  land,  to  be 
attached  to  the  city  of  Ilium  or  of  Scepsis.  You,  therefore,  give  or- 
ders to  furnish  to  Aristodicides  from  the  domain  adjoining  Gergitha 
or  Scepsis,  wherever  you  may  judge  best,  the  2000  plethra  of  land, 
and  attach  it  to  the  city  of  Ilium,  or  of  Scepsis.  Farewell. 

III.  .King  Antiochus  to  Meleager,  greeting :  Aristodicides  of 
Assos  has  appeared  before  us  asking  that  we  give  him  Petra  in  the 
satrapy  of  the  Hellespont,  which  Meleager 3  formerly  held,  and 
1500  plethra  of  the  arable  land  of  the  district  of  Petra  and  2000 
plethra  more  of  arable  land  from  that  which  borders  upon  the  grant 
already  made  to  him.  And  we  have  given  Petra  to  him,  unless  it 
has  already  been  given  to  another,  and  the  land  near  Petra  and 

*  1  A  stele  was  a  stone  slab. 

2  A  plethrum  was  a  Greek  unit  of  measure  falling  a  little  short  of  a  quarter  of  an 
acre. 

3  This  Meleager  is  a  different  man  from  the  satrap  of  the  Hellespontine  satrapy  to 
whom  the  letter  is  addressed. 


576 


THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


2000  plethra  more  of  arable  land,  because  he  has  shown  himself 
to  have  been  our  friend  with  all  good  will  and  eagerness.  Do  you 
therefore  look  to  see  whether  this  district  has  already  been  given 
to  another,  and,  if  not,  transfer  it  and  the  land. around  it  to  Aris- 
todicides ;  and  give  orders  to  have  measured  off  and  transferred 
to  him  2000  plethra  from  the  royal  domain  bordering  upon  the 
land  formerly  given  to  Aristodicides,  and  allow  him  to  register  it 
with  whatsoever  city  he  may  desire  of  those  in  the  district  and  in 
the  alliance.  We  have  given  orders  to  Aristodicides  to  permit  the 
Royal  Peasants  1  of  the  district  in  which  Petra  lies,  to  dwell  in  Petra 
if  they  wish  to  do  so  for  the  sake  of  safety.  Farewell. 
IV.  King  Antiochus  to  Meleager,  greeting. 
Aristodicides  has  come  to  us,  asserting  that  he  has  not  even  yet 
received  the  place  Petra  and  the  land  belonging  with  it,  regarding 
which  we  have  formerly  written  a  letter  granting  it  to  him,  through 
the  fact  that  it  had  already  been  alloted  to  the  Athenaeum,2  the  one  at 
the  harbor.  And  he  has  requested  that,  in  place  of  the  Petrite  land 
an  equal  number  of  plethra  be  transferred  to  him,  and  that  2000 
plethra  more  be  granted  him,  to  be  registered  with  whatsoever 
city  he  may  wish  of  those  in  our  alliance,  just  as  we  wrote  formerly. 
Seeing,  then,  that  he  is  well-disposed  and  eager  in  our  affairs  we 
wish  to  be  very  careful  of  this  man  and  have  agreed  to  these  things. 
He  says  that  the  part  of  the  Petrite  land  granted  to  him  was  1500 
plethra.  Give  orders,  therefore,  to  measure  off  and  transfer  to 
Aristodicides  2500  plethra  of  arable  land,  and,  in  place  of  that 
around  Petra,  1500  plethra  more  of  arable  land  from  the  Royal 
Domain  bordering  upon  that  given  to  him  by  us  in  the  beginning. 
Permit  Aristodicides,  also,  to  register  the  land  with  whatsoever 
city  he  may  wish  of  those  in  our  alliance,  just  as  we  wrote  in  the 
former  letter.  Farewell. 


1  The  Greek  is  PacriXiKol  \aol. 

2  The  temple  and  precinct  of  the  goddess  Athena. 


RECORD  OF  A  SALE 


577 


178.  Alienation  of  Royal  Domain  by  the  Seleucids  :  Decree 
Recording  the  Sale  of  a  Tract  near  Cyzicus  (253  b.c.) 

(Ditt.  Or.  grcec.  inscrs.  no.  225.     Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

The  following  document  is  the  record  of  a  sale  to  Laodice,  queen  of  Antio- 
chus  II,  of  a  tract  of  the  Royal  Domain  near  Cyzicus.  The  upper  portion  of  the 
stone  is  lost.  It  consisted,  first,  of  the  order  of  Nicomachus,  ceconomus  of  the 
Hellespontine  satrapy,  to  the  under-official,  ...crates  the  hyparch,  who  is  to 
see  to  it  that  this  transfer  is  properly  made.  Below  this  order  of  Nicomachus 
stood  the  letter  of  Metrophanes,  satrap  of  the  Hellespontine  satrapy,  to 
Nicomachus,  which  contained  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  King  Antiochus  II  to 
Metrophanes.  The  inscription  begins  in  the  midst  of  the  king's  letter,  III. 
Section  IV  is  a  copy  of  the  official  record  by  the  hyparch,  ...  crates,  of  the 
transfer  of  the  property.  The  actual  steps  taken  in  executing  the  sale  occurred 
in  the  reverse  order  :  1.  Sale  by  the  king  to  Laodice  ;  2.  the  king  writes  to  the 
satrap  Metrophanes;  3.  Metrophanes  writes  to  Nicomachus,  the  ceconomus, 
who  has  charge  of  the  Royal  Domains  in  the  Hellespontine  satrapy,  sending  a 
copy  of  the  king's  letter ;  4.  Nicomachus  writes  to  an  under  official,  the  hyparch, 
who  is  in  charge  of  the  Royal  Domain  in  the  same  satrapy,  sending  to  him 
copies  of  Metrophanes'  letter  and  the  king's  letter.  5.  The  hyparch  adds  to 
these  three  documents  a  copy  of  the  record  of  sale  and  has  them  published  in 
five  places  in  accordance  with  the  king's  orders.  Of  these  five  copies  of  the 
correspondence  our  inscription  is  the  one  placed  in  the  temple  of  Apollo  at 
Didyma  near  Miletus. 

When  portions  of  the  Royal  Domain  were  granted  away  or  alienated  by 
sale,  the  tract  was  transferred  to  the  register  of  some  city-state.  •  The  laoi, 
or  serfs,  did  not  ordinarily  become  the  serfs  of  the  individual  who  received 
the  land.  With  the  land  they  were  attached  to  some  city-state  and  became 
serfs  upon  the  books  of  that  city-state.  That  fact  does  not  appear  clearly 
defined  in  this  document,  probably  because  Laodice  was  a  member  of  the 
royal  household  and  the  royal  prerogative  of  owning  serfs  seems  to  be  per- 
mitted her.  See  Rev.  de  Philol.  XXV  (1901).  9  sqq. ;  Rostowzew,  Romisches 
Kolonat,  I.  243-53  5  Klio,  295-99,  424-26. 

Ill  .  .  .  (Laodice  has  bought)  the  village  of  Pannos  and  what- 
ever other  (village)  shall  be  formed  later,  and  whatever  places  1 
fall  within  the  territory,  and  the  peasants  (laoi)  belonging  to  them, 
with  their  entire  households  and  all  their  possessions  together  with 
the  revenues  of  the  fifty-ninth  year,2  for  thirty  talents  of  silver. 

1  The  meaning  of  the  word  "  places  "  (t6itovs)  is  not  clear.  It  seems  to  refer  to  the 
homesteads  within  the  districts  which  are  not  in  the  village  itself. 

2  This  is  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  the  Seleucid  era,  which  dates  from  the  year  312  B.C., 
when  Seleucus  I  established  his  power  in  Babylon. 


578  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


Furthermore  whatever  laoi  of  this  village  have  gone  into  other 
places  belong  to  her  on  the  understanding  that  she  shall  pay  nothing 
into  the  royal  treasury,  and  that  she  shall  have  the  right  to  assign 
them  to  whatever  city  she  may  wish.  Likewise  those  who  have 
bought  or  received  land  from  her  shall  have  full  possession  of  it, 
and  shall  attach  it  to  whatever  city-state  they  wish,  unless  Laodice 
happen  to  have  attached  it  beforehand  to  a  city ;  and  in  that  case 
they  shall  have  proprietary  rights  wheresoever  the  land  has  been 
attached  by  Laodice.  As  to  the  purchase  price,  we  have  ordered 
that  it  be  paid  into  the  military  treasury  in  three  payments,  the 
first  to  be  made  in  the  month  Audnaeus  1  of  the  sixtieth  year,  the 
second  in  Xandicus,  the  third  in  the  third  month  thereafter. 

Give  orders  to  hand  over  to  Arrhidaeus,  who  manages  the  es- 
tates of  Laodice,  the  village  and  Baris  2  and  the  adjoining  territory 
and  the  laoi  with  all  their  households  and  possessions,  and  to  have 
the  purchase  booked  in  the  royal  archives  at  Sardis,  and  inscribed 
upon  five  stone  stelae.  Order  that  one  of  these  stones  be  set  up 
at  Ilium  in  the  temple  of  Athena,  the  second  in  the  temple  of  Samo- 
thrace,  the  third  in  the  temple  of  Artemis  in  Ephesus,  the  fourth  in 
Didyma  in  the  temple  of  Apollo,  the  fifth  in  Sardis  in  the  temple 
of  Artemis.  Give  orders  straightway  to  delimit  the  land  and  to 
mark  it  with  terminal  stones  and  to  inscribe  the  boundaries  upon 
the  aforesaid  stelae.  .  .  . 

{Three  fragmentary  lines) 

IV.  There  has  been  handed  over  to  Arrhidaeus,  the  overseer  of. 
the  estates  of  Laodice  by  ...  crates  the  hyparch,  the  village  and 
Baris  and  the  adjoining  territory  according  to  the  order  of  Nico- 
machus,  to  which  has  been  subjoined  the  letter  from  Metrophanes 
and  the  one  from  the  king  to  him  giving  orders  to  mark  off  the 
territory.  Upon  the  East,  stretching  from  the  territory  of  Zeleia 
to  that  of  Cyzicus,  the  boundary  line  is  the  royal  road,  the  old  one, 
passing  near  the  village  of  Pannos,  above  the  village  and  Baris,  the 
one  pointed  out  by  Menecratus,  son  of  Bacchius,  of  the  village  of 
Pythes,  and  Daiis,  son  of  Asaretus,  and  Medeus,  son  of  Metrodorus, 
of  the  village  of  Pannos.    It  has  been  ploughed  up  by  those  living 

1  Audnaeus  and  Xandicus  are  names  of  months  in  the  Macedonian  calendar. 

2  Baris,  a  town  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  /Esepus  River. 


AGREEMENT  TO  ARBITRATE 


579 


around  the  place.  From  this  along  past  the  altar  of  Zeus  which 
lies  above  Baris  to  where  the  tomb  lies,  on  the  right  of  the  road. 
From  this  tomb  the  royal  road  is  the  boundary  which  traverses  the 
Eupanese,1  to  the  river  ^Esepus.  Furthermore  the  territory  has 
been  marked  off  with  stones  following  the  boundaries  indicated. 

179.  Agreement  between  the  People  of  Pitana  and  Myti- 
lene  to  submit  to  arbitration  a  boundary  dispute, 
and  the  Award  made  by  the  Pergamenes  (middle  of  the 
second  century  B.C.) 

(Ditt.  Or.  grcec.  inscrs.  no.  335.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

As  early  as  the  seventh  century  B.C.  the  Greeks  had  already  adopted  the 
idea  of  arbitrating  boundary  questions  and  other  disputes  which  arose  between 
the  different  city-states.  These  must  be  regarded  as  real  cases  of  interstate 
arbitration  because  the  city-states  concerned  were,  in  the  earlier  period,  politi- 
cally independent  and  approximately  equal  in  military  strength.  In  the  period 
after  the  formation  of  the  Hellenic  League  their  freedom  of  independent  action 
was,  of  course,  curtailed.  Philip  of  Macedon  and  Alexander  made  a  conscious 
and  apparent  attempt  to  have  the  numerous  disputes  of  the  Greek  states 
settled  by  arbitral  decisions,  using  the  General  Council  of  the  Hellenic  League 
in  the  work.  Under  the  Hellenistic  kings  who  succeeded  Alexander,  many  of 
the  Greek  states  retained  complete  freedom  and  others  a  measure  of  their  old 
independence  in  their  foreign  relations.  The  ^Etolian  and  Achaean  Leagues  ac- 
knowledged the  principle  and  resorted  to  the  use  of  arbitration.  We  may,  there- 
fore, regard  the  cases  decided  in  that  period  as  falling  under  the  head  of  pure 
arbitration.  With  the  advent  of  Rome  and  the  ascendancy  of  the  Roman 
senate  in  the  affairs  of  the  eastern  Mediterranean  the  balance  of  power  had  so 
markedly  shifted  to  the  senate  that  it  becomes  increasingly  difficult  to  deter- 
mine where  arbitration  ends  and  dictation  to  inferior  and  semi-dependent 
powers  begins.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  real  arbitration  between  the  Greek  city- 
states  ceased  after  146  B.C. 

The  following  document  is  set  together  from  twenty-five  different  fragments 
of  a  large  stele  of  marble  found  in  various  places  in  the  ruins  of  Pergamum. 
It  deals  with  the  arbitration  of  a  dispute  regarding  the  ownership  of  a  large 
tract  of  land,  situated  on  the  mainland  opposite  Mytilene  on  the  island  of 
Lesbos.  The  document  consists  of  three  parts :  I,  the  decree  of  the  Pitanaeans 
by  which  the  dispute  is  referred  for  arbitration  to  a  board  of  five  arbitrators 
from  Pergamum ;  II,  a  similar  decree  of  the  Mytilenaeans  ;  III,  the  award  of  the 
board  of  five  arbitrators,  containing  an  account  of  their  investigation  and  a 
summary  of  the  evidence  presented  by  the  Pitanaeans,  who  won  the  decision. 

1  Eupanese  is  an  unknown  geographical  term,  possibly  the  name  of  a  plain. 


580  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


The  forms  of  the  letters  prove  that  the  document  was  inscribed  about  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  B.C. 

The  summary  of  the  evidence  contains  proof  of  the  sale  of  the  tract  under 
dispute  to  the  city-state  of  Pitana  by  Antiochus  I  from  his  Royal  Domains. 

/.  Decree  of  the  Pitanceans 

The  strategi 1  have  published  the  following  statement :  — 
The  Pergamenes,  our  relatives  and  friends,  well-disposed  to 
our  city  from  ancient  times,  have  sent  us  a  decree  and  an  embassy 
regarding  our  outstanding  differences  with  the  Mytilenaeans.  The 
embassy  consists  of  Bacchius  son  of  Eudemus,  Apollodorus  son  of 
Athenodorus,  Diogenes  son  of  Asclepiades,  Megistermus  son  ot 
Attalus,  Scamon  son  of  Asclapon.  They  have  worked  out  together 
a  plan  for  the  removal  of  our  differences  .  .  .  and  the  ambassadors, 
under  this  authority,  have  taken  upon  themselves  much  toil  which 
is  advantageous  to  both  cities,  and  they  have  approached  the  task 
with  a  celerity  and  zeal  worthy  of  the  city  which  sent  them  out. 
Therefore  it  has  seemed  advisable  to  the  assembly  to  pass  a  vote 
of  thanks  to  the  Pergamenes,  the  friends  and  relatives  of  our  city, 
because  not  only  in  the  present  instance  but  also  in  the  past  they 
have  shown  a  zealous  friendship  toward  our  people.  .  .  . 

{The  twelve  following  lines  are  too  badly  shattered  to  allow  of  translation  or 
paraphrase.  They  contain  a  further  declaration  of  the  kindly  relations  between 
the  Pergamenes  and  the  Pitanceans.) 

.  .  .  we  choose  them  as  arbitrators  2  of  our  differences,  since  the 
Mytilenaeans  also  have  agreed  to  select  them  as  arbitrators.  They 
shall  be  present  at  the  place  in  the  month  called  ...  in  Pitana, 
and  ...  by  the  Pergamenes,  shall  begin  to  take  testimony  and  look 
at  the  matter  from  the  standpoint  of  each  party,  shall  report  their 
award  upon  oath,  and  shall  give  a  written  declaration  of  their 
findings  to  each  of  the  cities.  Their  decision  is  to  be  authoritative 
and  not  subject  to  alteration.  Likewise  also  they  shall  inscribe 
upon  a  stele  the  agreements  made,  if  accepted  by  both  sides.  And 
they  shall  also  inscribe  upon  the  stele  the  other  boundaries  there 

1  These  are  the  highest  magistrates  in  the  city  of  Pitana. 

2  The  Pergamenes  had  requested  that  Pitana  and  Mytilene  should  accept  the  em- 
bassy named  above  as  the  arbitrating  board.  That  request  is  here  granted  by  the 
Pitanaeans. 


A  CASE  OF  ARBITRATION 


which  need  to  be  defined,  leaving  nothing  unfinished,  on  the  ground 
that  it  does  not  pertain  to  them,  not  even  if  .  .  .  But  they  shall 
decide  everything  alike,  so  that  the  causes  of  strife  shall  be  entirely 
removed  and  no  accusation  or  strife  based  upon  difference  of  opinion 
shall  be  left.  ... 

{Five  broken  lines) 

.  .  .  and  to  praise  the  ambassadors  and  invite  them  to  a  public 
banquet,  and  that  the  strategi  are  to  see  to  it  that  these  things  are 
done. 

II.  Decree  of  the  Mytilenceans 

The  boule  and  assembly  has  taken  action  regarding  the  decree 
passed  by  the  assembly  of  the  Pergamenes,  which  their  appointed 
ambassadors  have  given  to  us :  Bacchius  son  of  Eudemus,  Apollo- 
dorus  son  of  Athanodorus,  Diogenes  son  of  Asclepiades,  Megister- 
mus  son  of  Attalus,  Scapon  son  of  Asclapon.  In  this  decree  they 
have  made  clear  that  .  .  . 

(The  following  nineteen  lines  are  so  broken  as  to  be  unintelligible.) 

...  is  given  over  to  the  same  men  as  arbitrators  of  the  matters  in 
dispute,  since  the  Pitanaeans  also  have  agreed  to  select  them.  They 
shall  be  present  at  the  place  in  the  month  called  ...  in  Mytilene, 
and  ...  by  the  Pergamenes,  shall  begin  to  take  testimony  and 
look  at  the  matter  from  the  standpoint  of  each  party,  shall  report 
their  award  on  oath,  and  shall  give  a  written  declaration  of  their 
findings  to  each  of  the  cities.  Their  decision  is  to  be  authoritative 
and  not  subject  to  alteration.  Likewise  also  they  shall  inscribe 
upon  a  stele  the  agreements  made,  if  accepted  by  both  sides.  And 
they  shall  also  inscribe  upon  the  stele  the  other  boundaries  there 
which  need  to  be  defined,  leaving  nothing  unfinished. 

(Seven  lines  which  are  badly  broken) 

.  .  .  to  praise  the  ambassadors  for  making  the  visit  to  Mytilene 
with  devotion  to  their  task  and  in  a  manner  worthy  of  those  who 
sent  them  out.  .  .  . 

(Three  broken  lines) 
...  let  the  kings  1  invite  them  as  guests  to  the  Prytaneum  2  to 

1  These  kings  (/Sao-iX^es)  were  a  board  of  magistrates  at  Mytilene. 

2  A  public  building  in  which  the  prytany,  or  committee  of  the  senate,  held  its 
meetings. 


582  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


a  public  banquet.  Likewise  let  the  strategi  bring  in  a  motion  re- 
garding them  within  the  period  specified  by  law,  that  they  are  to 
be  proxeni  and  citizens  of  our  city. 

77/.  Decree  of  the  Pergamene  Embassy 

{The  first  twenty  lines  are  sadly  broken.  They  contained  a  brief  survey  of 
the  origin  of  the  dispute  and  the  empowering  of  the  Pergamene,  embassy  to  act  as  a 
board  of  arbitration.  The  board  of  five  first  heard  the  statement  of  each  party  in  the 
case.  They  then  went  out  to  examine  the  territory  under  dispute  as  is  shown  in 
the  following  passage.) 

.  .  .  the  one  upon  the  ridge  down  to  the  stream,  and  as  the  road 
runs  and  the  boundary  stones  lie  to  the  road  which  bounds  the  ter- 
ritory of  Pitana  and  the  ,  and  as  the  road  runs  and  the  boundary 

stones  lie  to  the  two  rocks  which  .  .  .  and  from  these  to  the 
meadow,  as  the  boundary  stone  lies  and  the  road  leads  to  Asturene,1 
as  the  boundary  stones  lie  to  the  road,  and  as  the  road  leads  and  the 
boundary  stones  lie  along  past  Asturene  to  the  tomb  near  the  road, 
called  the  tomb  of  Epicratus ;  and  from  this  to  the  boundaries  on 
the  side  toward  Atarneus.2  When  all  the  differences  had  been  re- 
moved, according  to  their  agreement  that  not  a  single  accusation  or 
strife  based  upon  difference  of  opinion  should  be  left,  and  as  they 
had  declared  in  their  decrees.  .  .  .  We  went  up  to  Pergamum  .  .  . 
and  swore  the  oath  in  the  temple  of  the  Dioscuri.  .  .  . 

(The  following  ten  lines  are  quite  fragmentary .  One  line  shows  that  the  Pitanaans 
introduced  evidence  taken  from  the  historians  in  presenting  their  case.) 

.  .  .  and  after  this  when  Seleucus  conquered  Lysimachus  in  battle 
and  his  son  Antiochus  3  received  the  royal  power,  Antiochus  sold 
the  plain  to  them  (the  Pitanaeans)  for  330  talents  in  addition  to 
which  he  exacted  50  talents  more.  And  they  made  written  pledges 
regarding  this  transaction,  Philetaerus  4  also  giving  — ty  talents  to 
the  Pitanaeans  in  connection  with  this  matter,  as  they  proved  from 
a  stele  set  up  in  our  city  in  the  temple  of  Athena.    They  likewise 

1  A  small  town  between  Antandrus  and  Adramyttium  on  the  south  shore  of  the 
Adramyttian  Gulf. 

2  A  small  town  on  the  mainland  opposite  Lesbos. 

3  These  are  the  two  famous  Diadochi,  Seleucus  I  and  Lysimachus,  who  was  defeated 
and  killed  in  a  battle  with  Seleucus  near  the  Hellespont  in  281  B.C.  Antiochus  Soter 
succeeded  his  father  Seleucus  as  king  of  Syria  in  that  year. 

4  The  eunuch  who  founded  the  power  of  Pergamum  and  died  in  263  B.C. 


THE  ARBITRAL  AWARD 


S83 


proved  that  absolute  possession  and  dominion  over  the  territory 
had  been  conceded  them  also  by  the  rulers  through  the  documents 
upon  the  distribution  of  territory,  showing  this  irrefutably  from  the 
stelae  set  up  in  Ilium,  Delos  and  Ephesus,  upon  which  the  letter 
of  Antiochus  regarding  the  possession  of  this  territory  is  recorded 
in  full.  And  they  also  furnished  testimony  to  the  effect  that 
Eumenes,1  when  he  assumed  control  of  affairs,  ratified  the  letter 
of  Seleucus  to  the  Pitanasans.  In  this  letter,  among  other  things, 
he  wrote  word  for  word,  as  follows :  '  We  also  grant  for  all  time  the 
undisputed  possession  and  complete  dominion  over  this  territory 
already  agreed  upon.'  .  .  . 

{Of  the  remaining  fifteen  lines  very  few  words  are  left.  It  is  evident  that  the 
award  was  in  favor  of  the  Pitanceans.)  See  Tod,  Greek  International  Arbitration; 
Westermann,  "  Interstate  Arbitration  in  Antiquity,"  in  Class.  Journ.  II  (1907). 
197-211. 

C.  GOVERNMENT  OF  EGYPT  UNDER  ALEXANDER,  AND  THE 
WHEAT  MARKET 

180.  Oppression  of  Cleomenes,  Financial  Governor  of 
Egypt  under  Alexander 

(Pseudo-Aristotle,  Economics,  33.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

For  ten  years  after  it  fell  to  Alexander  Egypt  was  under  the  provisional 
government  established  by  the  young  king.  He  won  the  sympathies  of  the 
Egyptian  priesthood  by  showing  a  tactful  toleration  of  the  religious  prejudices 
of  the  inhabitants.  His  use  of  the  native  nobility  in  the  civil  division  of  the 
provisional  government  must  have  helped  him  greatly  in  establishing  his 
administration  without  serious  friction.  The  system  devised  was  threefold. 
The  military  government  was  under  three  leaders;  two  for  the  land  troops 
and  one  for  the  navy.  These  were  Macedonians  or  Greeks.  The  civil  adminis- 
tration remained  under  the  control  of  two  nomarchs,  the  Egyptians  Doloaspis 
and  Petesis.  The  financial  administration  was  centered  in  the  hands  of  an 
able  but  unscrupulous  Greek  from  Naucratis  named  Cleomenes.  Owing  to  the 
fertility  of  Egypt  this  position  was  easily  the  most  important  of  all,  and  Cleo- 
menes, during  the  long  absence  of  Alexander  in  the  east,  was  able  to  assume  and 
maintain  the  practical  authority  of  a  governor  of  Egypt.  His  greed  of  money 
led  him  into  oppressions  which  alienated  all  classes  of  the  Egyptians,  especially 
the  priesthood  and  the  mercantile  class.  When  Ptolemy  I  assumed  control  of 
Egypt  as  satrap  immediately  after  the  death  of  Alexander,  the  execution  of 
Cleomenes  (322  b.c)  won  for  him  the  support  of  the  most  powerful  elements 


Eumenes  was  in  control  of  affairs  in  Pergamum  from  263  to  241  B.C. 


584  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


in  the  state.  The  methods  of  extortion  employed  by  Cleomenes  are  disclosed 
in  the  following  extracts  from  Pseudo- Aristotle,  (Economica,  33,  1352  a.  See 
Schafer,  Demosthenes  und  seine  Zeit  (2d  ed.),  III.  293  sqq. 

When  Cleomenes  of  Alexandria  was  satrap  1  of  Egypt  and  a 
great  famine  raged  in  other  countries,  but  only  a  moderate  one  in 
Egypt,  Cleomenes  put  a  stop  to  the  export  of  grain.  The  no- 
marchs  2  asserted  that  they  were  unable  to  pay  the  tribute  because 
they  could  not  export  the  grain.  Cleomenes  therefore  gave  them 
the  right  to  export,  but  placed  a  high  price  upon  the  grain,  so  that 
he  received  a  high  revenue,  although  little  grain  was  exported, 
and  put  an  end  to  the  excuses  of  the  nomarchs. 

When  Cleomenes  was  travelling  by  boat  through  the  nome 
in  which  the  crocodile  is  a  god,  one  of  his  slaves  was  seized  by  a 
crocodile.  Summoning  the  priests  he  stated  that  a  wrong  had 
been  done  him  and  that  he  wished  to  punish  the  crocodiles.  So  he 
gave  orders  to  hunt  them.  In  order  that  their  god  might  not  be 
subjected  to  insult  the  priests  brought  together  all  the  money  that 
they  could  collect  and  gave  it  to  him,  and  so  put  an  end  to  the 
affair. 

When  King  Alexander  bade  Cleomenes  build  a  city  near  Pharos  3 
and  locate  there  the  market  which  had  formerly  been  at  the  Canopic 
mouth  of  the  Nile,  Cleomenes  sailed  down  the  river  to  Canopus 
and  went  to  the  priests  and  the  wealthy  citizens  and  said  that  he 
had  come  there  in  order  to  settle  them  elsewhere.  The  priests 
and  inhabitants  of  Canopus  brought  money  and  gave  it  to  him  in 
order  to  induce  him  to  leave  the  market  in  their  district.  He 
took  the  money  and  sailed  away.  Later,  when  he  was  quite  ready 
to  begin  the  building,  he  sailed  down  again  and  demanded  an 
immense  sum  from  them,  saying  that  it  was  a  great  advantage  to 
him  to  have  the  market  at  the  other  place  rather  than  at  Canopus. 

1  When  Alexander  conquered  Egypt  in  332-331  B.C.  it  was  under  Persian  sway, 
with  a  Persian  governor  at  its  head  called  a  satrap.  Cleomenes  of  Naucratis  held  the 
position  of  financial  head  of  Egypt.  The  powers  which  he  assumed  while  Alexander 
was  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Persian  Empire,  gave  him  the  position  of  an  all- 
powerful  governor.  It  is  this  position  which  the  Greeks  recognized  under  the  false 
title  of  satrap. 

2  The  leading  administrative  officials  of  the  nomes.  The  division  into  nomes,  and 
the  officials  called  nomarchs  are  inheritances  from  the  old  Pharaonic  rule. 

3  An  island  in  the  harbor  of  Alexandria  upon  which  the  famous  lighthouse  of 
Pharos  was  built  under  the  first  two  Ptolemies. 


CLEOMENES 


585 


When  they  said  that  they  could  not  possibly  pay  the  money,  he 
took  them  away  as  colonists. 

When  grain  was  selling  in  the  country  at  ten  drachmas  he 
summoned  those  engaged  in  the  grain  business  and  asked  them  at 
what  price  they  were  willing  to  sell  to  him.  They  responded  that 
they  would  sell  it  at  a  lower  price  than  that  at  which  they  sold  to 
the  retailers.  He  ordered  them  to  deliver  it  to  him  at  the  same 
price  at  which  they  sold  to  the  others.  He  then  fixed  the  price  of 
grain  at  thirty- two  drachmas  and  disposed  of  it  at  that  price. 

He  called  the  priests  to  him  and  said  that  the  expenditure 
upon  the  temples  throughout  the  country  was  very  great,  and  that 
the  number  of  temples  and  priests  must  therefore  be  decreased. 
The  priests  individually  and  in  common  gave  him  the  sacred 
treasures,  thinking  that  Cleomenes  was  in  truth  about  to  decrease 
the  number  and  each  one  wishing  that  his  own  temple  should  be 
left  and  he  himself  remain  its  priest. 

181.  Methods  and  Effects  of  Cleomenes'  Operations  in 

Wheat 

(Demosthenes,  Against  Dionysodorus,  7-10.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

The  wheat  manipulations  of  Cleomenes  in  Egypt  were  evidently  conducted 
upon  a  large  scale.  For  we  know  from  the  speech  written  by  Demosthenes 
against  Dionysodorus  that  men  of  the  time  who  were  conversant  with  questions 
of  the  grain  trade  considered  Cleomenes  partially  responsible  for  the  astounding 
rise  in  the  price  of  grain  at  Athens  in  the  years  330-326  B.C. 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  a  speech  written  by  Demosthenes  in  a 
suit  instituted  against  one  Dionysodorus  for  breach  of  contract.  Two  other 
Athenians  had  lent  this  Dionysodorus  3000  drachmas  which  he  needed  to  finance 
a  shipment  of  grain  from  Egypt  to  Athens.  As  security  for  the  loan  they 
received  a  mortgage  upon  the  ship.  Dionysodorus,  however,  did  not  have  his 
cargo  of  wheat  or  his  ship  brought  to  Athens,  but  unloaded  and  sold  at  Rhodes. 
After  the  cargo  had  been  disposed  of,  he  attempted  to  make  a  settlement,  agree- 
ing to  pay  the  loan  with  interest  up  to  the  time  of  the  sale  of  the  cargo  at  Rhodes. 
His  creditors,  the  plaintiffs  in  this  case,  then  sued  him  for  the  interest  in  full 
from  the  time  when  the  loan  was  made  until  the  time  of  the  trial,  a  space  of 
two  years.    See  Kohler,  in  Ath.  Mitt.  VIII  (1883).  211  sqq. 

According  to  this  contract  (the  one  just  read),  gentlemen 
of  the  jury,  Dionysodorus  and  his  partner,  Parmeniscus,  received 
the  money  from  us  and  sent  the  ship  away  to  Egypt.  Par- 
meniscus  sailed  with  the  ship,  but  Dionysodorus  remained  here. 


586 


THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


For  all  of  these  men,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  —  you  should  not 
be  ignorant  of  this  fact  —  were  agents  and  accomplices  of  Cleo- 
menes,  who  ruled  in  Egypt,  and  who  has  done  no  little  harm 
he  and  his  agents,  to  your  city  and  even  more  to  the  rest  of  the 
Greeks  by  buying  and  selling  and  combining  to  fix  the  price  of 
wheat.  For  some  of  them  shipped  the  grain  out  of  Egypt,  others 
sailed  to  the  marketing  centers,  others  remained  here  and  dis- 
posed of  the  grain  which  had  been  shipped.  Then  those  who  were 
located  here  sent  letters  to  those  who  were  abroad,  keeping  them 
in  touch  with  the  current  prices  so  that  they  might  send  the  grain 
here  if  the  price  were  high,  or  sail  to  some  other  market  if  the  price 
of  grain  were  rather  low.  Chiefly  through  these  letters  and  part- 
nerships, gentlemen  of  the  jury,  the  price  of  grain  has  been  fixed. 

Now  when  these  men  sent  away  their  ship  from  here,  the  price 
of  grain  was  fairly  high.  Therefore  they  agreed  in  the  contract 
a  proviso  that  they  should  sail  to  Athens  and  into  no  other  market. 
After  that,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  when  the  Sicilian  grain  fleet  re- 
turned and  the  price  of  grain  fell  and  their  ship  had  arrived  in 
Egypt,  Dionysodorus  sent  a  man  to  Rhodes  to  announce  the  fall 
in  price  to  Parmeniscus,  his  partner,  who  was  stationed  there. 
For  he  knew  with  certainty  that  the  ship  must  necessarily  put  in 
at  Rhodes.  There  the  matter  ended.  For  Parmeniscus,  his  part- 
ner, when  he  received  the  letter  sent  to  him  by  Dionysodorus  and 
learned  the  current  price  of  grain  here,  unloaded  the  grain  at  Rhodes 
and  sold  it  there.  They  thereby  showed  their  contempt  for  the 
contract,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  and  the  punishments  to  which  these 
men  themselves  subscribed  in  case  they  should  in  any  way  violate 
the  contract.  And  they  showed  their  contempt  for  your  laws, 
which  expressly  order  the  ship-masters  and  merchants  to  sail  into 
the  market  agreed  upon,  and  subject  them,  if  they  do  not  do  so, 
to  the  heaviest  fines. 

182.  Decree  of  the  Council  and  Assembly  at  Athens 
Touching  upon  the  Grain  Supply 

(Ditt.  Syll.  no.  152.;  Kohler,  in  Ath.  Mitt.  VIII  (1883).  211  sqq.  Translated 

by  W.  L.  W.) 

Further  light  is  thrown  upon  the  effects  of  these  manipulations  and  other 
conditions  which  conspired  to  send  up  the  price  of  foodstuffs  at  Athens  in  the 


THE  GRAIN  SUPPLY 


587 


years  330-326  B.C.,  by  a  series  of  decrees  of  the  Athenian  senate  and  assembly 
which  are  given  in  translation  below.  Their  purpose  and  content  is  clear. 
Much  more  difficult  is  the  question  of  the  order  in  which  they  were  presented 
and  their  interrelation.  II  B,  which  appears  first  upon  the  stone,  was  the  last 
in  the  series  in  point  of  time.  Though  there  are  five  parts  of  the  published 
decree,  the  senate  and  assembly  actually  handled  the  matter  but  twice. 

The  first  action  was  taken  shortly  after  the  archonship  of  Aristophon,  330- 
329  B.C.  During  that  administrative  year  Heraclides  had  shipped  in  the  3000 
medimni 1  of  grain  and  relieved  the  famine  by  selling  it  at  five  drachmas  the 
medimnus.  This  generosity  gives  rise  to  the  first  decree  I  A,  I  B,  I  C,  of  which 
the  final  form  (I  C)  appears  first  on  the  stone.  Telemachus,  who  introduced 
the  first  motion,  was  not  a  member  of  the  senate.  Therefore  he  could  not 
speak  or  introduce  a  motion  in  the  senate.  Consequently  he  made  the  pre- 
liminary motion  in  the  assembly  (I  A)  asking  that  the  senate  frame  a  decree 
and  present  it  before  the  assembly.  This  was  done  by  the  senate  upon  the  mo- 
tion of  Cephisodotus  (I  B).  This  probouleuma,  however,  contains  a  clause  which 
permitted  the  assembly  to  confer  additional  honors  upon  Heraclides.  When 
the  senate's  report  (I  B)  came  down  to  the  assembly  for  action,  Telemachus  took 
advantage  of  the  fact  to  add  the  matter  regarding  an  ambassador  to  Dionysius, 
tyrant  of  Heraclea,  who  was  to  demand  satisfaction  for  an  injustice  done  to 
Heraclides  (I  C).    With  this  addition  the  decree  was  adopted  by  the  assembly. 

The  second  decree  (II  A,  II  B)  arose  out  of  another  philanthropic  act  of  the 
same  Heraclides,  in  the  archonship  of  Euthycritus  (328-327  B.C.).  This  was  a 
gift  to  the  city  of  3000  drachmas  for  the  purchase  of  grain.  In  consequence 
of  this  Phyleus,  a  senator,  introduced  a  motion  before  the  senate  which  was 
passed  (II  A).  It  came  before  the  assembly  and  was  there  enacted  as  the 
will  of  the  people  (II  B).  To  it  was  appended  a  provision  for  the  publication 
of  the  entire  business  relating  to  Heraclides. 

II  B.    May  the  gods  grant  it. 

In  the  archonship  of  Anticles  in  the  fifth  prytany,  that  of  the 
tribe  Aige'is,  in  which  Antiphon,  son  of  Corcebus,  the  Eleusinian, 
was  secretary,  in  the  eleventh  month,2  upon  the  thirty-fourth  day 
of  the  prytany.  For  the  proedri 3  Philyllus  the  Eleusinian  put  the 
question.    Demosthenes,  son  of  Democles,  of  Lamptrae  moved : 

1  The  Attic  medimnus  was  about  one  and  one-half  bushels. 

2  This  is  the  eleventh  month  of  the  common  or  calendar  year  of  twelve  months. 

3  The  proedri  {irpbebpoi.)  were  a  board  of  nine  members  of  the  boule  selected  by 
lot  by  the  chairman  of  the  prytany  (iTria-rdTTjs)  before  each  meeting  of  the  assembly, 
one  being  chosen  from  each  tribe  except  the  prytanizing  tribe.  They  were  the  inter- 
mediaries between  the  boule  and  assembly.  One  of  the  proedri,  also  selected  by  lot^ 
became  the  chairman  of  the  proedri  (£iri<TT&T7]s  t&v  irpoidpwv)  and  was  president  of  the 
assembly  for  that  meeting.  This  system  is  not  known  before  378  B.C.  Cf.  Greenidge, 
Creek  Constitutional  History,  p.  167. 


588  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


Since  Heraclides  the  Salaminian  1  has  always  acted  with  liber- 
ality toward  and  done  whatever  service  he  could  to  the  people  of 
Athens,  and,  formerly,  in  the  time  of  the  grain  famine,  first  among 
the  merchants  sailing  into  the  harbor,  presented  the  city  with 
3000  medimni  of  wheat  at  five  drachmas,  and  later,  when  the  volun- 
tary contributions  occurred,  gave  in  3000  drachmas  for  the  purchase 
of  grain,  and  in  other  matters  has  always  been  well-disposed  and 
liberal  toward  the  people,  the  assembly  has  voted  to  praise  Hera- 
clides, son  of  Chariclides,  the  Salaminian,  and  to  crown  him  with 
a  golden  crown  because  of  his  good-will  and  liberality  toward  the 
Athenian  people ;  and  that  he  is  to  be  a  proxenus  2  and  well-doer 
of  the  Athenians,  both  he  himself  and  his  descendants,  and  that 
they  are  to  have  the  right  of  possession  of  land  and  house  accord- 
ing to  the  law ; 3  and  that  they  are  to  be  subject  to  military  ser- 
vice and  the  special  property-tax  along  with  Athenians ;  and  that 
the  secretary  of  the  prytany  is  to  have  this  decree  and  the  other 
praises  which  have  been  accorded  him  4  inscribed  on  a  stone  stele 
and  set  up  upon  the  Acropolis ;  and  that  the  treasurer  is  to  grant 
for  the  inscribing  of  the  stele  thirty  drachmas  out  of  the  funds 
being  expended  by  the  assembly  upon  the  publishing  of  decrees. 
I  C.  Telemachus  son  of  Theangelus  of  Acharnae  moved : 
Since  Heraclides  the  Salaminian  was  the  first  of  the  merchants 
sailing  into  the  harbor  in  the  archonship  of  Aristophon  to  give  grain 
to  the  people  at  five  drachmas,  the  assembly  has  voted  to  praise 
Heraclides  son  of  Chariclides  the  Salaminian  and  to  crown  him 
with  a  golden  crown  because  of  his  liberality  toward  the  Athenian 
people.  And  since  his  ship  was  brought  to  land  by  the  Heracleans 
when  he  was  sailing  to  Athens  and  his  sails  were  seized  by  them, 
it  is  hereby  decreed  that  one  man  be  chosen  from  the  Athenians 
at  large  as  ambassador  who  shall  go  to  Heraclea  to  Dionysius  5 
and  demand  that  he  give  back  the  sails  and  for  the  future  do  no 

1  Salamis  on  the  island  of  Cyprus. 

2  An  honorary  title,  usually  coupled  with  the  title  of  well-doer  (evepytTijs)  granted 
to  aliens  for  especial  services  to  the  state.  It  implies  that  the  recipient  stands  in  a 
special  relation  of  friendship  with  the  city-state  which  confers  the  honor. 

3  The  right  of  purchase  and  possession  of  real  property,  granted  to  aliens  by  these 
special  decrees,  was  circumscribed  by  some  general  law. 

4  These  "praises"  are  those  recorded  in  I  A  B  C  and  II  A.    See  introduction. 
6  Dionysius  was  tyrant  of  Heraclea  on  the  Pontus  from  337  to  305  B.C. 


HONORS  TO  HERACLIDES 


injustice  to  any  one  who  is  sailing  to  Athens,  and  state  that,  by 
doing  so,  Dionysius  will  do  what  is  right  and  will  not  fail  in  meeting 
with  justice  from  the  Athenian  people.  The  treasurer  of  the 
people  1  is  to  give  fifty  drachmas  for  travelling  expenses  to  the 
ambassador  who  is  chosen,  out  of  the  money  being  expended  by 
the  assembly  upon  the  publishing  of  decrees.  Thebagenes  the 
Eleusinian  was  selected  as  ambassador. 

I  A.    Telemachus  son  of  Theangelus  of  Acharnae  moved : 
It  is  decreed  by  the  assembly  that  the  senate  should  frame  a 
decree  and  present  it  to  the  first  meeting  of  the  ecclesia  regarding 
Heraclides,  by  which  he  shall  receive  all  possible  benefit  from  the 
Athenian  people. 

I  B.    Cephisodotus  son  of  Euarchidus  of  Acharnae  moved: 
Regarding  the  order  which  the  assembly  has  given  to  the  sen- 
ate to  prepare  a  decree  concerning  Heraclides  the  Salaminian,  the 
senate  has  voted  as  follows : 

Since  Heraclides  sailed  to  Athens  with  grain  and  gave  to  the 
people  3000  medimni  at  five  drachmas  each,  let  the  chairmen 
(proedri)  who  happen  to  be  in  office  bring  Heraclides  into  the  ec- 
clesia before  the  people  and  attend  to  the  matter,  and  present 
to  the  people  as  the  opinion  of  the  senate,  that  the  senate  has  voted 
to  praise  Heraclides  son  of  Chariclides,  the  Salaminian,  and  to 
crown  him  with  a  golden  crown  worth  500  drachmas ;  and  that  he 
have  and  receive  all  possible  benefit,  in  order  that  others  also  may 
display  their  liberality  in  the  knowledge  that  the  senate  honors 
and  crowns  those  who  act  with  liberality. 

II  A.    Phyleus  son  of  Pausanias  of  (Enoe  moved : 

Since  Heraclides  the  Salaminian  sailed  to  Athens  with  grain 
in  the  archonship  of  Aristophon  anol  gave  to  the  people  3000  me- 
dimni at  five  drachmas,  and  on  this  account  the  assembly  voted 
that  the  senate  prepare  a  decree  that  he  be  brought  before  the 
assembly  that  he  might  receive  all  possible  benefit  from  the 
Athenian  people  ;  and  since  again,  in  the  archonship  of  Euthycritus 
he  gave  3000  drachmas  for  the  purchase  of  grain,  it  has  been  voted 

1  6  rafilas  rov  8-//fxov.  A  finance  official  of  Athens  of  the  fourth  century  B.C.  He 
made  the  payments  for  the  expenditures  ordered  by  the  assembly,  such  as  those  for 
the  publication  of  decrees,  expenses  of  ambassadors,  etc.  The  office  was  probably 
abolished  in  310  B.C.,  as  it  does  not  appear  in  the  documents  published  after  that  date. 


59Q  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


by  the  senate  that  the  chairmen  who  may  be  in  office  for  the 
regular  1  ecclesia  bring  Heraclides  before  the  people  and  attend 
to  the  matter  and  present  to  the  people  as  the  opinion  of  the  sen- 
ate that  the  senate  has  voted  to  praise  Heraclides  son  of  Chariclides 
the  Salaminian  and  to  crown  him  with  a  golden  crown  worth 
500  drachmas ;  and  that  he  is  to  have  and  receive  from  the  people 
whatever  benefit  he  seems  worthy  of,  in  order  that  others  also  may 
desire  readily  to  confer  benefits  upon  the  senate  and  people,  see- 
ing that  those  acting  liberally.  .  .  . 

(Two  broken  lines) 

D.  THE  LAND  SYSTEM  IN  PTOLEMAIC  EGYPT 

183.  Reversion  of  a  Land-Grant  to  the  Crown  on  the 
Death  of  the  Holder  (243-242  b.c.) 

(Jouguet,  Papyrus  grecs,  no.  41 ;  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  I.  2.  no.  335.  Trans- 
lated by  W.  L.  W.) 

The  papyri  recently  discovered  in  Egypt  have  given  us  an  entirely  new 
understanding  of  the  fundamental  economic  and  political  fact  which  underlies 
the  history  and  civilization  of  Egypt  in  the  Hellenistic  period.  This  fact  is 
that  there  was  no  private  ownership  of  agricultural  land  in  Ptolemaic  Egypt. 
The  right  of  ownership  in  all  cases  rested  with  the  king.  A  large  part  of  this 
very  fertile  land  along  the  Nile  was  worked  directly  by  the  government  through 
farmers  who  stood  in  a  special  relation  to  the  crown  and  formed  a  distinct  class 
in  the  rural  population  of  Egypt.  They  were  called  Royal  Cultivators 
(fiacriXtKol  yewpyot)  and  the  land  thus  leased  by  the  state  directly  to  small 
farmers  was  classified  as  Royal  Land  (yrj  /foo-iAiioj). 

A  second  large  division  of  the  state's  lands  was  called  Land  under  Grant 
(yrj  iv  dcpeaei).  This  included  1,  the  lands  opeiated  by  the  temples,  or  Sacred 
Land  (yrj  Upd) ;  2,  Land  under  Gift  (yrj  iv  Swpea),  or  land  assigned  to  favorites 
and  nobles  who  enjoyed  the  usufruct,*but  did  not  have  the  right  of  ownership  or 
administration  over  the  cultivators  upon  their  land;  3,  Cleruch  Land  (yrj 
KXrjpovxixrj) ,  or  land  assigned  to  soldiers  in  active  service.  Upon  these  soldiers 
rested  the  burden  of  cultivating  the  land  and  paying  in  a  portion  of  the  produce 
to  the  state  through  its  officials. 

The  following  document  is  a  letter  from  one  official  to  another  regarding 
the  confiscation  of  an  allotment  of  cleruch  land  because  of  the  death  of  the 

1  Eis  tt)v  Kvplav  hacK-riaLav.  There  were  four  regular  meetings  in  each  prytany. 
The  first  of  these  was  distinguished  as  the  KvpLa  iKK\rj(rla,  or  sometimes  as  the  irpibrr) 
inKkiticrla.  According  to  law,  matters  of  the  grain  supply  were  to  come  before  this 
meeting.    See  Aristotle,  Const.  Ath.  43.  4. 


CLERUCH  LAND 


59i 


cleruch.  Ammonius  and  Aristarchus  are  evidently  official  scribes,  the  former 
being  of  higher  rank  than  the  latter.  The  letter  is  dated  in  the  fifth  year  of 
Ptolemy  Euergetes  I.  The  document  shows  clearly  that  the  cleruch  land 
belonged  to  the  state. 

Ammonius  to  Aristarchus,  greeting.  Artemidorus,  agent  of 
Stratius,  has  written  to  us  announcing  the  death  of  one  of  those 
who  held  allotments  near  Pharbaitha,1  an  epilarch  2  of  the  merce- 
nary cavalry,  Theodorus,  son  of  Phantocles,  the  Selymbrian,3  of 
the  detachment  of  Eteoneus.  Take  back,  therefore,  his  allot- 
ment into  the  Royal  Treasury  (fiacriXi/cov) ,  and  regarding  the 
produce  4  see  to  it  that  it  is  all  brought  into  the  Royal  Treasury 
since  the  accounting  is  in  your  hands.    Keep  your  health. 

Year  5, 5  Pharmouthi  18th  6 

184.  The  Cleruch  Allotments  become  Heritable 

(218-217  B.C.) 

(Jouguet,  Pap.  grecs,  no.  4;  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  I.  2.  no.  336.  Translated 

by  W.  L.  W.) 

That  the  military  allotments  belonged  to  the  Crown  is  evident  from  the 
foregoing  document.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  in  this  connection  that  these  allot- 
ments were  never,  in  the  wills  which  come  from  the  Ptolemaic  period,  made  over 
by  legal  testament  from  father  to  son.  The  right  of  private  ownership,  there- 
fore, did  not  develop  under  the  Ptolemies.  The  right  of  possession,  however, 
tended  to  become  hereditary  if  the  father  at  his  death  left  a  son  who  might 
take  up  the  military  duties  which  went  with  the  allotment.  But  the  ownership 
of  the  land  by  the  Crown  is  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  the  property  is  taken  in 
charge  for  the  Basilikon  upon  the  father's  death  and  must  be  reassigned  to  the 
son.  The  document  marks  an  important  step  in  the  process  of  the  development 
of  inherited  allotments. 

The  entire  correspondence  evidently  comes  from  the  bureau  of  Stratocles 
and  Lamiscus,  who  are  two  officials  of  equal  powers  in  charge  of  the  arrange- 
ments for  military  allotments  (syntaxis  officials).    The  first  two  groups  of 

1  A  village,  known  in  the  Ptolemaic  and  Roman  periods,  of  the  Fayum  district. 

2  An  officer  of  low  rank  in  the  Ptolemaic  cavalry. 

3  From  the  Thracian  city  of  Selymbria  on  the  Propontis.  The  Thracians  were  well 
represented  in  the  armies  of  the  Ptolemies. 

4  When  the  allotments  (kXtjpoi)  were  taken  back  by  the  state,  all  the  annual  pro- 
duce reverted  to  the  state. 

5  The  year  five  of  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  III  Euergetes  I. 

6  Pharmouthi  is  the  Egyptian  month  corresponding  to  March  27th-April  25th 
in  our  calendar. 


592 


THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


letters  (I  and  II)  are  letters  written  from  their  bureau,  group  III  was  written  to 
their  bureau.  The  officials  who  play  a  part  in  this  complicated  system  of  public 
accounts  appear  to  stand  in  the  following  relation : 

Marsyas  and  Straton.    Colleagues  in  some  high 
I  1  financial  office. 

Stratocles  and 
Lamiscus,  over 
military  allotments 


Horus,  Royal  Secretary  

—  Heraclides,  (Economus       Theogenes,  who 

makes  the  contracts 
with  the  cleruchs  on 
military  allotments. 

The  two  names,  Hedulus  and  Dexandrus,  seem  to  be  those  of  two  cleruchs 
(land-leasing  soldiers)  who  had  died.  In  I  C  arrangements  are  made  so  that 
the  "produce"  which  the  sub-lessees  of  the  dead  adjutant  would  have  paid  to 
him,  may  be  taken  over  by  the  Basilikon.  Also  in  II  B  the  officials  are  giving 
orders  that  the  government  may  get  all  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  wine  from 
the  allotments  of  the  dead  adjutant,  until  the  allotment  shall  be  reassigned. 
The  object  of  the  letter  III  B  seems  to  be  to  acquaint  the  lower  official,  The- 
ogenes, with  the  fact  that  the  allotment  had  been  reassigned  by  Lamiscus. 
What  effect  this  would  have  upon  the  previous  orders  to  Theogenes  (I  C)  we 
cannot  tell,  because  the  end  of  the  papyrus  is  missing. 

Ia.  I  have  appended  for  you  a  copy  of  the  letter  written  by 
Marsyas  to  us,  that  you  may  note  its  contents.  Year  5,1  Appel- 
laeus  7th,  Pachon  7th.2 

b.  Marsyas  to  Stratocles  and  Lamiscus  greeting.  We  have 
appended  for  you  a  copy  of  the  letter  to  Theogenes,  that  you  may 
act  in  accordance  with  its  instructions.  Year  5,  Hyperberetaeus 
28th,  Phamenoth  3  29th. 

c.  To  Theogenes.  I  have  appended  .  .  .  the  ex-epimeletes 4 
of  the  year  5,  Gorpiaeus — ,  Mecheir — ,  .  .  .  the  allotments,  all 

1  The  year  five  of  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  IV  Philopator. 

2  Apellaeus  is  a  Macedonian  month,  Pachon  the  Egyptian  month  corresponding 
to  April  26-May  25.  In  the  third  century  B.C.  the  Macedonian  calendar  and  Egyptian 
calendar  had  not  been  brought  into  harmony.  Throughout  this  document  the  correct 
date  is  that  of  the  Egyptian  calendar. 

3  Hyperberetaeus  is  a  Macedonian  month,  Phamenoth  the  Egyptian  month  covering 
the  period  Feb.  25-March  26.    Throughout  the  document  the  two  do  not  correspond. 

4  The  epimeletes  is  a  finance  official  whose  competence  seems  to  have  stretched 
over  a  portion  of  a  nome.    Cf.  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde  I.  1 ,  pp.  149-50. 


A  HERITABLE  ALLOTMENT 


593 


of  them,  with  the  produce  of  the  present  year.  Year  5,  Hyper- 
beretaeus  2  2d,  Phamenoth  23d. 

Hedulus,  son  of  Hedulus. 

Dexandrus,  son  of  Nicon. 

II  a.  17th.1  To  Horus.  Copy  of  the  letter  to  [Posidonius] 
Heraclides,  the  (Economus. 

b.  To  [Posidonius]  Heraclides.  Give  special  orders  to  turn 
over  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  wine,  made  through  the  contract 
of  the  agent  of  Theogenes,  into  the  royal  revenues  of  the  fifth 
year,  to  the  official  Mettaleus  in  amount  42  drachmas  .  .  .  and 
give  order  that  a  receipt  be  made  for  it. 

III  a.  1 8th.2  Straton  to  Stratocles  and  Lamiscus,  greeting. 
I  append  for  you  a  copy  of  the  letter  to  Theogenes,  that  you  may 
act  in  accordance  with  its  instructions.  Year  5,  Apellaeus  13th, 
Pachon  13  th. 

b.  To  Theogenes.  Lamiscus,  the  official  in  charge  of  the 
syntaxis,3  wrote  to  us  that  ,  adjutant  of  the  Macedonians  hold- 
ing allotments  of  30  arourae  of  seed-land  in  the  Arsinoite  nome, 
to  whom  and  to  whose  descendants  the  land  belongs,  died  upon 
Tybi  15  th  of  the  year  5.  ...  sent  orders  at  the  same  time  to 
Heraclides,  the  (Economus,  and  Horus,  the  Royal  Secretary,4 
to  take  in  charge  the  allotment  for  the  Basilikon  with  the  produce 
of  this  year's  seed,  until  the  allotment  may  be  assigned  within  the 
period  conforming  to  the  decree,  if  the  deceased  has  sons.  Accord- 
ingly a  letter  was  sent  to  you,  year  5,  Hyperberetaeus  nth,  Pha- 
menoth 12th,  bidding  you  give  orders  to  take  the  allotment  in 
charge  for  the  Basilikon  with  the  produce  as  stated  above.  Since, 
then,  Stratocles  wrote  later  that  .  .  .  and  that  Lamiscus  had  as- 
signed. .  . 

{Here  the  papyrus  breaks  of.) 

1  Date  of  the  month  Apellaeus-Pachon,  when  this  letter  was  sent  out  from  the 
bureau  of  Stratocles  and  Lamiscus. 

2  This  letter  was  received  by  the  bureau  of  Stratocles  and  Lamiscus.  On  the  18th 
of  Apellasus-Pachon  it,  too,  was  sent  on  to  Horus. 

3  toO  eirl  <rvvTa&m.  This  official  has  charge  of  the  changes  of  the  cleruch  al- 
lotments. 

4  The  fiaaiXiKbs  ypaufxaTefa,  who  had  secretarial  and  administrative  duties  over  an 
entire  nome. 


594  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


185.  Petition  in  an  Action  for  Damages  (218  b.c.) 

(Lesquier,  Papyrus  de  Magdola,  no.  28 ;  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  I.  2.  no. 
338.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

One  of  the  divisions  of  the  Land  under  Grant  (yrj  iv  d^ecret)  was  the  Land 
under  Gift  (yrj  iv  Swpea),  consisting  of  great  estates  donated  to  favorites  of  the 
Ptolemies.  The  following  document  shows  that  these  estates  were  cultivated 
under  a  system  of  sub-leasing  and  that  the  cultivators  came  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  king  rather  than  under  that  of  their  landlord,  even  when  the  case 
was  one  which  concerned  directly  the  revenues  of  the  landlord,  as  does  this  one. 
The  right  of  the  state  to  change  the  allotments  from  one  sub-lessee,  or  cultivator, 
to  another  shows  that  the  theory  of  the  state's  ownership  of  the  land  was  strictly 
maintained.  It  is  also  evident  from  the  text  of  the  document  that  the  estates 
under  Gift  were  large,  since  they  contained  different  villages  in  which  the  cul- 
tivators lived. 

The  document  has  three  parts  and  probably  came  from  the  office  of  the 
strategus,  Diophanes.  First  comes  the  petition  sent  to  the  strategus  by  the 
cultivator,  Idomeneus.  The  address  to  the  king  is  purely  formal,  and  the 
petition  certainly  never  got  beyond  the  strategus.  Second  comes  the  note  to 
Hephaestion,  the  epistates,  written,  probably,  by  a  secretary  at  the  dictation 
of  the  strategus.  A  copy  of  these  two  documents  was  sent  to  Hephaestion,  and 
the  original  petition  and  note  of  the  strategus  remained  in  the  files  of  the  bureau 
of  the  strategus.  On  the  back  was  written  a  brief  summary  of  the  content  for 
easy  reference. 

To  King  Ptolemy,  greeting,  from  Idomeneus,  one  of  the  culti- 
vators upon  the  Land  Gift  of  Chrysermus,  from  the  village  Camenoe* 
(/ca/jLLvcov,  the  village  of  the  Furnaces).  I  am  being  wronged 
by  Petobastis,  son  of  Taos,  and  Horus,  son  of  Keleesis,  belonging 
to  the  same  village.  For  I  lease  from  the  Gift  of  Chrysermus  2 
arourae  1  and  sowed  my  plot  in  vetches  (apd/cay) .  But  the  afore- 
said Petobastis  and  Horus  flooded  my  seed  so  that  my  vetch  crop 
was  spoiled  and  I  cannot  furnish  the  payments  resting  upon  the 
plot.  I  beg  of  you,  therefore,  O  King,  if  it  seem  good  to  you,  to 
order  Diophanes  the  strategus  2  to  write  to  Hephaestion  the  epis- 
tates 3  to  send  Petobastis  and  Horus,  who  did  the  flooding,  to 

1  An  aroura  equaled  about  f  acre. 

2  The  competence  of  the  strategus,  like  that  of  the  royal  secretary,  was  over  an 
entire  nome.  Though  originally  only  in  charge  of  the  troops  of  the  nome,  the  office 
soon  came  to  combine  the  civil  and  military  headship  of  the  nome. 

3  The  duties  of  the  various  grades  of  epistates,  of  the  villages,  the  cities,  and  the 
nomes,  are  not  yet  clear.  It  is  clear  from  this  passage  that  they  were  connected  with 
the  police  department. 


A  PETITION 


595 


Crocodilopoh\  so  that  I  may  accuse  them  in  the  court  of  Dio- 
phanes,  -and,  if  I  prove  that  they  have  flooded  my  seed,  compel 
them  to  take  over  my  seed  land  and  pay  the  rental,  and  give  to  me 
in  place  of  what  they  have  flooded  an  equal  share  of  the  land  which 
they  cultivate.  In  that  case  by  having  recourse  to  you,  O  King, 
I  shall  be  able  to  pay  my  rentals  to  Chrysermus  and  shall  have  met 
with  kindness  from  you. 
I  wish  you  good  fortune. 

(2d  hand).  To  Hephaestion.  Above  all  try  to  reconcile  them. 
If  not,  send  them  to  us  upon  the  10th  of  Choiax1  that  the  case 
may  be  decided  before  the  proper  tribunal.  Year  4,  Daisius  27th, 
Athyr  29th.2  (Verso)  Year  4,  Daisius  27th,  Athyr  29th,  Ido- 
meneus  cultivator  of  the  Gift  of  Chrysermus  against  Petobastis 
and  Horus  regarding  the  flooding  of  land. 

186.  Oath  of  the  Royal  Cultivators  (107  b.c.) 

(Grenfell-Hunt-Smyly,  Tebtunis  Papyri,  no.  210 ;  Rostowzew,  Romisches  Kolonat, 
214;  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  I.  2.  no.  327.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

It  is  evident  that  the  Ptolemaic  rulers  of  Egypt,  since  they  owned  all  the 
land  in  the  country  and  received  their  rentals  in  produce,  were  in  the  grain, 
vegetable,  and  fruit  business  on  a  vast  scale.  The  collection  of  the  rentals 
demanded  an  army  of  officials  throughout  the  country.  At  the  head  of  this 
great  bureau,  which  was  the  treasury  department  of  the  state,  was  an  official 
called  the  Dicecetes,  with  his  office  at  Alexandria,  where  also  the  central  gra- 
naries were  located.  The  Royal  Land,  comprising  the  best  of  the  land  in  Egypt, 
was  rented  out  under  lease  to  the  Royal  Cultivators.  These  were  free  men, 
coming  from  all  the  various  social  strata  of  the  hybrid  population  of  Egypt. 
It  is  important,  for  an  understanding  of  the  economic  and  social  conditions  of 
Egypt,  to  note  that  the  government  did  not  work  its  domains  directly  by  the 
use  of  slaves. 

At  indefinite  intervals,  when  the  needs  of  the  situation  seemed  to  require 
it,  the  government  announced  that  it  would  lease  its  domains.  The  old  leases 
then  terminated  when  the  new  arrangements  were  completed.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  country  who  so  desired  sent  in  their  bids,  in  the  various  districts  and 
villages,  and  the  government  accepted  those  most  advantageous  to  itself. 
The  written  bid,  when  signed  by  the  proper  government  authority,  formed  a 
binding  contract  between  the  government  and  the  Royal  Cultivator.  The 

1  Choiax  is  the  Egyptian  month  from  Nov.  27-Dec.  26. 

2  Athyr  is  the  Egyptian  month  Oct.  28-Nov.  26.    Daisius  is  a  Macedonian  month. 


596  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


term  of  the  lease  was  indefinite,  so  far  as  our  present  knowledge  goes,  terminat- 
ing when  the  government  desired  to  re-lease  the  Royal  Lands. 

The  Royal  Cultivator  was  further  bound  by  a  note  which  he  signed  each 
year  when  he  received  his  regular  loan  of  seed-corn  from  the  local  officials.  A 
badly  torn  papyrus  gives  us  some  knowledge  of  this  paper  signed  by  the  Royal 
Cultivator.  It  is  extremely  important  in  the  history  of  labor  conditions  in 
antiquity,  because  it  shows  the  Cultivator  bound  by  oath  to  his  village  during 
the  entire  period  of  the  year  from  the  planting  of  the  seed  until  the  harvest  was 
over.  It  marks  an  important  step  in  the  development  of  the  colonate  system  of 
the  later  Roman  period  under  which  the  cultivator  became  a  serf  bound  to  the 
soil.  The  first  lines  are  too  badly  mutilated  to  permit  translation.  The  con- 
tract is  for  a  three-year  term,  and  seems,  for  that  reason,  to  be  a  case  of  enforced 
lease  (Rostowzew).    The  lessee  contracts  to  pay  his  wheat  rental. 

In  the  six-chcenix  measure  of  the  village,  and  on  this  basis 
also  I  shall  give  the  produce  with  honest  measure  and,  up  to  the 
time  at  which  I  measure  it  out,  I  shall  be  present  for  you  and  the 
agents  of  the  queen  each  day,  remaining  in  the  places  connected 
with  the  work  of  cultivating  the  soil  .  .  .  without  taking  advan- 
tage of  temple,  altar,  sacred  precinct  or  any  sanctuary,  nor  will 
I  devise  any  scheme  of  this  sort  (to  escape  my  obligations  as  cul- 
tivator). If  I  keep  my  oath  may  it  be  well  with  me,  if  I  break 
my  oath,  the  opposite,  and  .  .  . 

187.  The  Collection  of  Rentals 

(Mahaffy,  The  Flinders  Petrie  Papyri,  II.  no.  20 ;  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  I.  2. 
no.  166;  Rostowzew,  Archiv  fur  Papyrusforschung,  III.  211.  Translated 
by  W.  L.  W.) 

The  collection  of  the  rentals  of  the  state  from  its  Royal  Domains  and  the 
methods  of  its  transport  to  the  royal  granaries  were  naturally  of  great  impor- 
tance to  the  government.  When  the  harvest  was  gathered  by  the  Royal  Cul- 
tivators the  entire  crop  was  sent  by  them,  under  the  supervision  of  state  officials 
called  the  Custodians  of  the  Crops  {ye.vr)^aro<f>vXaK^) ,  to  the  public  threshing- 
floors  outside  the  villages.  Nothing  was  removed  until  the  threshing  was 
completed.  Then,  in  the  presence  of  the  Village  Secretary,  the  Village  Chief 
(Koj/jLdpxrjs) ,  and  the  Custodians  of  the  Crops  on  the  government's  side,  and  the 
Elders  of  the  Cultivators  and  the  interested  cultivator  himself  on  the  other 
side,  the  payments  to  the  government  were  made.  Not  until  all  arrears  and 
loans  of  the  government,  in  addition  to  the  annual  payment,  were  made,  could 
the  cultivator  remove  any  grain.  The  cultivator  must  still  look  after  the 
transportation  of  the  grain  to  the  nearest  government  granary.    When  once 


TRANSPORTATION  OF  RENTALS  597 


in  the  Thesaurus  (State  Granary)  the  further  disposition  and  transportation 
lay  in  the  hands  of  the  government  officials. 

Local  officials  (criroAoyoi)  looked  after  the  grain  transport  to  the  larger 
granaries  along  the  Nile,  where  the  matter  came  under  the  supervision  of  the 
higher  finance  officials,  the  Royal  Steward  (CEconomus),  epimeletes,  and 
dicecetes.  The  following  papyrus  shows  that  the  right  of  transport  to  Alex- 
andria by  boat  was  let  out  to  private  contractors,  using  boats  which  belonged 
to  themselves.  The  following  document  is  a  complaint  from  Theophilus,  an 
agent  of  one  of  these  transport  contractors  whose  name  is  Anticles.  Some  of  the 
ship-carpenters  in  the  employ  of  Anticles  have  been  arrested  in  a  neighboring 
village  and  detained.  Thereby  the  transport  of  the  grain,  for  which  Anticles 
is  responsible,  has  been  delayed.  The  document  itself  is  evidently  a  first  draft 
of  the  actual  petition  sent  in  by  the  agent  Theophilus,  as  there  are  numerous 
erasures  and  changes  in  the  wording.    These  are  not  indicated  in  the  translation. 

To  Ptolemasus,  Epimeletes,1  from  Theophilus,  agent  of  Anticles, 
in  charge  of  the  transport  of  the  state  grain  in  the  Arsinoite  nome 
on  his  own  boats.  Pinyris  and  Erianoupis  and  .  .  .,  ship-carpenters 
in  the  Arsinoite  nome  in  charge  of  the  repair  of  the  boats  designated 
for  the  transport  of  the  state  grain  .  .  .  {the  sense  is  not  clear  to 
the  translator)  ...  for  the  repair  of  the  boats  of  Anticles  made 
a  visit  to  Heracleopolis,  and  Heraclides,  Chief  of  Police,2  ar- 
rested them.  But  Ptolemasus  met  Heraclides,  the  ceconomus,3 
and  set  before  him  the  urgency  of  the  situation,  and  the  latter 
wrote  to  Heraclides,  Chief  of  Police,  to  release  them,  since  I  myself 
refrained  from  having  a  personal  interview  with  him  {i.e.  with  the 
officious  Chief  of  Police). 

But  now  I  learn  that  Heraclides  (the  Chief  of  Police)  has  paid 
no  attention  to  the  letter  of  Heraclides  (the  ceconomus),  unless 
you  or  the  dicecetes  4  write  to  him.  I  therefore  think  it  right  that 
you,  if  it  seem  best  to  you  after  looking  into  the  matter,  give  orders 
to  write  to  Heraclides,  Chief  of  Police  in  the  Heracleopolite  nome, 
to  release  them  in  order  that  they  may  be  at  hand  when  needed  and 

1  An  official  of  the  finance  department  who  seems  to  have  controlled  sometimes  an 
entire  nome,  sometimes  only  a  part  thereof.  He  outranked  the  oeconomus  in  influence 
and  responsibility.    See  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  L  i.  149. 

3  The  ceconomus  is  a  financial  official,  subordinate  to  the  epimeletes.  His  com- 
petence covers  a  nome.  Among  his  duties  in  the  third  century  B.C.  were  the  sale  of  the 
right  to  collect  the  taxes  and  the  rigid  control  of  the  tax-gatherers.  Cf.  Wilcken, 
Papyruskunde,  I.  1.  1 50-1 51. 

4  The  head  of  the  entire  treasury  department  of  the  Ptolemaic  kingdom. 


5Q8  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


that  the  boats  may  not  lie  idle.  Otherwise  the  transport  of  the 
grain  may  be  brought  to  a  standstill  because  the  boats  are  not 
being  repaired,  and  that,  too,  when  quite  a  considerable  quantity 
of  grain  has  come  in,  both  of  the  market  and  of  the  tax  wheat. 
For  I  think  that  you  are  not  ignorant  that  ...  if  it  must  be 
transported  on  beasts  of  burden,  the  difference  will  be  five  drach- 
mas to  the  hundred  artabae. 

E.  HELLENISTIC  EDUCATION 
1 88.  An  Endowment  Fund  for  Public  Education 

(162  B.C.) 

(Polybius  xxxi.  25.    Shuckburgh's  translation) 

In  the  Greek  city-states  in  the  period  after  Alexander  the  private  schools  of 
the  earlier  period  (from  500  to  300  B.C.)  were  at  least  partially  supplanted  by 
a  state  system  of  education.  Rich  private  citizens  and  kings,  as  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  Polybius,  established  endowment  funds  for  the  purpose  of 
furthering  state  education.  There  is  no  indication  that  elementary  education 
was  compulsory.  The  reflections  of  Polybius  upon  the  too  ready  acceptance 
of  a  gift  for  school  purposes  by  the  Rhodians  gives  us  some  notion  of  an  educated 
and  cultured  man's  ideas  upon  the  value  and  dignity  of  education. 

The  Rhodians,  though  in  other  respects  maintaining  the  dignity 
of  their  state,  made  in  my  opinion  a  slight  lapse  at  this  period. 
They  had  received  two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  medimni 
of  corn  1  from  Eumenes,2  that  its  value  might  be  invested  and  the 
interest  devoted  to  pay  the  fees  of  the  tutors  and  schoolmasters 
of  their  sons.  One  might  accept  this  from  friends  in  a  case  of 
financial  embarrassment,  as  one  might  in  private  life,  rather  than 
allow  children  to  remain  uneducated  for  want  of  means ;  but  where 
means  are  abundant  a  man  would  rather  do  anything  than  allow 
the  schoolmaster's  fee  to  be  supplied  by  a  joint  contribution  from 
his  friends.  And  in  proportion  as  a  state  should  hold  higher 
notions  than  an  individual,  so  ought  governments  to  be  more  jeal- 
ous of  their  dignity  than  private  men,  and  above  all  a  Rhodian 
government,  considering  the  wealth  of  the  country  and  its  high 
pretensions. 

1  This  is  the  English  use  of  the  word  "corn,"  meaning  grain  in  general. 

2  Eumenes  II,  king  of  Pergamum  197-159  B.C. 


AN  EDUCATIONAL  ENDOWMENT 


189.  Public  Education  at  Teos  (first  half  of  third 
century  B.C.) 

(Ditt.  Syll.  no.  523  ;  Bulletin  de  corr.  hell.  IV  (1880).  no  sqq.    Translated  by 

W.  L.  W.) 

This  inscription  was  discovered  near  the  site  of  ancient  Teos,  an  Ionic  city 
near  Ephesus.  It  furnishes  us  detailed  and  interesting  information  upon  the 
methods  and  divisions  of  the  educational  system  of  Teos.  An  endowment  fund 
had  been  established  by  Polythrus,  a  Teian  citizen,  the  interest  of  which  was 
to  be  used  for  the  education  of  the  youth  of  Teos.  The  decree  of  the  Teian 
assembly  here  recorded  arranges  for  the  choice  of  six  teachers,  to  be  selected  by 
popular  vote  for  a  year's  term,  sets  a  definite  salary  for  each,  roughly  defines  the 
subjects  to  be  taught,  and  turns  over  the  execution  of  details  to  the  regular 
magistrates  in  charge  of  public  education,  the  paedonomus  (Superintendent  of 
the  Youth)  and  the  gymnasiarch  (Director  of  the  Gymnasium).  It  provides 
that  the  regular  treasurers  be  responsible  for  the  endowment  fund  and  empowers 
them  to  pay  the  teachers,  and  attempts  to  provide  against  a  diversion  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  fund  to  other  purposes. 

.  .  .  and  that  there  shall  be  appointed  also,  after  the  choice 
of  the  Director  of  the  Gymnasium,1  a  Superintendent  of  the  Youth  2 
not  less  than  forty  years  old.  And  in  order  that  all  the  free  boys 
may  be  educated,  as  Polythrus,  son  of  Onesimus,  had  prudently 
announced  to  the  people,  when  he  gave  for  this  purpose  thirty- 
four  thousand  drachmas,  thereby  establishing  a  most  beautiful 
memorial  of  his  love  of  honor,  it  is  hereby  decreed  that  there  be 
appointed  each  year  in  the  elections,  after  the  choice  of  the  Secre- 
taries (of  the  council  and  assembly),  three  Teachers  of  Letters,3 
who  shall  teach  the  boys  and  girls ;  and  that  600  drachmas  a  year 
be  paid  to  the  one  chosen  for  the  first  grade  of  work,4  550  drachmas 
for  the  one  chosen  for  the  second,  500  drachmas  for  the  one  chosen 
for  the  third.  And  a  Lyre-player  or  Harper  shall  be  appointed 
also,  and  to  the  one  elected  700  drachmas  a  year  shall  be  given  as 
pay ;  and  he  shall  teach  to  the  boys  whom  it  may  be  fitting  to 
examine  for  the  succeeding  grade  and  to  those  a  year  younger, 
musical  theory,  and  lyre-playing  or  harp-playing,  and  to  the 

1  yv/uLvaa-lapxos,  or  Gymnasiarch. 

2  iraidovdfios.  3  ypafXfiaTo8i8d<TKa\oi. 

4  iirt  t6  irpCbrov  epyov.  There  are  evidently  to  be  three  grades  of  work  through 
which  the  pupils  are  to  ascend.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  lowest  of  the  three  grades 
of  work  is  the  best  paid. 


6oo  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


ephebi 1  musical  theory.  Let  the  Superintendent  of  the  Youth 
decide  regarding  the  age  of  the  boys.  Also  additional  pay  shall 
be  given  for  the  month  if  we  insert  an  intercalary  month.  Also 
a  Teacher  of  Heavy-armed  Fighting  and  a  Teacher  of  Archery 
and  Throwing  the  Javelin  shall  be  hired  by  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Youth  and  the  Gymnasiarch,  with  the  understanding  that 
they  shall  refer  their  choice  to  the  assembly  for  ratification.  Let 
these  teach  the  ephebi  and  the  boys  who  are  to  learn  musical 
theory  as  stated  above.  As  pay  two  hundred  and  fifty  drachmas 
is  to  be  given  to  the  Teacher  of  Archery  and  Javelin-throwing 
and  to  the  Teacher  of  Heavy-Armed  Fighting  three  hundred  drach- 
mas. The  Teacher  of  Heavy-Armed  Fighting  shall  teach  for  a 
period  of  not  less  than  two  months.  The  Superintendent  of  the 
Youth  and  the  Gymnasiarch  are  to  see  to  it  that  the  ephebi  and 
the  boys  are  carefully  trained  in  the  subjects,2  according  as  it  has 
been  allotted  to  each  of  them  by  the  laws.  And  if  the  Teachers  of 
Letters  come  into  conflict  with  each  other  as  to  the  number  of 
pupils,  let  the  Superintendent  of  Youth  decide  the  matter,  and  let 
them  obey  as  he  may  give  orders.  The  public  exhibitions  which 
must  be  held  the  Teachers  of  Letters  shall  hold  in  the  gymnasium, 
the  Teacher  of  Music  in  the  senate-house  .  .  . 

...  if  they  do  not  pay  the  fine,  it  shall  be  possible  to  compel 
them.  In  the  case  of  the  Teacher  of  Heavy-armed  Fighting  and 
the  Teacher  of  Archery  and  Javelin-throwing,  let  the  money  be 
contributed,  as  was  written  above.  If  the  treasurers  in  office  or 
those  elected  from  time  to  time  do  not  pay  this  money  according 
to  the  specifications,  or  any  other  magistrate  or  private  person  speak 
or  act  or  bring  forward3  or  put  to  vote  or  propose  a  law  in  contraven- 
tion of  this,  or  in  any  manner  or  by  any  pretext  abolish  this  law, 
on  the  plea  that  it  is  necessary  to  divert  the  money  to  other  uses 
or  not  to  spend  it  for  that  purpose  for  which  the  law  intends,  or  in 
any  other  manner  to  assign  the  money  for  some  special  purpose 
not  countenanced  in  this  law,  the  action  taken  shall  be  null  and 

1  On  the  ephebi,  see  no.  145. 

2  This  indicates  some  form  of  oversight  of  the  teaching,  possibly  including  a  kind 
of  examination. 

3  irpodrjL.  This  probably  means  "to  bring  up  the  matter  in  the  assembly,"  whereas 
the  words  "propose  a  law"  {vbfiov  wpodiji)  refer  to  the  regular  action  before  the  boul£ 
and  assembly. 


MUSIC 


601 


void,  and  the  succeeding  treasurers  are  to  assign  to  this  account, 
according  to  this  law,  an  equal  amount  of  money  out  of  the  city 
revenues  and  expend  the  remainder,  all  of  it,  according  to  this  law. 

190.  The  Place  of  Music  in  the  Education  of  the 

Arcadians 

(Polybius  iv.  20.    Shuckburgh's  translation) 

Some  appreciation  may  be  gained,  from  the  following  quotation  from 
Polybius,  of  the  general  Hellenistic  attitude  toward  musical  education.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  Arcadians  were  still  one  of  the  backwoods  peoples 
of  Greece  even  in  Polybius'  day. 

For  music,  and  I  mean  by  that  true  music,  which  it  is  advanta- 
geous for  everyone  to  practice,  is  obligatory  with  the  Arcadians. 
For  we  must  not  think,  as  Ephorus  in  a  hasty  sentence  of  his  pref- 
ace, wholly  unworthy  of  him,  says,  that  music  was  introduced 
among  mankind  for  the  purpose  of  deception  and  jugglery;  nor 
must  the  ancient  Cretans  and  Spartans  be  supposed  to  have  intro- 
duced the  pipe  and  rhythmic  movement  in  war,  instead  of  the 
trumpet,  without  some  reason ;  nor  the  early  Arcadians  to  have 
given  music  such  a  high  place  in  their  constitution,  that  not  only 
boys,  but  young  men  up  to  the  age  of  thirty,  are  compelled  to  prac- 
tice it,  though  in  other  respects  most  simple  and  primitive  in  their 
manner  of  life.  Every  one  is  familiarly  acquainted  with  the  fact 
that  the  Arcadians  are  the  only  people  among  whom  boys  are  by 
the  laws  trained  from  infancy  to  sing  hymns  and  paeans,  in  which 
they  celebrate  in  the  traditional  fashion  the  heroes  and  gods  of 
their  particular  towns.  They  next  learn  the  airs  of  Philoxenus  1 
and  Timotheus  2  and  dance  with  great  spirit  to  the  pipers  at  the 
yearly  Dionysia  in  the  theatres,  the  boys  at  the  boys'  festival  and 
the  young  men  at  what  is  called  the  men's  festival.  Similarly 
it  is  their  universal  custom,  at  all  festal  gatherings  and  banquets, 
not  to  have  strangers  to  make  the  music,  but  to  produce  it  them- 

1  Philoxenus  of  Cythera,  a  dithyrambic  poet  who  died  in  380  B.C.  He  was  a  musi- 
cian as  well  as  a  poet  and  composed  the  musical  accompaniment  of  his  dithyrambs. 

2  A  dithyrambic  poet  of  the  Athenian  school,  contemporary  with  Philoxenus.  A 
portion  of  a  poem  of  Timotheus,  called  "The  Persians,"  was  found  on  an  Egyptian 
papyrus  in  1902  and  edited  by  Ulrich  von  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  Timotheos.  Die 
Perser. 


602 


THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


selves,  calling  on  each  other  in  turn  for  a  song.  They  do  not  look 
upon  it  as  a  disgrace  to  disclaim  the  possession  of  any  other  ac- 
complishment :  but  no  one  can  disclaim  the  knowledge  of  how  to 
sing,  because  all  are  forced  to  learn ;  nor  can  they  confess  the 
knowledge,  and  yet  excuse  themselves  from  practising  it,  because 
that  too  is  looked  upon  among  them  as  disgraceful.  Their  young 
men  again  practise  a  military  step  to  the  music  of  the  pipe  and  in 
regular  order  of  battle,  producing  elaborate  dances,  which  they 
display  to  their  fellow-citizens  every  year  in  the  theatres,  at  the 
public  charge  and  expense. 

F.  FORMATION  OF  A  GRMCO-EGYPTIAN  HYBRID  CIVILIZATION 
191.  A  Family  with  Mixed  Names 

(Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  I.  2.  (Chrestomathie)  no.  51.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

This  is  an  inscription  from  Crocodilopolis  of  the  reign  of  Euergetes  I,  between 
244  and  221  B.C. 

Demetrius,  a  Greek,  has  married  an  Egyptian  woman  named  Thasis. 
Their  two  daughters  have  both  Greek  and  Egyptian  names.  Along  with  the 
Egyptian  wife,  Egyptian  religion  has  evidently  come  into  the  life  of  the  family 
of  Demetrius  ;  for  Thueris  was  an  Egyptian  hippopotamus  goddess. 

In  honor  of  King  Ptolemy  and  Queen  Berenice,  his  wife  and 
sister,  and  their  children,  the  shrine  and  its  appurtenances  have 
been  dedicated  to  Thueris  by  Irene  and  Theoxena,  Cyrenaeans, 
whose  Egyptian  names  are  Nepersouchos  and  Thaues,  daughters 
of  Demetrius  born  from  Thasis. 

192.  A  Bilingual  Letter 

(Witkowski,  Epistulce  private  grcecce  (2d  ed.),  no.  30;  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde, 
I.  2.  (Chrestomathie)  no.  50.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

This  letter  was  written  in  Egypt  in  the  third  century  B.C.  by  Ptolemaeus  to 
Achilles. 

They  are  either  pure  Greeks,  or  hybrids  from  a  mixed  marriage.  Ptole- 
maeus has  had  a  dream  in  which  Achilles,  an  Egyptian  girl  named  Taynchis, 
and  some  Egyptian  deities  play  a  part.  The  letter  of  Ptolemaeus  to  Achilles 
is  in  Greek,  but  the  dream  is  related  in  Egyptian,  either  because  it  dealt  with 
Egyptian  deities  and  religious  scruples  were  involved,  or  because  the  dream 
seemed  to  enact  itself  in  Egyptian.    Three  fragments  only  are  preserved. 


A  DREAM 


603 


1.  After  receiving  (?).  Ptolemaeus  to  Achilles,  greeting.  After 
writing  regarding  the  .  .  . 

2.  It  has  seemed  best  to  me  now  to  explain  the  dream  in  detail 
to  you,  that  you  may  know  after  what  manner  the  gods  care  for 
you.  And  I  have  written  it  below  in  Egyptian  in  order  that  you 
may  understand  it  exactly.  When  I  was  about  to  go  to  bed,  I 
wrote  two  letters,  one  about  Taynchis,  daughter  of  Thermouthis, 
one  about  Teteimouthis,  daughter  of  Taues,  who  is  daughter  of 
Ptolemaeus  and  .  .  . 

3.  .  .  .  pour  out  a  drink,  just  as  I  also  have  spent  a  happy  day. 
Farewell.    The  2nd  year,  Phaophi  the  25th. 

(The  story  of  the  dream  in  demotic  Egyptian) 

I  raised  my  eyes  again  ...  to  those  speaking.  They  bade 
me  stand  before  the  door  of  the  shrine.  There  sat  a  priest  and  a 
crowd  surrounded  him.  The  priest  said  to  the  men  standing 
by  .  .  . 

The  remainder  of  the  demotic  text  is  badly  broken.  The  girl  Taynchis 
appears  in  the  dream:  "Taynchis,  she  said:  'Come,  pray,  you  .  .  .  who  is 
it?'  He  said:  Tt  is  Nebwotis.'"  Achilles  also  appears  in  the  dream  for 
Ptolemaeus  says :  "Psais,  the  great  god,  knew  your  name." 

193.  The  Will  of  a  Father  of  a  Gr^co-Egyptian  Family 

(Grenfell,  An  Alexandrian  Erotic  Fragment  and  other  Greek  Papyri,  I.  no.  21. 
Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

This  document  is  dated  in  the  44th  year  of  Euergetes  II  —  126  B.C. 

Dryton  had  made  three  wills.  This  is  a  copy  of  the  officially  recorded  last 
will,  certainly  a  copy,  since  it  does  not  have  the  official  attest  (that  is,  the 
notary's  hand  and  seal)  at  the  end.  The  first  will,  which  is  referred  to  in  this 
document,  was  recorded  in  the  6th  year  of  Philometor,  or  104  B.C.  Of  the 
second  will,  we  have  the  recorded  copy  in  a  badly  shredded  condition;  P. 
Grenfell  I.  12.  It  is  to  be  placed  presumably  about  the  year  148  B.C.  Pathyris 
is  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  opposite  Thebes. 

Year  44,  Pauni  the  9th,  in  Pathyris  before  Asclepiades,  the 
agoranomus.  Being  in  good  health  and  of  sound  mind,  Dryton, 
son  of  Pamphilus,  Cretan,  ranking  as  a  Successor  and  Hipparch 
in  the  Troops  of  the  Reserve. 


6o4  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


So  long  as  health  remains  to  me  I  am  to  remain  in  control  of 
my  property ;  but  in  case  of  death,  I  hereby  leave  and  bequeath 
the  real  estate  and  furniture  and  herds  belonging  to  me  and  what- 
soever else  I  may  possess,  as  follows : 

My  war-horse  and  all  my  arms  to  Esthladas,  the  son  born  to 
me  and  Sarapias,  daughter  of  Esthladas,  son  of  Theon,  citizeness, 
with  whom  I  lived  as  my  wife,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  and  a 
will  (deposited)  at  the  record  office  in  Diospolis  Parva  before  Diony- 
sius  the  agoranomus  in  the  sixth  year  in  the  time  of  Philometor. 
This  will  makes  the  rest  clear  and  has  established  ...(?)  And 
of  the  four  household  slaves  Esthladas  is  to  have  the  two  whose 
names  are  Myrsine  and  .  .  .  The  remaining  two  female  slaves, 
whose  names  are  Irene  and  Ampelion,  are  to  go  to  Apollonia  and 
her  four  sisters,  making  five  in  all ;  likewise,  the  vineyard  belong- 
ing to  me  in  the  (district  of  ?)  Pathyris,  and  the  well  of  burnt  brick 
and  the  other  appurtenances,  and  the  wagon  with  the  cow,  .  .  . 
one  dove-cote  and  a  second  one  unfinished,  a  yard,  next  to  which 
on  the  south  are  waste  fields  of  the  beforementioned  Esthladas, 
on  the  north  a  vaulted  chamber  of  Apollonia  the  Younger,  on  the 
east  a  waste  place  belonging  to  Petrasis  (?)...  son  of  Esthladas,  on 
the  west  a  waste  field  of  Esthladas  up  to  the  open  doorway  upon 
the  west  (?).  The  house  to  the  west  and  bowls  .  .  .  and  waste 
field  up  to  the  dove-cote  stretching  away  below  the  doorway  of 
Esthladas  and  to  the  left  of  the  vaulted  chamber,  I  give  to  Apollonia 
and  Aristo  and  Aphrodisia  and  Nicarion  and  Apollonia  the  younger, 
making  five  daughters  born  to  me  and  Apollonia,  also  called  Sem- 
monthis,  with  whom  I  lived  as  legal  wife.  Let  them  share  equally 
in  the  two  female  slaves  and  the  cow  and  the  houses,  according 
as  I  have  made  the  division.  Let  Esthladas  have  the  waste  field 
already  given  him,  facing  his  doorway  from  east  to  west,  four  strips 
extending  to  the  place  of  the  earthen  pot.  Of  the  remaining  build- 
ings and  empty  lots  in  Diospolis  Magna  in  the  Ammonium  1  and 
among  the  potters'  shops  let  Esthladas  have  one  half,  and  Apollonia 
and  her  sisters  one  half,  and  all  my  other  belongings,  contracts 
for  loans  in  money  or  wheat,  and  furniture,  let  them  share  by  halves. 
Let  Esthladas  and  Apollonia  with  her  sisters  pay  the  expenditures 
for  building  the  aforementioned  dovecote,  until  it  be  completed. 

1  Temple  and  precinct  of  the  Egyptian  God  Ammon. 


DRYTON'S  AFFAIRS 


605 


And  to  Apollonia  also  called  Semmonthis,  my  wife,  let  them  pay 
for  four  years,  if  she  remains  at  home  and  without  reproach,  for 
the  support  of  herself  and  the  second  and  third  daughters,  2 J 
artabae  1  of  wheat,  ^2  artaba  of  croton,  and  200  copper  drachmae 
each  month.  And  let  them  give  the  same  amounts  out  of  the 
common  stock  to  the  two  youngest  daughters  for  eleven  years. 
And  to  Tachratis  2  let  them  give  out  of  the  common  stock  1 2  tal- 
ents in  copper  as  her  dowry.  Whatsoever  additional  income 
Semmonthis  appears  to  have  made  while  living  with  Dry  ton,  of 
this  she  is  to  have  absolute  possession,3  and  any  one  who  starts 
action  against  her  regarding  this  income  .  .  .  (will  suffer  such 
and  such  a  penalty).    Year  44,  Pauni  9th. 

194.  Petition  of  the  Gr^co -Egyptian  Daughters  of 
Dryton  to  the  Strategus,  an  Egyptian 

(Kenyon,  Greek  Papyri  in  the   British  Museum,  II.  no.  401.  Translated 

by  W.  L.  W.) 

The  petition  is  not  dated.  Other  documents  bearing  the  name  of  the 
official  Phommoutis  enable  us  to  place  it  in  the  years  116-111  B.C.  Dryton  has 
meantime  died  and  his  daughters  complain  that  their  property  in  Diospolis 
Magna  is  being  illegally  used. 

To  Phommoutis,  the  King's  Cousin 4  and  Epistrategus  and 
Strategus  of  the  Thebaid. 

From  Apollonia  also  called  Senmouthis,  and  Aphrodisia  also 
called  Tachratis,  both  daughters  of  Dryton  dwelling  in  Pathyris. 
To  us  and  to  our  sisters,  Aristo  also  called  Senmonthis,  and  Nica- 
rion  also  called  Thermouthis,  and  Apollonia  the  younger  also  called 
Senpelais,  belongs  a  half  share  of  our  father's  estates  of  which  there 
are  four  in  the  Peri-Theban  nome  and  the  Pathyrite  nome,  like- 

1  The  Egyptian  artaba  of  the  Ptolemaic  period  was  a  unit  of  measure,  varying 
between  24  and  40  choenices.    The  chcenix  probably  equaled  about  a  liter. 

2  The  Egyptian  name  of  the  second  daughter,  Aphrodisia. 

3  Apollonia  seems  to  have  been  a  judicious  business  woman.  We  have  copies  of 
notes  made  out  in  her  favor  in  return  for  loans  of  money  or  of  grain.  One  of  the  loans 
draws  interest  at  about  60  per  cent  per  annum;  Grenfell,  Alex.  Erotic  Frag.  I.  nos. 
18-20. 

4  2v77ei>T7s,  which  is  an  honorary  title  given  to  officials  of  high  rank  at  this 
period. 


606  THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


wise  the  household  slaves.  Included  in  these  estates,  in  Cochlax 
on  the  Arabian  side  (eastern  bank  of  the  Nile)  of  the  beforemen- 
tioned  Pathyrite  nome,  is  a  half  share  of  a  vineyard  amounting  to 
2§  arourae,1  or  as  much  more  as  it  may  be,  and  the  orchard  to  the 
east  of  this,  and  wells  and  buildings  and  .  .  .  and  barren  land  and 
other  land  without  the  .  .  .  ,  and  their  appurtenances,  all  of 
which  our  father  owned  while  he  lived,  and  we,  his  relics,  own  since 
his  death.  .  .  .  Ariston,  son  of  Athenodotus,  living  in  Diospolis 
Magna  has  forcibly  taken  possession  of  the  beforementioned  vine- 
yard and  its  appurtenances  in  the  period  when  communication 
ceased  (between  the  two  banks  of  the  Nile)  and  unjustly  main- 
tains possession  of  the  half  share  belonging  to  us  and  has  planted 
a  certain  part  in  vines,  knowing  that  we  are  women  and  that  we 
dwell  in  another  place  and  cannot  easily  take  action  against  the 
possession  above  stated.  Therefore  we  deem  it  right  to  appeal 
to  you,  if  it  seems  best,  to  examine  him,  and  if  the  matter  be 
as  we  declare  it,  to  compel  him  to  leave  the  half  share  of 
the  vineyard  which  clearly  belongs  to  us  and  the  vines  planted 
upon  it  and  the  places  belonging  with  it,  and  to  pay  back  the 
produce  which  he  has  taken  away  from  them,  and  in  return  for 
his  violent  behavior  to  arrest  him  as  a  rogue  that  we  may  re- 
ceive satisfaction.  Farewell. 

195.  A  Greek  Tutor  in  an  Egyptian  Home 

(Kenyon,  Greek  Papyri  in  the  British  Museum,  I.  no.  43 ;  Witkowski,  Epist. 
priv.  grcec.  no.  59;  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  I.  2.  (Chrestomathie)  no.  136. 
Translated  by  W.  L.  W.) 

This  is  a  letter  of  a  mother  to  her  son,  second  century  B.C.  The  beginning 
and  the  end  are  lost,  as  are  the  names  of  the  writer  and  addressee.  The  femi- 
nine participle  used  by  the  writer  proves  that  she  is  a  woman.  The  physician, 
who  is  certainly  an  Egyptian,  evidently  desires  his  children  to  be  carefully 
trained  in  Greek.  The  cultured  and  correct  Greek  style  of  the  writer  proves 
that  she  is  a  Greek,  not  an  Egyptian. 

When  I  was  informed  that  you  were  learning  the  Egyptian 
letters  I  was  delighted  both  for  you  and  for  myself,  that  now  when 
you  go  to  the  city  you  will  teach  the  children  in  the  home  of  Phalu 

1  An  aroura  equals  about  f  of  an  acre. 


CLEOPATRA 


607 


.  .  .  etis,  the  physician,1  and  will  have  a  means  of  sustenance  in 
later  years. 

196.  Cosmopolitanism  at  the  Ptolemaic  Court 

(Plutarch,  Antonius,  27) 

There  was  a  pleasing  resonance  in  her  voice  {i.e.  Cleopatra's) ; 
and  she  turned  her  tongue  readily,  as  though  it  were  some  many- 
stringed  instrument,  to  the  use  of  any  dialect  she  desired,  so  that 
she  dealt  with  very  few  foreigners  through  an  interpreter.  To 
most  of  them  she  gave  answer  herself,  for  example  to  the  Ethio- 
pians, Troglodytes,  Hebrews,  Arabs,  Syrians,  Medians,  and  Par- 
thians.  She  is  said  to  have  learned  the  languages  of  many  others 
besides,  although  the  kings  who  preceded  her  did  not  have  the 
patience  to  acquire  the  Egyptian  dialect  and  some  of  them  even 
abandoned  the  Macedonian. 

G.  THE  OIL  MONOPOLY  OF  THE  PTOLEMIES 

197.  Various  Regulations 

(Grenfell,  Revenue  Laws  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  no.  39.    Adapted  from 
GrenfelPs  translation) 

The  Ptolemaic  Crown  conducted  a  monopoly  in  the  manufacture  and  sale 
of  oil,  which  was  practically  absolute.  The  following  sources  give  some  idea  of 
the  importance  of  this  monopoly  and  the  annihilation  of  all  forms  of  competi- 
tion. The  most  important  source  is  the  "Revenue  Laws  of  Ptolemy  Philadel- 
phus" of  the  year  259-58  B.C.,  edited  by  Grenfell.  The  state  dictated  the 
amount  of  the  oil-producing  plants  which  had  to  be  set  out  in  each  nome,  and 
controlled  and  sold  the  seed  to  the  planters.  The  cultivators  could  sell  the 
raw  product  only  to  the  state,  and  that,  too,  at  a  price  fixed  by  the  state. 

The  contractors  (the  middlemen  who  contract  with  the  state 
to  gather  the  raw  product)  shall  pay  to  the  cultivators  8  drachmae 
for  an  artaba  of  sesame  containing  30  chcenices  ready  for  grinding, 
4  drachmae  for  an  artaba  of  croton  containing  30  chcenices  ready 
for  grinding,  1  drachma  2  obols  for  an  artaba  of  cnecus  ready  for 
grinding,  4  obols  for  an  artaba  of  colocynth,  3  obols  for  linseed. 

1  'IaTpoK\6(TTT}s,  the  term  actually  used,  means  a  specialist  in  the  use  of  clys- 
teries,  or  injections,  i.e.,  a  proctologist,  or  specialist  for  the  lower  bowels.  It  is  another 
evidence  of  the  tendency  toward  specialization  for  which,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  Egyp- 
tian physicians  were  famous. 


6o8 


THE  HELLENISTIC  KINGDOMS 


The  state  not  only  fixed  the  price  at  which  it  would  buy.  It  also  taxed  the 
cultivators  for  raising  what  they  were  compelled  to  raise. 

Ib.  39.  The  contractors  shall  receive  from  the  cultivators 
sesame  and  croton  at  the  value  decreed  in  the  legal  tariff  for  the 
tax  of  2  drachmae  payable  on  the  sesame  and  1  drachma  on  the 
croton,  and  shall  not  exact  payment  in  silver. 

Ib.  39-40.  The  cultivators  shall  not  be  allowed  to  sell  either 
sesame  or  croton  to  any  persons  other  than  the  contractors. 

The  state  was  the  sole  manufacturer  of  the  raw  product  into  the  finished 
oils,  in  factories  absolutely  controlled  by  the  state. 

Ib.  44.  The  ceconomus  and  antigrapheus  shall  appoint  .  .  . 
to  be  a  factory  and  shall  seal  their  choice  by  stamping  it.  .  .  . 
They  shall  deposit  in  each  factory  the  requisite  amount  of  sesame, 
croton,  and  cnecus.1  They  shall  not  allow  the  workmen  appointed 
in  each  nome  to  cross  over  into  another  nome ;  any  workman  who 
crosses  over  shall  be  subject  to  arrest  by  the  contractor  and  the 
ceconomus  and  the  antigrapheus.  No  one  shall  harbor  workmen 
from  another  nome ;  if  any  one  does  so  knowingly  or  fails  to  send 
back  workmen  when  he  has  been  ordered  to  restore  them,  he  shall 
pay  a  fine  of  3,000  drachmae  for  each  workman  and  the  workman 
shall  be  subject  to  arrest. 

The  state  controlled,  in  like  manner,  the  sale  of  the  manufactured  product 
by  auctioning  to  the  highest  bidders  in  the  cities  and  villages  the  sole  right  to 
sell.  Each  year  the  king's  decree  fixed  the  retail  price  at  which  the  contract- 
ing small  dealer  might  sell.  The  profits  of  the  middleman  were,  therefore,  under 
legal  limitation.  Naturally  the  middleman  was  often  tempted  to  make  a 
larger  profit  by  selling  to  the  consumer  at  a  higher  rate  than  the  one  legally  set. 
(Mahaffy,  Flinders  Petrie  Papyri,  II.  no.  38  (b) ;  Wilcken,  Papyruskunde,  I.  2 
(Chrestomathie),  no.  300.    Date  243-242  B.C.    Translated  by  W.  L.  W). 

Horus  to  Harmais,  greeting.  It  has  come  to  my  ears  through 
several  persons  who  have  sailed  down  2  from  the  nome  that  the  oil 
is  being  sold  at  a  higher  price  than  that  clearly  set  in  the  king's 

1  Croton  oil  is  extracted  from  the  seeds  of  the  castor-oil  plant.  Cnecus  oil  was 
made,  presumably,  from  the  seed  of  the  artichoke. 

2  Horus  was  evidently  some  high  official  whose  residence  seems  to  have  been  at 
Alexandria.  The  verb  KaT(nr\eiv  (to  sail  down)  in  the  papyri  usually  implies  that 
Alexandria  was  the  goal  of  the  journey. 


OIL 


609 


order ;  but  from  you  no  word  has  come  to  us,  nor  to  our  son, 
Imouthes,  who  is  in  the  district,  have  you  given  any  information. 
Explain  to  me,  therefore,  even  now  how  the  oil  is  selling  in  your 
district,  in  order  that  we  may  bear  the  information  to  Theogenes, 
the  Dicecetes.1  And  for  the  future,  if  any  such  thing  occurs  or  the 
cultivators  and  the  rest  are  being  cheated  in  the  reckoning  or  any 
other  injustice  occurs,  see  to  it  that  you  write  to  us  or  give  the 
information  to  our  son,  Imouthes,  who  is  in  your  district,  that  he 
may  send  it  to  us  and  we  may  bear  it  up  to  the  dicecetes.  Keep 
in  good  health.    Year  5,  Pauni  the  16th.2 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Buckler,  W.  H.,  and  Robinson,  D.  M.,  "Greek  Inscriptions  from  Sardis," 
in  Am.  Journ.  Arch.  XVI  (191 2).  11-82;  Droysen,  J.  G.,  Geschichte  des  Hel- 
lenismus  (Gotha,  1877) ;  Dittenberger,  W.,  Orientis  grceci  inscriptiones  selectee 
(Leipzig,  1903) ;  Sylloge  inscriptionum  grcscarum  (2d  ed.  Leipzig,  1898) ;  Fer- 
guson, W.  S.,  Greek  Imperialism  (Boston,  1913) ;  Haussoullier,  B.,  "Les 
Seleucids  et  le  temple  dApollon  didymeen,"  in  Revue  de  Philologie,  etc.  XXV 
(1901).  1-42;  Kohler,  U.,  "Attische  Psephismen  aus  den  Jahren  der  Theu- 
erung,"  in  Ath.  Mitt.  VIII  (1883).  211  sqq.;  Meyer,  P.  M.,  "Zum  Ursprung 
des  Colonats,"  in  Klio,  I.  424-26;  Mitteis-Wilcken,  Grundziige  und  Chrestoma- 
thie  der  Papyruskunde  (Leipzig,  191 2);  Niese,  B.,  Geschichte  der  griechischen 
und  makedonischen  Staaten,  3  vols.  (Gotha,  1893-1903) ;  Jouguet,  P.,  Papyrus 
grecs  (Paris,  1907) ;  Kenyon,  F.  G.,  Greek  Papyri  in  the  British  Museum  (Lon- 
don, 1893-1907) ;  Lesquier,  J.,  Papyrus  de  Magdola  (Paris,  1912) ;  Mahaffy, 
J.  P.,  The  Flinders  Petrie  Papyri,  2  vols.  (Dublin,  1891,  1893) ;  Grenfell,  B.  P., 
An  Alexandrian  Erotic  Fragment  and  other  Greek  Papyri  (Oxford,  1896) ;  Revenue 
Laws  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  (Oxford,  1896) ;  Grenfell-Hunt-Smyly,  The 
Tebtunis  Papyri  (London,  1902);  Rostowzew,  M.,  "Ursprung  des  Kolonats," 
in  Klio,  I.  295  sqq.;  "Studien  zur  Geschichte  des  romischen  Kolonats,"  in 
Archiv  fur  Papyrusforschung.  Beih.  I  (Leipzig,  1910) ;  "  Kornerhebung  und 
Transport  im  griechisch-romischen  Aegypten,"  ib.  Ill  (1906).  211 ;  Schafer, 
A.,  Demosthenes  und  seine  Zeit,  3  vols.  (2d  ed.  Leipzig  1885-1887) ;  Tod,  N. 
M.,  Greek  International  Arbitration  (Oxford,  1913) ;  Westermann,  W.  L.,  "Inter- 
state Arbitration  in  Antiquity,"  in  Class.  Journ.  II  (1906-1907).  197  sqq. ; 
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  U.  von,  Timotheos.  Die  Perser  (Leipzig,  1903) ; 
Wilhelm,  A.,  in  Archaeologisch-Epigraphische  Mittheilungen  aus  Oesterreich,  XX 
(1897).  57  ;  Witkowski,  S.,  Epistulce  privates  grcecce  (2d  ed.  Leipzig  1911). 


1  Head  of  the  finance  bureau  of  the  state  with  his  official  seat  at  Alexandria. 

2  A  high  import  duty  upon  oils  completed  what  may  be  called  an  impregnable 
monopoly.  <r 


CHAPTER  XVII 


POLITICS  OF  THE  GREEK  HOMELAND ;  THE  FEDERAL  UNIONS 

323-146  B.C. 

While  those  Greeks  who  had  followed  eastward  in  the  wake  of  Alexander's 
conquests  were  engaged  in  imperial  enterprises  of  wide-reaching  influence  on 
after  time,  their  kinsmen  in  the  home  country  were  performing  a  function  far 
humbler  yet  of  no  mean  value.  With  remarkable  tenacity  they  were  keeping 
alive  the  ancient  ideals  of  local  freedom  and  of  the  dignity  and  worth  of  indi- 
vidual man,  which  ancient  imperialism  tended  to  suppress.  To  illustrate  the 
attachment  of  the  Greeks  to  these  ideals  the  selections  from  the  Funeral  Ora- 
tion of  Hypereides  are  given.  Far  from  losing  themselves  in  dreams  of  the 
past,  however,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Greek  peninsula  were  engaged  in  solving 
the  greatest  problem  in  politics  —  the  problem  of  combining  local  freedom 
with  the  strength  of  unity.  Their  solution  was  the  Federal  Union,  the  most 
highly  developed  and  most  nearly  perfect  political  creation  of  the  ancient  world. 

198.  Defenders  of  Hellenic  Freedom 
(Hypereides,  Funeral  Oration.    Selections  translated  by  W.  E.  C.) 

When  news  of  Alexander's  death  (323)  reached  the  Greeks  they  under- 
took to  throw  off  the  Macedonian  yoke.  The  prime  movers  of  this  attempt 
were  Hypereides  and  Demosthenes.  Under  the  leadership  of  Athens  a  general 
Hellenic  league  was  formed,  and  the  chief  command  entrusted  to  Leosthenes, 
an  Athenian  of  notable  ability  and  large  military  experience.  At  first  the  allies 
met  with  success,  and  Antipater,  the  ruler  of  Macedon,  was  blockaded  in  Lamia 
near  Thermopylae.  From  the  name  of  this  place  the  conflict  is  known  as  the 
Lamian  war.  Unfortunately  Leosthenes  was  killed ;  there  was  no  competent 
general  to  take  his  place,  and  the  war  soon  ended  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
allies  (322). 

Hypereides  was  chosen  to  pronounce  the  Funeral  Oration  over  those 
Athenians  who  had  fallen  in  the  struggle.  His  speech,  the  Epitaphios,  has 
been  preserved  in  a  slightly  mutilated  form  on  an  Egyptian  papyrus.  Stylis- 
tically it  is  the  most  perfect  of  his  known  orations  and  a  beautiful  example  of 
that  kind  of  address.  Its  chief  historical  value  lies  in  the  appeal  to  the  highest 
patriotic  ideal  of  the  city-state. 

610 


THE  GLORY  OF  ATHENS 


611 


1.  This  address,  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  the  present  funeral, 
will  be  concerned  with  Leosthenes  the  general  and  with  the  other 
citizens  who  died  with  him  in  the  war.  That  they  were  good 
men  [is  proved  by  the  circumstances  of  their  death.  No  one  ever 
saw  more  noble  deeds  than  theirs ;  hence  we  must  acknowledge] 1 
that  never  in  all  time  have  there  lived  men  superior  to  those 
who  lie  here  or  achievements  more  magnificent  than  theirs.  For 
this  reason  I  am  greatly  disturbed  lest  my  words  may  appear 
unworthy  of  the  deeds  they  have  wrought,  except  as  I  take  confi- 
dence in  the  thought  that  you,  my  hearers,  may  make  good  any 
short-comings  on  my  part ;  for  the  speech  will  be  delivered  before 
no  chance  audience,  but  among  the  very  witnesses  of  their  achieve- 
ments. 

2.  It  is  fitting  to  praise  our  city  because  of  her  policy,  in  that 
she  chose  a  course  of  conduct  similar  to,  and  yet  grander  and  more 
beautiful  than,  any  she  has  ever  followed  before ;  to  praise  the 
dead  for  their  manhood  in  the  war,  because  they  have  not  dis- 
graced the  glory  of  their  ancestors;  to  praise  the  general  Leos- 
thenes for  both  reasons,  because  he  was  the  author  of  the  city's 
policy  and  because  he  was  chosen  general  of  the  army  by  the 
citizens. 

3.  As  regards  the  city,  to  recount  in  full  one  by  one  her  deeds 
wrought  in  behalf  of  all  Hellas,  neither  is  the  present  time  suffi- 
cient, nor  is  the  occasion  suitable  for  speaking  at  length,  nor  is  it 
easy  for  one  man  to  recall  and  treat  of  so  many  and  such  great 
deeds.  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  speak  summarily  about  her;  for 
just  as  the  sun  comes  upon  all  the  inhabited  world,  marking  out 
the  hours  in  suitable  form  and  appointing  all  things  beautifully, 
for  the  wise  and  the  just  of  men,  caring  for  the  production  of  sus- 
tenance, both  fruits  and  all  other  necessities  of  life,  so  our  city 
continues  to  chastise  the  wicked,  to  aid  the  just,  to  guard  the  equal- 
ity of  all  against  arrogance,  providing  for  Greeks  a  public  security 
from  individual  dangers  and  extravagances. 

4.  But  I  shall  cease  speaking  about  the  public  deeds  of  the 
city,  as  I  intimated  in  the  beginning,  and  shall  limit  my  oration  to 
Leosthenes  and  his  comrades.  I  am  at  a  loss  where  to  begin  speak- 
ing or  what  first  to  recall ;  Shall  I  rehearse  the  lineage  of  each 

1  Restoration  by  Buecheler,  cited  by  Blass. 


6l2 


HOME  POLITICS 


man?  Such  a  thing  I  consider  absurd.  For  a  man  engaged  in 
praising  others  who  have  come  together  from  many  places  to  one 
city  to  dwell,  each  bringing  with  him  his  own  lineage,  —  for  such 
a  man  indeed  it  would  be  fitting  to  trace  the  descent  of  every  one. 
But  in  case  one  is  making  a  speech  concerning  the  men  of  Athens, 
to  whom  a  common  autochthonous  origin  gives  an  unsurpassed 
nobility  of  ancestry,  I  consider  it  superfluous  to  praise  the  descent 
of  individuals  .  .  . 

5.  First  I  shall  speak  about  the  general,  as  is  just.  For 
Leosthenes,  seeing  all  Hellas  abased  and  cowering,  brought  to 
ruin  by  those  who  received  bribes  from  Philip  and  Alexander 
against  their  fatherlands,1  seeing  our  city  in  need  of  a  man  and 
all  Hellas  in  need  of  a  city  which  should  be  able  to  stand  forth  in 
the  hegemony,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  city  and  the  city  to  the 
Hellenes  for  freedom.  .  .  . 

6.  Who  would  not  justly  bestow  praise  upon  those  of  the  citi- 
zens who  died  in  this  war,  who  gave  their  lives  for  the  freedom  of 
the  Hellenes,  considering  this  to  be  the  most  marked  demonstra- 
tion of  their  wish  to  bestow  freedom  upon  Hellas,  namely,  to  die 
fighting  in  her  behalf  ?  .  .  . 

7.  No  living  men  have  ever  fought  in  a  nobler  cause  or  against 
heavier  odds  or  with  fewer  resources.  But  they  judged  valor  to 
be  strength,  and  manliness  to  be  magnitude,  —  not  the  great 
number  of  individuals.  Freedom  for  all  in  common  they  estab- 
lished and  the  glory  of  their  deeds  they  have  placed  on  the  father- 
land as  a  fitting  crown.  .  .  . 

8.  Are  they  not  indeed  to  be  thought  fortunate  because  of 
this  exhibition  of  valor  rather  than  unfortunate  because  of  their 
departure  from  life?  For  these  men  of  mortal  body  have  gained 
immortal  fame  and  through  their  individual  bravery  have  estab- 
lished common  freedom  for  the  Greeks.  ...  It  is  fitting  that  not 
the  threats  of  a  man  but  the  clear  tones  of  the  law  should  be  master 
of  the  happy,  nor  should  there  be  merely  a  fearful  accusation 
among  the  free,  but  an  opportunity  for  defence.2    The  safety  of 

1  ^Eschines,  for  example,  was  accused  of  having  received  such  bribes ;  p.  48. 

2  In  these  two  antitheses  the  orator  contrasts  the  rule  of  the  Macedonian  for- 
eigner with  the  free  republic :  on  the  one  hand  are  the  threats  of  a  man  and  the  fear- 
bringing  accusation,  on  the  other  the  clear  voice  of  the  law  and  the  opportunity  for 
defense  in  case  of  accusation. 


CHAMPIONS  OF  FREEDOM 


613 


the  citizens  should  not  rest  upon  those  who  flatter  the  powerful 
and  deceive  the  people,  but  upon  confidence  in  the  laws.  But 
the  men  who  lie  here,  taking  upon  themselves  the  burdens  of  others, 
have,  even  by  their  daily  perils,  removed  for  all  time  the  fears  of 
their  fellow-citizens  and  of  the  Hellenes,  and  have  given  their  own 
lives  that  the  rest  might  live  well.  .  .  . 

9.1  O  beautiful  and  memorable  the  courage  exhibited  by  these 
men,  notable  and  brave  the  task  they  undertook,  surpassing  the 
virtue  and  manliness  in  perils  which  they  displayed  for  the  common 
freedom  of  the  Hellenes !  It  is  difficult  to  comfort  those  who  are 
in  grief  for  such  losses.  For  sorrow  is  assuaged  neither  by  speech 
nor  by  deed,  but  each  one's  nature  and  fondness  for  the  deceased 
mark  the  limit  of  the  grieving.  Still  we  must  take  courage  and 
lay  aside  the  sorrow  as  far  as  is  possible,  and  remember  not  only 
the  death  of  those  who  have  gone  but  also  the  virtue  they  have 
bequeathed.  For  if  their  suffering  were  worthy  of  tears,  so  were 
their  deeds  worthy  of  great  praise.  If  they  did  not  meet  death 
as  old  men,  they  left  a  fame  that  never  grows  old,  and  have  there- 
fore proved  in  all  respects  fortunate.  For  those  who  have  died 
childless,  their  praises  among  the  Greeks  will  be  their  deathless 
children.  For  those  who  have  left  children,  the  good  will  of  the 
fatherland  will  be  established  as  a  guardian  for  their  children.  As 
to  themselves,  if  to  die  is  to  be  as  non-existent,  they  are  freed  from 
diseases  and  grief  and  the  other  mischances  that  befall  the  life  of 
man.  If  there  is  feeling  in  the  realm  of  Hades  and  reward  from  the 
deity,  as  we  believe,  evidently  those  who  aided  the  perishing 
honors  of  the  Gods  will  receive  the  best  of  care  from  the  deity. 


199.  Origin  or  the  Achaean  League 

(Polybius  ii.  37  sq.) 

In  early  time  there  was  a  league  of  twelve  cities  of  Achaea  (Polyb.  ii.  41), 
which  attained  to  no  importance  in  Hellas.  The  country  is  a  mountain  slope 
with  an  extremely  narrow  plain  bordering  the  Corinthian  gulf.  As  it  had  no 
natural  resources,  the  inhabitants  remained  poor.  Under  the  Macedonian 
supremacy  the  league  was  dissolved ;  but  about  the  year  280  four  cities,  Dyme, 
Patrse,  Pharae,  and  Tritaea,  shook  off  the  foreign  yoke,  and  united  in  a  new 
league.    Other  city-states  were  gradually  added  till  249,  when  the  accession  of 

1  The  numbers  in  this  selection  have  been  supplied  by  the  present  editor. 


614 


FEDERAL  UNIONS 


Sicyon  under  the  leadership  of  Aratus  made  the  union  a  power  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  international  affairs.  From  that  time  Aratus  was  the  inspiring  genius 
of  the  federation.  Under  his  direction  it  adopted  a  vigorous  policy  of  freeing 
all  Peloponnesus  from  despots  and  from  Macedonian  control  and  of  annexing 
the  individual  states  by  negotiation  or  force.  In  addition  to  Polybius  an 
important  source  is  Plutarch,  Aratus  (cf.  also  Philoposmen) .  Pausanias,  too, 
gives  a  brief  sketch,  from  which  a  short  excerpt  is  inserted  below. 

The  Achaeans,  as  I  have  stated  before,  have  in  our  time  made 
extraordinary  progress  in  material  prosperity  and  internal  unity. 
For  though  many  statesmen  had  tried  in  past  times  to  induce  the 
Peloponnesians  to  join  in  a  league  for  the  common  interests  of  all, 
and  had  always  failed,  because  every  one  was  working  to  secure  his 
own  power  rather  than  the  freedom  of  the  whole ;  yet  in  our  day 
this  policy  has  made  such  progress,  and  has  been  carried  out  with 
such  completeness,  that  not  only  is  there  in  the  Peloponnese  a 
community  of  interests  such  as  exists  between  allies  or  friends,  but 
an  absolute  identity  of  laws,  weights,  measures,  and  currency.1 
All  the  states  have  the  same  magistrates,  senate,  and  judges.  Nor 
is  there  any  difference  between  the  entire  Peloponnese  and  a  single 
city,  except  in  the  fact  that  its  inhabitants  are  not  included  within 
the  same  wall;  in  other  respects,  both  as  a  whole  and  in  their 
individual  cities,  there  is  a  nearly  absolute  assimilation  of  institu- 
tions. 

It  will  be  useful  to  ascertain,  to  begin  with,  how  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  name  of  the  Achaeans  became  the  universal  one  for  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Peloponnese.  For  the  original  bearers  of 
this  ancestral  name  have  no  superiority  over  others,  either  in  the 
size  of  their  territory  and  cities,  or  in  wealth,  or  in  the  prowess 
of  their  men.  For  they  are  a  long  way  from  being  superior  to  the 
Arcadians  and  Lacedaemonians  in  number  of  inhabitants  and 
extent  of  territory;  nor  can  these  latter  nations  be  said  to  yield 
the  first  place  in  warlike  courage  to  any  Greek  people  whatever. 
Whence  then  comes  it  that  these  nations,  with  the  rest  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Peloponnese,  have  been  content  to  adopt  the 
constitution  and  name  of  the  Achaeans?    To  speak  of  chance  in 

1  Although  each  state  had  a  right  to  legislate  for  itself,  even  to  the  extent  of  regu- 
lating its  own  weights,  measures,  and  coinage,  the  advantages  of  uniformity  in  such 
matters  brought  about  an  assimilation. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  ACILEAN  LEAGUE  615 


such  a  matter  would  not  be  to  offer  any  adequate  solution  of  the 
question,  and  would  be  a  mere  idle  evasion.  A  cause  must  be 
sought ;  for  without  a  cause  nothing,  expected  or  unexpected,  can 
be  accomplished.  The  cause,  then,  in  my  opinion,  was  this.  No- 
where could  be  found  a  more  unalloyed  and  deliberately  established 
system  of  equality  and  absolute  freedom,  —  in  a  word,  of  de- 
mocracy, —  than  among  the  Achaeans.1  This  constitution  found 
many  of  the  Peloponnesians  ready  enough  to  adopt  it  of  their  own 
accord  :  many  were  brought  to  share  it  by  persuasion  and  argument : 
some  though  acting  upon  compulsion  at  first,  were  quickly  brought  to 
acquiesce  in  its  benefits ;  for  none  of  the  original  members  had  any 
special  privilege  reserved  for  them,  but  equal  rights  were  given  to 
all  comers :  the  object  aimed  at  was  therefore  quickly  attained 
by  the  two  most  unfailing  expedients  of  equality  and  fraternity. 
This  then  must  be  looked  upon  as  the  source  and  original  cause  of 
Peloponnesian  unity  and  consequent  prosperity. 

(Pausanias  vii.  7) 

What  is  called  the  Achaean  league  was  by  common  consent 
the  design  and  the  work  of  the  Achaeans.  This  federation  was 
formed  at  ^Egium  because,  next  to  Helice,  which  had  been  swept 
away  by  a  flood,  it  had  been  the  foremost  town  in  Achaea  in  former 
times,  and  was  at  this  time  the  most  powerful.  Of  the  other 
Greeks  the  Sicyonians  first  joined  the  Achaean  league.  Next  to 
the  Sicyonians  some  of  the  other  Peloponnesians  joined  it,  some 
immediately,  others  later;  and  outside  the  Isthmus  the  motive 
that  brought  people  in  was  the  knowledge  that  the  league  was  be- 
coming more  and  more  powerful.  The  Lacedaemonians  were  the 
only  Greeks  who  were  unfriendly  to  the  Achaeans  and  who  openly 
took  up  arms  against  them. 

1  Polybius  does  not  mean  that  the  city-states  of  the  league  were  absolutely  demo- 
cratic ;  for  among  them  political  rights  were  evidently  based  on  property ;  the  idea  is 
that  each  enjoyed  the  rights  which  in  his  opinion  belonged  to  him,  and  was  therefore 
contented  with  his  condition.  In  like  manner  each  state  enjoyed  a  fair  share  in  the 
central  government. 


6i6 


FEDERAL  UNIONS 


200.  Officers  of  the  League  ;  its  Further  Progress 
(Polybius  ii.  43) 

At  the  time  (255  B.C.)  when  a  single  general  was  substituted  for  two,  a 
lieutenant  general  was  instituted  as  an  aid  to  the  commander-in-chief  (Polyb. 
v.  94;  xxiii.  16).  There  were  also  a  hipparch  for  the  cavalry  and  a  nauarch 
for  the  navy  (Polyb.  v.  94  sq.).  The  general  was  chosen  annually  and  could 
serve  any  number  of  terms  though  not  in  successive  years. 

For  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  the  league  between  the  cities 
I  have  mentioned,  a  secretary  and  two  generals  for  the  whole 
union  were  elected  by  each  city  in  turn.  But  after  this  period  they 
determined  to  appoint  one  general  only,  and  put  the  entire  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  the  union  in  his  hands.  The  first  to  obtain 
this  honor  was  Margus  of  Caryneia.  In  the  fourth  year  after 
this  man's  tenure  of  the  office,  Aratus  of  Sicyon  caused  his  city  to 
join  the  league,1  which,  by  his  energy  and  courage,  he  had,  when 
only  twenty  years  of  age,  delivered  from  the  yoke  of  its  tyrant. 
In  the  eighth  year  again  after  this,  Aratus,  being  elected  general 
for  the  second  time,  laid  a  plot  to  seize  the  Acrocorinthus,  then  held 
by  Antigonus ;  and  by  success  freed  the  inhabitants  of  the  Pelopon- 
nese  from  a  source  of  serious  alarm :  and  having  thus  liberated 
Corinth  he  caused  it  to  join  the  league.  In  his  same  term  of  office 
he  got  Megara  into  his  hands,  and  caused  it  to  join  also.  These 
events  occurred  in  the  year  before  the  decisive  defeat  of  the 
Carthaginians,  in  consequence  of  which  they  evacuated  Sicily  and 
consented  for  the  first  time  to  pay  tribute  to  Rome.2 

Having  made  this  remarkable  progress  in  his  design  in  so  short 
a  time,  Aratus  continued  thenceforth  in  the  position  of  leader  of 
the  Achaean  league,  and  in  the  consistent  direction  of  his  whole 
policy  to  one  single  end;  which  was  to  expel  the  Macedonians 
from  the  Peloponnese,  to  depose  the  despots,  and  to  establish  in 
each  state  the  common  freedom  which  their  ancestors  had  enjoyed 
before  them. 


249  B.C. ;  see  no.  199. 


2  242  B.C. 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS 


617 


201.  A  Meeting  of  the  Acilean  Assembly 

(Polybius  xxii.  10-12) 

The  highest  authority  in  the  league  was  a  federal  assembly,  composed  of 
all  the  citizens  who  wished  to  attend.  The  voting,  however,  was  not  by  heads 
but  by  states  (Livy  xxxii.  22  sq. ;  xxxviii.  32).  Naturally  the  citizens  of  any 
state  first  determined  among  themselves  how  they  would  vote,  and  then  the 
vote  of  the  state  was  cast  according  to  their  resolution.  It  would  have  been 
unfair  to  make  a  little  state  equal  in  power  to  a  great  city  like  Corinth ;  and  in 
fact  we  know  that  a  large  state,  such  as  Megalopolis,  was  divided  into  cantons 
for  the  purpose  of  federal  representation  (Weil,  in  Zcitschr.  f.  Num.  IX  (1882), 
224,  cf.  no.  203  and  n.  3).  Hence  we  infer  that  this  principle  prevailed  through- 
out the  league.  In  other  words  the  votes  were  distributed  according  to  popu- 
lation, seemingly  on  a  principle  like  that  which  prevailed  in  the  Boeotian  league 
(no.  117).  The  assembly  elected  magistrates,  declared  war,  contracted  alliances, 
and  in  a  word  transacted  all  the  more  important  domestic  and  foreign  affairs 
of  the  union.  There  was  a  council,  too,  whose  number  is  unknown.  Evidently 
it  represented  the  states  according  to  population.  It  assembled  frequently 
to  attend  to  the  routine  duties  of  administration  or  to  take  measures  for  meeting 
an  emergency  such  as  a  hostile  invasion  (cf.  Polyb.  iv.  7.  5 ;  iv.  9). 

Though  an  admirable  institution,  the  federal  union  was  weak  in  that  the 
central  government  possessed  too  little  power  to  conduct  a  war  efficiently. 
The  troops  and  supplies  were  furnished  by  the  individual  states ;  and  the  federal 
government  could  exercise  little  more  than  moral  suasion  in  bringing  these 
resources  into  the  field. 

10.  I  have  already  stated  that  in  the  Peloponnese,  while 
Philopoemen  1  was  still  general,  the  Achaean  league  sent  an  embassy 
to  Rome  on  the  subject  of  Sparta,  and  another  to  King  Ptolemy 
to  renew  their  ancient  alliance. 

Immediately  after  Philopoemen  had  been  succeeded  by  Aris- 
taenus  as  general,  the  ambassadors  of  King  Ptolemy  arrived,  while 
the  league  meeting 2  was  assembled  at  Megalopolis.  King  Eu- 
menes  3  also  had  despatched  an  embassy  offering  to  give  the  Achae- 
ans  one  hundred  and  twenty  talents,  on  condition  that  it  be  in- 
vested and  the  interest  used  to  pay  the  council  of  the  league  at 
the  time  of  the  federal  assemblies.  Ambassadors  came  also  from 
King  Seleucus,  to  renew  his  friendship  with  them  and  offering  a 

1  Philopoemen,  about  252-183,  was  a  native  of  Megalopolis  and  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  generals  and  statesmen  of  the  Achaean  league ;  see  Plutarch,  Philopoemen. 

2  187  b.c.  3  King  of  Pergamum. 


6i8 


FEDERAL  UNIONS 


present  of  a  fleet  of  ten  ships  of  war.  But  when  the  assembly 
got  to  business,  the  first  to  come  forward  to  speak  was  Nicodemus 
of  Elis,  who  recounted  to  the  Achaeans  what  he  and  his  colleagues 
had  said  in  the  Roman  senate  about  Sparta,  and  read  the  answer 
of  the  senate ;  which  was  to  the  effect  that  the  senate  disapproved 
of  the  destruction  of  the  walls,  and  of  the  execution  of  the  men  put 
to  death  at  Campasium,1  but  that  it  did  not  rescind  any  arrange- 
ment made.  As  no  one  said  a  word  for  or  against  this  announce- 
ment, the  subject  was  allowed  to  pass. 

Next  came  the  ambassadors  from  Eumenes,  who  renewed  the 
ancestral  friendship  of  the  king  with  the  Achaeans,  and  stated  to 
the  assembly  the  offer  made  by  him.  They  spoke  at  great  length 
on  these  subjects,  and  retired  after  setting  forth  the  greatness  of 
the  king's  kindness  and  affection  for  the  nation. 

n.  After  they  had  finished  their  speech,  Apollonidas  of 
Sicyon  rose  and  said  that,  as  far  as  the  amount  of  the  money  was 
concerned,  it  was  a  present  worthy  of  the  Achaeans.  But  if  they 
looked  to  the  intention  of  the  donor,  or  to  the  purpose  to  which 
the  gift  was  to  be  applied,  none  could  well  be  more  insulting  and 
more  unconstitutional.  The  laws  prohibited  any  one,  whether 
a  private  -individual  or  magistrate,  from  accepting  presents  from 
a  king  on  any  pretence  whatever  ;  but  if  they  took  this  money,  they 
would  every  one  of  them  be  plainly  accepting  a  present,  which 
was  at  once  the  gravest  possible  breach  of  the  law,  and  confessedly 
the  deepest  personal  disgrace.  For  that  the  council  should  take 
a  great  wage  from  Eumenes,  and  meet  to  deliberate  on  the  interests 
of  the  league  after  swallowing  such  a  bait,  was  manifestly  dis- 
graceful and  injurious.  It  was  Eumenes  that  offered  money  now ; 
presently  it  would  be  Prusias ;  and  then  Seleucus.  But  as  the 
interests  of  democracies  and  of  kings  are  quite  opposite  to  each 
other,  and  as  our  most  frequent  and  most  important  deliberations 
concern  the  points  of  controversy  arising  between  us  and  the 
kings,  one  of  two  things  must  necessarily  happen ;  either  the 
interests  of  the  king  will  have  precedence  over  our  own,  or  we 

1  As  general  of  the  league  Philopoemen  had  conquered  Sparta,  razed  the  walls, 
introduced  Achaean  laws,  and  annexed  the  city  to  the  league.  About  two  years  after- 
ward the  Spartans  massacred  some  Achaean  sympathizers  in  their  city,  whereupon  the 
Achaean  general  retaliated  by  putting  to  death  some  eighty  Spartans  at  Campasium 
on  the  border  of  Laconia.    These  were  the  matters  referred  to  the  Roman  senate. 


AN  INDEPENDENT  POLICY 


must  incur  the  reproach  of  ingratitude  for  opposing  our  pay- 
masters. He  therefore  urged  the  Achaeans  not  only  to  decline 
the  offer,  but  to  hold  Eumenes  in  detestation  for  thinking  of 
making  it.1 

Next  rose  Cassander  of  vEgina  and  reminded  the  Achaeans  of 
the  misfortunes  which  the  ^Eginetans  had  met  with  through  being 
members  of  the  Achaean  league,  when  Publius  Sulpicius  sailed 
against  them  with  the  Roman  fleet,  and  sold  all  the  unhappy  ^Egine- 
tans  into  slavery.  In  regard  to  this  subject  I  have  already  related 
how  the  iEtolians,  having  got  possession  of  ^Egina  in  virtue  of  their 
treaty  with  Rome,  sold  it  to  Attalus  for  thirty  talents.  Cassander 
therefore  drew  the  attention  of  the  Achaeans  to  these  facts ;  and 
demanded  that  Eumenes  should  not  seek  to  gain  the  affection  of 
the  Achaeans  by  offering  them  money,  but  that  he  should  establish 
an  incontestable  claim  to  every  sign  of  devotion  by  giving  back 
yEgina.  He  urged  the  Achaeans  not  to  accept  presents  which  would 
place  them  in  the  position  of  being  the  destroyers  of  the  hopes  of 
yEginetan  restoration  for  all  time. 

After  these  speeches  had  been  delivered,  the  people  showed 
such  signs  of  enthusiastic  approval  that  no  one  ventured  to  speak 
on  the  side  of  the  king ;  but  the  whole  assembly  rejected  the  offer 
by  acclamation,  though  its  amount  certainly  made  it  exceedingly 
tempting. 

12.  The  next  subject  introduced  for  debate  was  that  of  King 
Ptolemy.  The  ambassadors  who  had  been  on  the  mission  to 
Ptolemy  were  called  forward,  and  Lycortas,  acting  as  spokesman, 
began  by  stating  how  they  had  interchanged  oaths  of  alliance 
with  the  king;  and  next  announced  that  they  brought  a  present 
from  the  king  to  the  Achaean  league  of  six  thousand  stands  of  arms 
for  peltasts,  and  two  thousand  talents  in  bronze  coinage.  He  added 
a  panegyric  on  the  king,  and  finished  his  speech  by  a  brief  reference 
to  the  good  will  and  active  benevolence  of  the  king  towards  the 
Achaeans.  Upon  this  the  general  of  the  Achaeans,  Aristaenus, 
stood  up  and  asked  Lycortas  and  his  colleagues  in  the  embassy 
to  Ptolemy,  "which  alliance  it  was  that  he  had  thus  renewed?" 

As  no  one  answered  the  question,  but  all  the  assembly  began 

1  From  this  speech,  and  from  other  sources,  we  learn  that  Greek  statesmen  still 
maintained  an  independent  spirit. 


620 


FEDERAL  UNIONS 


to  converse  with  one  another,  the  hall  was  rilled  with  confusion. 
The  cause  of  this  absurd  state  of  things  was  as  follows.  There 
had  been  several  treaties  of  alliance  formed  between  the  Achaeans 
and  Ptolemy's  kingdom,  as  widely  different  in  their  provisions  as  in 
the  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  them ;  but  neither  had  Ptol- 
emy's envoy  made  any  distinction  when  arranging  for  the  renewal, 
merely  speaking  in  general  terms  on  the  matter,  nor  had  the  am- 
bassadors sent  from  Achaea;  but  they  had  interchanged  oaths  on 
the  assumption  that  there  was  but  one  treaty.  The  result  was 
that  when  the  general,  quoting  all  the  treaties,  pointed  out  the 
differences  in  detail  between  them  which  chanced  to  be  important, 
the  assembly  demanded  to  know  which  it  was  that  it  was  renewing. 
And  when  no  one  was  able  to  explain,  not  even  Philopcemen  him- 
self, who  had  been  in  office  when  the  renewal  was  made,  nor 
Lycortas  and  his  colleagues,  who  had  been  on  the  mission  to 
Alexandria,  these  men  all  began  to  be  regarded  as  careless  in 
conducting  the  business  of  the  league ;  while  Aristaenus  acquired 
great  reputation  as  being  the  only  man  who  knew  what  he  was 
talking  about;  and  finally,  the  assembly  refused  to  allow  the 
ratification,  voting  on  account  of  this  blunder  that  the  business 
should  be  postponed. 

Then  the  ambassadors  from  Seleucus  entered  with  their  pro- 
posal. The  Achaeans,  however,  voted  to  renew  the  friendship 
with  Seleucus,  but  to  decline  for  the  present  the  gift  of  the  ships.1 

202.  Decree  of  the  Achaean  League  Regarding 
Orchomenus  (about  234  B.C.) 

(Inscr.  grcec.  V.  pt.  ii.  no.  344,  superseding  Dittenberger,  Sylloge,  I.  no.  229, 
and  Michel,  Recueil,  no.  199.    Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription,  one  of  the  very  few  relating  to  the  Achaean  League,  was 
discovered  near  the  site  of  the  ancient  Orchomenus  in  Arcadia.  The  upper 
portion  was  broken  away,  but  the  remainder  is  evidently  the  conclusion  of  a 
decree  of  the  Achaean  League  regarding  the  affairs  of  Orchomenus,  which  had 
just  become  one  of  its  members.  The  date  is  most  probably  234  B.C.  or 
shortly  thereafter,  since  a  number  of  Arcadian  towns  are  known  to  have  joined 
the  Achaeans  at  that  time ;  but  it  might  possibly  be  brought  down  to  199  B.C. 

1  Throughout  the  proceedings  the  members  of  the  assembly  show  a  dignity  and  a 
soundness  of  principle  that  go  far  toward  refuting  the  charge  of  degeneracy  made 
against  the  Hellenes  of  this  age. 


DECREE  CONCERNING  ORCHOMENUS  621 


(The  first  five  lines  are  fragmentary.) 

The  same  [oath  shall  be  taken]  by  the  Orchomenians  and  by 
the  Achaeans,  in  [iEgium 1  by  the  councillors  of  the  Achaeans  and  the] 
general  and  the  hipparch  and  the  admiral,2  in  [Orchomenus  by 
the  archons  of  the  Orchomenians,  in  these  terms  :]  "I  swear  by  Zeus 
Amarius,  Athena  Amaria,  Aphrodite,  and  by  all  tke  gods,  that  I 
will  in  all  things  abide  by  (the  terms  of)  the  stele  and  the  agree- 
ment 3  and  the  decree  passed  by  the  commonwealth  of  the  Achae- 
ans ;  and  if  anyone  shall  not  abide  thereby,  I  will  resist  to  the  best 
of  my  ability.  And  may  prosperity  be  mine  if  I  keep  my  oath, 
but  the  reverse  if  I  break  it." 

None  of  those  who  have  received  a  lot  or  a  house  in  Orchomenus 
since  the  people  became  Achaeans  shall  have  power  to  alienate 
them  within  twenty  years.4 

If  any  charges  have  been  brought  against  Nearchus  5  or  his 
sons  dating  from  the  time  before  the  Orchomenians  became  Achae- 
ans, they  shall  all  be  quashed,  and  no  one  shall  sue  Nearchus  or 
his  sons,  nor  shall  Nearchus  or  any  of  his  sons  sue  anyone,  upon 
charges  arising  before  the  Orchomenians  became  Achaeans.  Who- 
ever might  sue  shall  be  fined  1000  drachmas,  and  the  suit  shall  be 
void. 

Regarding  the  golden  (statue  of)  Victory  of  Zeus  Hoplosmius, 
after  pawning  which  the  Methydrians  who  removed  to  Orchomenus 
divided  the  money,  some  of  them  carrying  it  off  to  Methydrium, 
—  if  they  do  not  repay  the  money  to  the  Megalopolitans,6  as  the 
city  of  Orchomenus  has  conceded,  those  who  do  not  give  satis- 
faction shall  be  liable  to  prosecution. 

1  A  town  on  the  Corinthian  Gulf  and  the  capital  of  the  League. 

2  The  three  chief  officials  of  the  League,  the  last  of  whom  is  mentioned  in  this 
inscription  only. 

3  I.e.,  the  formal  act  of  union  by  which  Orchomenus  was  admitted  into  the  League. 

4  This  provision  was  intended  to  assure  the  permanence  of  Achaean  influence  in 
Orchomenus  by  forbidding  the  newly  introduced  Achaean  colonists  to  sell  their  prop- 
erties; cf.  Dittenberger  in  Hermes,  XVI  (1881).  181-183. 

5  Probably  a  tyrant  of  Orchomenus  who  had  voluntarily  abdicated  when  the  city 
joined  the  Achaeans. 

6  Methydrium  was  a  dependency  of  Megalopolis,  which  consequently  claimed  the 
proceeds  of  the  pawned  statue. 


622 


FEDERAL  UNIONS 


203.  Arbitration  of  the  ^Etolians  between  Melitea 
and  perea  (225-2oo  b.c.) 

(Inscr.  gmc.  IX.  pt.  ii.  no.  205;  Dittenberger,  Sylloge,  II.  no.  425;  Michel, 
Recueil,  no.  22.    Translated  by  C.  J.  O.) 

This  inscription,  discovered  at  Avaritza  in  Southern  Thessaly,  on  the  site 
of  the  ancient  MSlitea,  records  a  decision  of  arbitrators  appointed  by  the  JEto- 
lian  League  in  a  dispute  between  the  city-state  of  Melitea  and  the  neighboring 
settlement  of  Perea.  The  two  were,  at  the  time,  politically  united  into  one 
community,  but  the  Pereans  evidently  were  dissatisfied  and  desired  the  right 
of  seceding  if  they  should  choose  to  do  so.  This  the  decision  granted  to  them, 
and  it  also  provided  for  the  subsequent  relations  between  the  two  communities, 
besides  denning  the  boundary  line,  in  the  event  of  a  separation.  The  inscrip- 
tion not  only  shows  the  preponderant  influence  of  the  ^Etolian  League  in  dis- 
putes between  its  member  states,  but  also  gives  an  interesting  hint  regarding 
the  basis  of  representation  in  the  federal  council  (cf.  n.  3).  The  date  is  the 
last  quarter  of  the  third  century  B.C.,  when  the  power  of  the  League  extended 
into  Southern  Thessaly. 

Decision  rendered  to  the  Meliteans  and  the  Pereans  by  the  judges 
chosen  by  the  ^tolians,  (namely)  Dorimachus,  Polemaeus,  and 
Argeius,  Calydonians,  the  parties  having  submitted  (their  case) 
by  agreement.1 

The  boundary  line  for  the  Meliteans  and  the  Pereans  shall 
be  .  .  .2 

The  public  domain,  namely  Carandae  and  Phyliadon,  shall  not 
be  sold  by  the  Meliteans  for  the  purchaser  to  hold  in  fee  simple, 
while  the  Pereans  are  fellow-citizens  of  the  Meliteans;  but  they 
shall  lease  it  for  a  term,  as  hitherto. 

If  the  Pereans  shall  renounce  the  citizenship  of  the  Meliteans, 
they  shall  employ  the  boundary  above  described,  as  regards  their 
territory ;  and  they  shall  keep  a  single  senator  when  they  secede. 
They  shall  pay  their  share  of  the  loans  that  the  city  may  owe, 
according  to  the  ratio  borne  by  their  one  senator,3  and  they  shall 

1  Or,  perhaps,  "according  to  the  agreements"  (by  which  they  had  become  members 
of  the  League). 

2  The  description  of  the  boundary  consists  mainly  of  a  series  of  obscure  geographical 
names,  and  has  therefore  been  omitted  in  the  translation. 

3  Hence  it  appears  that  the  smaller  communities,  such  as  Perea,  had  only  one  sena- 
tor, or  delegate,  to  the  federal  council  of  the  League,  whereas  the  larger,  like  Melitea, 
had  several,  probably  according  to  their  population. 


A  CASE  OF  ARBITRATION 


contribute  the  dues  accruing  to  the  iEtolians  1  in  the  proportion 
of  their  senator. 

The  Pereans  shall  pay  to  their  creditors  the  accrued  tithes,2 
which  they  owe  for  three  years  after  obtaining  a  three  years' 
extension. 

The  sums  that  the  Pereans  were  hitherto  accustomed  to  receive 
from  the  city  yearly,  namely  three  minae  of  silver  for  the  archons, 
ten  staters  for  the  herald,  ten  staters  for  the  oil  for  the  youths,  and 
five  staters  for  the  sacrifice  of  the  Soteria,  they  shall  still  receive; 
and  in  future  the  city  of  Melitea  shall  look  after  the  public  funds 
in  Perea  as  hitherto. 

The  Pereans  shall  have  the  same  laws  as  the  Meliteans,  and 
the  suits  brought  before  the  agoranomi 3  by  Pereans  against  Pereans 
shall  be  judged  every  four  months  in  Perea  by  the  agoranomi  from 
Melitea. 

This  decision  shall  be  inscribed  on  stelae  in  Melitea  and  in  Delphi 
and  in  Calydon  and  in  Thermum.4 

Witnesses :  the  entire  council  in  the  term  of  the  secretary 
Lycus ;  the  presidents  of  the  council,  Ortholaiis  of  Spattus  and 
Dysopus  of  Apollonia ;  the  secretary  Lycus  of  Erythrae ;  the 
hipparch  5  Alexon  of  Hermattus ;  (also)  Pantaleon,  son  of  Petalus, 
of  Pleuron,  Nicostratus,  son  of  Nicostratus,  of  Naupactus,  Damo- 
xenus,  son  of  Theodorus,  of  Heraclea. 

204.  Decree  of  the  ^Etolian  League  Recognizing  the 
Inviolability  of  Teos  (about  200  b.c.) 

(Dittenberger,  Syttoge,  I.  no.  280;  Michel,  Recueil,  no.  68.    Translated  by 

C.  J.  O.) 

Among  the  ruins  of  the  city  of  Teos  in  Asia  Minor  there  have  been  found 
a  number  of  inscriptions  containing  decrees  passed  by  various  cities  and  states 

1  I.e.,  federal  taxes  imposed  by  the  League. 

2  Meaning,  probably,  interest  at  ten  per  cent. 

3  I.e.,  minor  commercial  cases  coming  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  "controllers 
of  the  market-place." 

4  In  Melitea,  as  the  city  chiefly  concerned ;  in  Delphi,  as  the  religious  center  of  the 
League ;  in  Calydon,  as  the  home  of  the  judges  ( ?) ;  in  Thermum,  as  the  political 
capital  of  the  League.  A  fragment  of  the  Delphian  copy  has  been  found;  cf.  Inscr. 
grcec.  IX.  pt.  ii,  Addenda  Ultima,  no.  205  iii  B. 

6  The  cavalry  commander,  the  highest  official  of  the  League  after  the  strategus  or 
general. 


624 


FEDERAL  UNIONS 


in  answer  to  the  Teians'  request  that  the  inviolability  of  their  city  and  of  the 
surrounding  territory  might  be  recognized.  According  to  Greek  law,  a  citizen 
of  one  state  who  had  a  grievance  against  a  member  of  another  could  as  a -last 
resort  exercise  the  right  of  self-help  by  seizing  the  person  or  the  property  of  his 
adversary,  or  even  of  any  citizen  of  the  other  state,  wherever  he  might  find  him ; 
but  this  right  came  to  be  greatly  abridged  through  the  grant  of  asylia,  i.e., 
inviolability  or  freedom  from  seizure,  to  individuals  or  to  an  entire  community. 
(Cf.  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encyklopadie,  II.  1879-1881,  5.  v.  aa-vXia).  In  the 
present  case,  the  Teians  also  invoked  the  sanction  of  religious  inviolability  by 
consecrating  their  entire  territory  to  the  god  Dionysus.  This  decree  is  to  be 
dated  shortly  before  200  B.C.,  as  appears  from  a  comparison  with  that  of  the 
Delphians  in  the  same  matter  (Michel,  Recueil,  no.  67).  Other  decrees  of  the 
iEtolians  granting  inviolability  to  various  states  may  be  found  in  Dittenberger, 
Sylloge,  I.  nos.  247,  923;  Michel,  Recueil,  nos.  25,  27. 

In  the  generalship  of  Alexander  of  Calydon,  at'  the  Panaetolica.1 
Whereas  the  Teians  through  their  ambassadors  Pythagoras 
and  Clitus  gave  renewed  assurances  of  their  intimacy  and  friend- 
ship and  exhorted  the  ^Etolians  to  grant  that  both  their  city  and 
their  land  should  be  sacred  to  Dionysus  and  inviolable : 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  ^Etolians,  that  they  will  maintain  the 
existing  friendship  and  intimacy  with  the  Teians,  and  that  the 
decrees  hitherto  passed  in  their  favor  regarding  all  their  kind- 
nesses shall  remain  in  force.  The  consecration  and  the  invio- 
lability of  their  city  and  their  land  shall  be  recognized  by  the  ^Eto- 
lians,  as  the  ambassadors  requested ;  and  none  of  the  ^Etolians  or 
of  the  dwellers  in  iEtolia,  from  wheresoever  they  may  set  out, 
shall  seize  the  Teians  or  the  dwellers  in  Teos,  but  these  shall  enjoy 
security  and  inviolability  on  the  part  of  the  ^Etolians  and  the 
dwellers  in  ^Etolia.  If  anyone  shall  seize  either  their  persons  or 
things  from  their  city  or  land,  the  general  and  the  councillors  in 
office  for  the  time  being  shall  restore  whatever  is  discoverable,  and 
those  who  have  made  the  seizure  shall  be  liable  for  what  is  not 
discoverable,  the  right  of  claim  and  other  procedure  being  secured 
to  the  Teians  in  the  same  manner  as  the  law  of  the  yEtolians  ordains 
for  the  Dionysiac  artists.2 

1  A  festival  held  probably  in  autumn  at  the  same  time  as  the  regular  annual  as- 
sembly and  election  of  the  League. 

2  I.e.,  the  actors  who  performed  at  the  festivals  of  Dionysus,  especially  in  Athens. 
A  decree  of  the  Delphian  Amphictiony  (Inscr.  graces,  II.  no.  551)  seems  to  show  that 
they  were  exempt  from  seizure  except  for  their  personal  debts. 


INVIOLABILITY  OF  TEOS 


625 


In  order  that  the  (above-decreed)  consecration  and  inviolability 
may  be  embodied  in  the  laws,1  the  revisers  of  the  laws  who  are 
appointed  shall  embody  them,  when  the  revision  fakes  place,  in 
the  laws. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Political  and  General.  —  Thirlwall,  C,  History  of  Greece,  ch.  lxvii 
sqq.,  not  wholly  antiquated ;  Holm,  History  of  Greece,  IV ;  Beloch,  Griechische 
Geschichte,  III ;  Droysen,  J.  G.,  Geschichte  des  Hellenismus,  2  vols.  (Hamburg, 
1836-1843),  still  useful  ;  Geschichte  Alexanders  des  Grossen  (3ded.,  Gotha,  1880) ; 
Kaerst,  Geschichte  des  hellenistischen  Zeitalters,  I,  II  (Teubner,  1901),  no  further 
publication ;  Die  antike  Idee  der  Okumene  in  ihrer  politischen  und  kulturellen 
Bedeutung  (Teubner,  1903) ;  Niese,  B.,  Geschichte  der  griechischen  und  make- 
donischen  Staaten  seit  der  Schlacht  bei  Chaeronea,  3  vols.  (Gotha,  1893-1903), 
the  chief  work  covering  the  entire  subject ;  Colin,  G.,  Rome  et  la  Grece  de  200 
a  146  avant  Jesus-Christ  (Paris,  1905),  valuable;  Reuss,  F.,  "Zur  Ueberlie- 
ferung  der  Geschichte  Alexanders  des  Grossen,"  in  Rhein.  Mus.  LVII  (1902). 
559-98;  "  Hellenistische  Beitrage,"  ib.  LXII  (1907).  591-600;  LXIII.  58-78, 
Alexander's  marches,  etc.;  Kromayer,  J.,  "Alexander  der  Grosse  und  die 
hellenistische  Entwickelung  in  dem  Jahrhundert  nach  seinem  Tode,"  in  Hist. 
Zeitschr.  C  (1908).  n-52;  Wheeler,  B.  L,  Alexander  the  Great  ("Heroes"); 
Hogarth,  D.  G.,  Philip  and  Alexander  of  Macedon  (Scribner,  1897) ;  Ferguson, 
W.  S.,  Hellenistic  Athens  (Macmillan,  191 1),  an  original  and  scholarly  work; 
Greek  Imperialism  (Houghton  Mifflin,  1913),  Lowell  lectures;  "Egypt's  Loss 
of  Sea  Power,"  in  /.  H.  S.  XXX  (1910).  191-208;  Hoffman,  O.,  Die  Make- 
donen,  ihre  Sprache  und  ihr  Volkstum  (Gottingen,  1906);  Swoboda,  H.,  "Zur 
Geschichte  von  Akarnanien,"  in  Klio,  X  (1910).  397-405;  Klotsch,  C.,  Epiro- 
tische  Geschichte  bis  zum  Jahre  280  v.  Chr.  (Berlin),  dissert. ;  Stahelin,  Ge- 
schichte der  kleinasiatischen  Galater,  etc.  (Basel,  1897) ;  Be  van,  E.  R.,  House  of 
Seleucus,  2  vols.  (London,  1902) ;  "The  Deification  of  Kings  in  Greek  Cities," 
in  Eng.  Hist.  Rev.  XXVI  (1901).  625-39;  Jerusalem  under  the  High  Priests 
(London,  1904);  Bouche-Leclerq,  Histoire  des  Seleucides  (Paris:  Leroux,  1913) ; 
Tarn,  W.  W.,  Antigonos  Gonatas  (Oxford,  1913) ;  Rawlinson,  H.  G.,  Bactria; 
The  History  of  a  Forgotten  Empire  (London,  191 2) ;  Mahaffy,  J.  P.,  History  of 
Egypt  under  the  Ptolemaic  Dynasty  (London,  1899) ;  Tillyard,  H.  J.  W.,  Aga- 
thocles  (Cambridge,  1908) ;  Sundwall,  J.,  De  institutis  reipublicce  Atheniensium 
post  Aristotelis  cetatem  commutatis  (Helsingforsiae,  1906) ;  Niccolini,  G., 
"Questioni  intorno  al  re  di  Sparta  Cleomenes  III,"  in  Saggi  di  storia  antica  e  di 
archeologia  (Rome,  1910),  1-8;  Wiegand,  T.,  and  Wilamowitz-Moellendorff,  U. 
von,  "  Ein  Gesetz  von  Samos  iiber  die  Beschaffung  von  Brotkorn  aus  offentlichen 
Mitteln,"  in  Sitz.  Berl.  Akad.  1904.  pp.  917-31;  Zucker,  F.,  "Beitrage  zur 

1  The  nomoi,  or  permanent  general  laws,  as  distinguished  from  the  psephismata, 
decrees  passed  for  a  special  purpose. 


626 


FEDERAL  UNIONS 


Kenntniss  der  Gerichtsorganisation  im  ptolemaischen  Aegypten,"  in  Philol. 
Supplb.  XII  (191 2).  1-130. 

II.  The  Federal  Unions.  —  Holm,  History  of  Greece,  IV.  ch.  x  sqq. ;  Be- 
loch,  Griechische  Geschichte,  III.  i*.  Abschn.  xvii,  xx;  Thirlwall,  C,  History  of 
Greece,  ch.  lxi  sqq. ;  Schomann,  G.  F.,  Griechische  Altertumer,  II.  bk.  iv;  Swo- 
boda,  H.,  Griechische  Staatsaltertilmer  (in  Hermann's  Lehrb.),  325  sqq. ;  "  Studien 
zur  Geschichte  der  griech.  Biinde,"  in  Klio,  XI  (191 1).  450-63;  XII.  17-50; 
Niese,  B.,  Geschichte  der  griech.  u.  mak.  Staaten,  vols.  II,  III  (see  Contents) ; 
Freeman,  E.  A.,  History  of  Federal  Government  in  Greece  and  Italy  (2d  ed.,  by- 
Bury,  London,  1893);  Lipsius,  J.  H.,  "Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  griechischer 
Bundesverfassung,"  in  Sachs.  Gesellsch.  L  (1898).  145-76;  Dubois,  M.,  Les 
ligues  etolienne  et  acheenne  (Paris,  1885) ;  Francotte,  A.,  "Le  conseil  et  l'assem- 
blee  generale  chez  les  Acheens,"  in  Musee  Beige,  X  (1906).  4-20;  Caspari, 
M.  O.  B.,  "The  Parliament  of  the  Achaean  League,"  in  Eng.  Hist.  Rev.  XXIX 
(1914).  209-20  ;  Seeliger,  K.,  Messenien  und  der  achaische  Bund  (Zittau,  1897), 
program;  Klatt,  M.,  Studien  zur  Geschichte  des  kleomenischen  Krieges  (Gottin- 
gen,  1877) ;  Chronologische  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  des  achaischen  Bundes 
(Berlin,  1883);  Howard,  G.  E.,  Comparative  Federal  Institutions:  An  Analyti- 
cal Reference  Syllabus  (University  of  Nebraska,  1907),  see  references  to  sources 
and  authorities. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 

About  330-100  b.c. 

The  selections  of  this  chapter  illustrate  various  sciences  at  the  highest 
point  of  development  reached  in  ancient  times.  The  first  excerpt  describes 
the  situation  and  the  founding  of  Alexandria,  the  chief  seat  of  science  and 
scholarship. 

A.  ALEXANDRIA 
205.  The  Situation  and  the  Founding  of  Alexandria 
(Strabo  xvii.  1.  6-8) 

In  sailing  toward  the  west,  the  sea-coast  from  Pelusium  to  the 
Canobic  mouth  of  the  Nile  is  about  thirteen  hundred  stadia 1 
in  extent,  and  constitutes,  as  we  have  said,  the  base  of  the  Delta. 
Thence  to  the  island  of  Pharos  are  a  hundred  and  fifty  stadia  more. 

Pharos  2  is  a  small  oblong  island,  and  lies  quite  close  to  the 
mainland,  forming  on  its  side  a  harbor  with  a  double  entrance. 
The  coast  abounds  in  bays  and  has  two  promontories  projecting 
into  the  sea.  The  island  is  situated  between  these  projections,  and 
shuts  in  the  bay,  lying  lengthwise  in  front  of  it.  Of  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  Pharos  the  eastern  is  nearest  to  the  mainland  and  to  the 
promontory  there,  called  Lochias,  which  makes  the  entrance  to 
the  port  narrow.  Besides  the  narrowness  of  the  passage  there 
are  rocks,  some  under  water,  others  rising  above  it,  which  at  all 
times  increase  the  violence  of  the  waves  as  they  roll  in  upon 
them  from  the  open  sea.  The  extremity  itself  of  the  island 
is  a  rock,  washed  by  the  sea  on  all  sides,  with  a  tower  on  it  of 
the  same  name  as  the  island,  admirably  constructed  of  white 
marble,  several  stories  high.  Sostratus  of  Cnidus,  a  friend  of  the 
kings,  erected  it  for  the  safety  of  mariners,  as  the  inscription  shows. 

1  A  stadium  was  600  Greek  feet,  or  about  582  English  feet. 

2  For  a  plan  of  Alexandria,  see  Shepherd,  Atlas  of  Ancient  History,  no.  34. 

627 


628 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


As  the  coast  on  both  sides  is  low  and  without  harbors,  with  reefs 
and  shadows,  an  elevated  and  conspicuous  mark  was  required  to 
enable  navigators  coming  in  from  the  open  sea  to  direct  their  course 
exactly  to  the  entrance  of  the  harbor. 

(The  less  interesting  description  of  the  western  entrance  is  here  omitted.) 

In  addition  to  its  being  well  enclosed  by  the  mound  and  by 
nature,  it  is  of  sufficient  depth  near  the  shore  to  allow  the  largest 
vessel  to  anchor  near  the  stairs.  Furthermore  it  is  divided  into 
several  ports. 

The  former  kings  of  Egypt,  satisfied  with  what  they  possessed, 
and  not  desirous  of  foreign  commerce,  entertained  a  dislike  to  all 
mariners,  especially  to  the  Greeks,  who  on  account  of  their  lack  of 
territory,  ravaged  and  coveted  the  property  of  other  nations.  They 
stationed  a  guard,  who  had  orders  to  keep  off  all  persons  who  ap- 
proached. To  the  guard  was  assigned  as  a  place  of  residence  the 
spot  called  Rhacotis,  which  is  now  a  part  of  the  city  of  Alexandria, 
situated  above  the  arsenal.  At  that  time,  however,  it  was  a  village. 
The  country  about  the  village  was  given  up  to  herdsmen,  who  were 
also  able  by  their  numbers  to  prevent  strangers  from  entering  the 
country. 

When  Alexander  arrived,  and  perceived  the  advantages  of  the 
situation,  he  determined  to  build  the  city  on  the  harbor.  The 
resulting  prosperity  of  the  place  was  intimated,  it  is  said,  by  a 
presage  which  occurred  while  the  plan  of  the  city  was  tracing. 
The  architects  were  engaged  in  marking  out  the  line  of  the  wall 
with  chalk,  and  had  consumed  it  all,  when  the  king  arrived,  where- 
upon the  dispensers  of  flour  supplied  the  workmen  with  a  part 
of  the  flour  which  was  provided  for  their  own  use ;  and  this  sub- 
stance was  used  in  tracing  the  greater  part  of  the  divisions  of  the 
streets.    This,  they  said,  was  a  good  omen  for  the  city. 

The  advantages  of  the  city  are  of  various  kinds.  The  site  is 
washed  by  two  seas ;  on  the  north  by  what  is  called  the  Egyptian 
Sea,  and  on  the  south  by  the  sea  of  the  lake  Mareia,  which  is  also 
called  Mareotis.  This  lake  is  filled  by  many  canals  from  the  Nile, 
both  by  those  above  and  those  at  the  sides,  through  which  a  greater 
quantity  of  merchandise  is  imported  than  through  those  communi- 
cating with  the  sea.    Hence  the  harbor  on  the  lake  is  richer  than 


ALEXANDRIA 


629 


the  maritime  harbor.  The  exports  by  sea  from  Alexandria  exceed 
the  imports.  This  any  person  may  ascertain,  at  either  Alexandria 
or  Dicaearchia,  by  watching  the  arrival  and  departure  of  the  mer- 
chant vessels,  and  observing  how  much  heavier  or  lighter  their 
cargoes  are  when  they  depart  than  when  they  return. 

In  addition  to  the  wealth  derived  from  merchandise  landed  at 
the  harbors  on  each  side,  on  the  sea  and  on  the  lake,  the  fine  air 
is  worthy  of  remark :  this  results  from  the  city's  being  on  two  sides 
surrounded  by  water,  and  from  the  favorable  effects  of  the  rise  of 
the  Nile.  For  other  cities,  situated  near  lakes,  have  during  the 
heats  of  summer  a  heavy  and  suffocating  atmosphere,  and  lakes  at 
their  margins  become  swampy  by  the  evaporation  occasioned  by 
the  sun's  heat.  When  a  large  quantity  of  moisture  is  exhaled  from 
swamps,  a  noxious  vapor  rises,  and  is  the  cause  of  pestilential  dis- 
orders. But  at  Alexandria,  at  the  beginning  of  summer,  the  Nile, 
being  full,  fills  the  lake  also,  and  leaves  no  marshy  matter  which 
is  likely  to  occasion  deadly  vapors.  At  the  same  period  the  Ete- 
sian winds  blow  from  the  north  over  a  large  expanse  of  sea,  and  the 
Alexandrines  in  consequence  pass  their  summer  very  pleasantly. 

The  shape  of  the  site  of  the  city  is  that  of  a  chlamys  (military 
cloak).  The  sides,  which  determine  the  length,  are  surrounded 
by  water,  and  are  about  thirty  stadia  in  extent ;  but  the  isthmuses, 
which  determine  the  breadth  of  the  sides,  are  each  of  seven  or  eight 
stadia,  bounded  on  one  side  by  the  sea,  and  on  the  other  by  the 
lake.  The  whole  city  is  intersected  by  streets  for  the  passage  of 
horsemen  and  chariots.  Two  of  these  are  very  broad,  exceeding 
a  plethron  1  in  breadth,  and  cut  one  another  at  right  angles.  It 
contains  also  very  beautiful  public  grounds,  and  royal  palaces, 
which  occupy  a  fourth  or  even  a  third  part  of  its  whole  extent. 
For  as  each  of  the  kings  was  desirous  of  adding  some  embellishment 
to  the  places  dedicated  to  the  public  use,  each  added  to  the  works 
already  existing  a  building  at  his  own  expense ;  hence  the  expres- 
sion of  the  poet  may  be  here  applied,  "One  after  the  other  springs. " 
All  the  buildings  are  connected  with  one  another  and  with  the 
harbor,  and  those  also  which  are  beyond  it. 

1  A  plethron  is  100  Greek  feet. 


630 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


206.  The  Museum  and  other  Buildings  of  Alexandria 
(Strab'o  xvii.  i.  8-10) 

The  Museum  is  a  part  of  the  palaces.  It  has  a  public  walk 
and  a  place  furnished  with  seats  and  a  large  hall,  in  which  the  men 
of  learning,  who  belong  to  the  Museum,  take  their  common  meal. 
This  community  possesses  also  property  in  common ;  and  a  priest, 
formerly  appointed  by  the  kings  but  at  present  by  Caesar,  presides 
over  the  Museum. 

A  part  belonging  to  the  palaces  consists  of  that  called  Sema,  an 
enclosure  which  contained  the  tombs  of  the  kings  and  that  of 
Alexander  (the  Great).  .  .  .  Ptolemy  carried  away  the  body  of 
Alexander,  and  deposited  it  at  Alexandria  in  the  place  where  it 
now  lies;  not  indeed  in  the  same  coffin,  for  the  present  one  is  of 
alabaster,  whereas  Ptolemy  had  deposited  it  in  one  of  gold.  ...  It 
was  plundered  by  Ptolemy  surnamed  Cocce's  son  and  Pareisactus, 
who  came  from  Syria  and  was  quickly  deposed,  so  that  his  plunder 
was  of  no  service  to  him. 

In  the  great  harbor  on  the  right  hand  of  the  entrance  are  the 
island  and  the  Pharos  tower ;  on  the  left  are  the  reef  of  rocks  and 
the  promontory  Lochias,  with  a  palace  on  it.  On  the  left  of  the 
entrance  are  the  inner  palaces,  which  are  continuous  with  those  on 
the  Lochias  and  contain  numerous  frescoed  apartments  and  groves. 
Below  lies  the  artificial  and  closed  harbor,  appropriated  to  the  use 
of  the  kings;  and  Antirrhodos,  a  small  island  facing  the  artificial 
harbor,  with  a  palace  on  it  and  a  small  port.  It  was  called  Antir- 
rhodos as  a  rival  of  Rhodes. 

Above  it  is  the  theatre,  then  the  Poseidion,  a  kind  of  elbow 
projecting  from  the  Emporium,  as  it  is  called,  with  a  temple  of 
Poseidon  on  it.  .  .  .  Next  are  the  Caesareion,  the  Emporium,  and 
the  Apostaseis  (magazines) ;  after  them  the  docks  as  far  as  the 
Heptastadion.  This  is  the  description  of  the  great  harbor.  .  .  . 
In  short,  the  city  of  Alexandria  abounds  in  public  and  sacred 
buildings.  The  most  beautiful  of  the  former  is  the  Gymnasium 
with  porticos  exceeding  a  stadium  in  extent.  In  the  middle  of  it 
are  a  court  of  justice  and  groves.  Here  also  is  a  Paneium,  an  arti- 
ficial mound  of  the  shape  of  a  fir-cone,  resembling  a  pile  of  rock, 


MEDICAL  SCIENCE 


631 


to  the  top  of  which  there  is  an  ascent  by  a  spiral  path.  From  the 
summit  may  be  seen  the  whole  city  lying  all  around  and  beneath 
it. 

B.  ANATOMY  AND  PHYSIOLOGY 

In  no  department  of  science  was  greater  progress  made  than  in  anatomy, 
physiology,  and  surgery.  The  most  eminent  representative  of  this  field,  in  fact 
the  most  advanced  medical  scientist  of  the  ancient  world,  was  Herophilus  of 
Chalcedon,  who  reached  his  maturity  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century. 
His  great  progress  was  largely  due  to  the  opportunity  for  the  vivisection  of 
criminals  granted  him  by  the  king  of  Egypt.  To  him  belongs  the  discovery 
of  the  function  of  nerves  and  their  classification  into  sensory  and  motor  and 
of  the  fact  that  the  brain  is  the  seat  of  the  mind.  He  made,  too,  a  great  con- 
tribution to  the  knowledge  of  the  eye.  Among  the  most  important  of  his  dis- 
coveries was  that  which  related  to  the  function  of  the  arteries.  Formerly  it 
was  supposed  that  they  contained  air,  whereas  he  was  the  first  to  declare  that 
their  function  was  to  convey  blood  from  the  heart  to  various  parts  of  the  body 
(cf.  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.  xi.  69,  quoted  below).  Substantially,  therefore,  Herophilus 
discovered  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  With  him,  accordingly,  begins  the 
observation  of  the  pulse  in  the  diagnosis  of  illness.  Some  of  his  discoveries, 
particularly  those  relating  to  the  brain  and  the  function  of  the  arteries,  were 
repudiated  by  his  contemporaries  and  were  thus  lost  to  the  world  till  their 
rediscovery  in  modern  times ;  see  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  1.  485-8 ;  Heiberg, 
J.  L.,  Naturwis  sens  chaf ten  und  Mathematik  im  klassischen  Altertum  (Leipzig, 
191 2),  45  sq. ;  Puschmann,  T.,  History  of  Medical  Instruction  (London,  1891) ; 
Sprengel-Rosenbaum,  Geschichte  der  Medicin,  I.  $ogsqq. ;  Gossen,  "  Herophilus, " 
in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VIII.  1104-1110. 

207.  Vivisection;  the  Eye,  the  Nerves  and  the  Brain 

(Celsus,  De  Artibus,  i.  4  (ed.  Daremberg).    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Aulus  Cornelius  Celsus  was  an  encyclopaedist,  somewhat  of  the  same  nature 
as  Pliny,  who  flourished  under  the  princeps  Tiberius.  His  work  consisted  of 
six  parts :  Agriculture,  Medicine,  Military  Science,  Rhetoric,  Philosophy,  and 
Jurisprudence.  We  have  preserved  only  the  eight  books  treating  of  Medicine. 
In  his  preface  to  this  part  he  gives  an  account  of  the  earlier  history  of  medicine. 
See  Wellmann,  M.,  "A.  Cornelius  Celsus,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl. 
IV.  1273  (no.  82)~76;  Schanz,  M.,  Gesch.  d.  rom.  Lit.  II.  2.  (1913)  424-30. 

Aside  from  these  matters,  since  in  the  inner  parts  pains  and 
various  kinds  of  diseases  have  their  origin,  they  think  no  one  can 
apply  remedies  to  these  (parts)  who  is  unacquainted  with  them. 
It  was  therefore  necessary  to  cut  into  the  bodies  of  the  dead  and 


632 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


examine  their  vitals  and  inner  organs.  (It  was  their  opinion,  too,) 
that  by  far  the  best  procedure  was  that  of  Herophilus  and  Erasis- 
tratus,  who  cut  into  criminals,  received  from  the  kings  out  of  prison, 
while  living,  and  who  observed,  before  breathing  ceased,  those 
things  which  nature  formerly  had  kept  under  seal.  (They  observed 
also)  their  location,  color,  shape,  size,  arrangement,  hardness,  soft- 
ness, smoothness,  touch.  .  .  . 

(Ib.  p.  5.  Trans,  id.) 

On  the  other  hand,  those  who  call  themselves  Empirics,  from 
experience,  take  account  of  the  apparent  causes  as  being  the  neces- 
sary ones.  They  insist  that  the  inquiry  into  hidden  causes  and 
actions  of  nature  is  superfluous,  seeing  that  Nature  is  not  com- 
prehensible. 

(Ib.  p.  279.  Trans,  id.) 

Now  under  these,  at  the  point  where  the  pupil  (of  the  eye)  is, 
there  is  an  empty  space ;  then  below  again  there  is  a  very  thin 
membrane,  which  Herophilus  describes  as  like  a  spider-web  (the 
retina) . 

(Chalcidius,  Interpretation  of  Plato's  Timceus  (ed.  Wrobel,  1876),  p.  279. 
Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Chalcidius  was  a  Christian  of  the  early  fourth  century  a.d.,  who  wrote  in 
Latin  the  work  with  the  title  given  above.  It  is  a  Latin  translation  as  well  as 
interpretation;  see  Kroll,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  III.  2042  sq. 

Likewise  of  the  experts  in  Nature,  renowned  men  in  fact,  who 
with  a  view  to  grasping  the  ingenuity  of  Nature,  investigated  the 
articulation  of  the  human  body,  by  cutting  into  organic  parts, 
because  they  thought  that  thus  only  they  would  be  definitely  sure 
to  a  degree  above  mere  suspicion  and  supposition,  if  sight  were 
to  chime  with  reason  as  well  as  reason  with  sight.  There  must 
therefore  be  demonstrated  the  nature  of  the  eye,  about  which  most 
others  and  particularly  Alcmaeon  of  Croton,  a  man  who  was  an 
expert  in  questions  of  nature,  and  who  first  dared  attempt  the 
cutting  out  {exsectionem) ,  and  Callisthenes,  the  pupil  of  Aristotle, 
and  Herophilus  have  brought  to  light  many  splendid  things. 
(He  shows)  that  there  are  two  narrow  paths  which  from  the  seat 
of  the  brain,  in  which  the  highest  and  dominant  power  of  vitality 


EYES  AND  NERVES 


633 


{animce)  is  situated,  pass  to  the  caverns  of  the  eyes,  containing  the 
spirit  of  nature ;  which,  while  issuing  from  one  initial  point  and 
from  the  same  root  for  some  distance,  are  joined  together  in  the 
innermost  parts  of  the  forehead,  and  being  separated  in  the  appear- 
ance of  two  ways,  reach  the  hollow  abodes  of  the  eyes  at  the  point 
where  the  oblique  paths  of  the  eye-brows  are  extended,  and,  curved 
there  in  the  lap  of  membranes  which  receive  the  natural  moisture, 
fill  the  globes  fortified  by  the  shelter  of  the  eyelids,  whence  they 
are  designated  orbs.  Furthermore  the  fact  that  the  light-bearing 
paths  issue  forth  from  one  seat,  anatomy  indeed  chiefly  teaches. 
None  the  less  from  this  consideration  we  understand  that  both  eyes 
are  moved  together,  nor  can  the  one  be  moved  without  the  other. 

(Galen,  Works,  vol.  III.  p.  813,  ed.  Kiihn.    Translated  by  E.  G.  S.) 

Galen,  who  was  born  at  Pergamum  in  129  a.d.  and  died  about  199,  was  the 
most  famous  physician  in  the  period  of  the  Roman  empire.  His  vast  writings 
were  published  by  Kiihn  in  22  volumes  (Leipzig,  1821-1833).  The  edition, 
however,  so  abounds  in  mistakes  that  in  many  places  it  is  scarcely  usable. 
From  the  time  of  publication  to  the  present  it  has  been  the  standard  edition, 
but  it  is  now  being  displaced  by  the  Corpus  Medicorum,  which  is  gradually 
being  published.  See  Mewaldt,  "Galenos,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl. 
VII.  578-91- 

Of  the  sensory  nerves  which  go  down  to  the  eyes  from  the  brain, 
which  Herophilus  also  calls  passages  because  through  them  alone 
the  ways  of  the  vital  spirit  (rod  7rvevfiaro^)  are  perceptible  and 
clear,  just  as  this  very  (nerve)  is  beyond  belief  and  above  the  re- 
maining nerves,  so  also  this  is  true,  that  they  have  their  beginning 
from  different  localities ;  but  as  they  advance,  they  are  united  with 
one  another,  and  again  they  depart  and  are  separated. 

208.  The  Heart,  the  Arteries,  the  Veins,  and  the 
Circulation  of  the  Blood 

(Galen,  IV.  p.  731.    Translated  by  G.  W.  B.) 

Wherefore  when  they  doubt  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
vital  spirit  {irvevfxa)  may  be  carried  from  the  heart  through  the 
entire  body  in  case  the  arteries  are  rilled  with  blood,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  clear  up  the  problem,  and  to  assert  that  the  life  is  not  carried 
but  drawn  through  the  arteries,  not  from  the  heart  alone  but  from 


634 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


every  direction,  as  is  believed  by  Herophilus,  and  before  him  by 
Praxagoras,  Philotimus,  Diodes,  Pleistonicus,  Hippocrates,  and 
ten  thousand  others.  Moreover  the  force  which  expands  the  arteries 
proceeds  from  the  heart,  as  it  were  from  a  sort  of  fountain. 

(Pliny,  Natural  History,  xi.  69,  88,  drawing  his  material  in  part  from  Herophilus) 

The  heart  is  the  principal  seat  of  the  heat  of  the  body;  it  is 
constantly  beating,  and  moves  as  though  it  were  one  animal  en- 
closed within  another.  It  is  enveloped  in  a  membrane  equally 
supple  and  strong,  and  is  protected  by  the  bulwarks  formed  by  the 
ribs  and  the  bone  of  the  breast,  as  the  primary  source  and  origin 
of  life.  It  contains  within  itself  the  primary  receptacles  for  the 
spirit  and  the  blood,  in  its  sinuous  cavity,  which  in  the  larger 
animals  is  threefold  and  in  all  at  least  twofold.  Here  the  mind 
has  its  abode.  From  this  source  proceed  two  large  veins,  which 
branch  into  the  front  part  and  the  back  part  of  the  body,  and 
which,  spreading  out  in  a  series  of  branches,  convey  the  vital  blood 
by  other  smaller  veins  over  the  whole  body.  .  .  . 

The  pulsation  of  the  arteries  is  more  perceptible  on  the  surface 
of  the  limbs,  and  affords  indications  of  nearly  every  disease,  being 
either  stationary,  quickened  or  retarded,  conformably  to  certain 
measures  and  metrical  laws,  which  depend  on  the  age  of  the  patient, 
and  which  have  been  described  with  remarkable  skill  by  Herophilus, 
who  has  been  regarded  as  a  prophet  in  the  wondrous  art  of  medicine. 
These  indications,  however,  have  been  hitherto  neglected  in  con- 
sequence of  their  remarkable  subtlety  and  minuteness,  though 
at  the  same  time  it  is  by  the  observation  of  the  pulse,  as  being  fast 
or  slow,  that  the  health  of  the  body,  as  regulating  life,  is  ascertained. 

209.  An  Anesthetic 

(Pliny,  Natural  History,  xxv.  13  (94).  147-50) 

The  subjoined  excerpt  does  not  mention  Herophilus,  but  the  statement  that 
the  "ancients"  were  accustomed  to  using  mandragora,  added  to  the  fact  that 
Herophilus  and  his  contemporaries  were  great  vivisectionists  and  skilled  sur- 
geons, makes  it  practically  certain  that  they  used  anaesthetics. 

The  ancients  were  in  the  habit  of  employing  mandragora  for 
diseases  of  the  eye ;  but  more  recently  the  use  of  it  for  such  pur- 


MANDRAGORA 


635 


poses  has  been  abandoned.  It  is  a  well-ascertained  fact,  however, 
that  the  root,  beaten  up  with  rose  oil  and  wine,  is  curative  of  de- 
fluxions  of  the  eyes  and  of  pains  in  those  organs ;  in  fact  the  juice  of 
the  plant  forms  an  ingredient  in  many  medicaments  of  the  eye.  ... 

It  is  not  the  mandragora  of  every  country  that  will  yield  a 
juice  ;  but  where  it  does,  it  is  about  vintage  time  that  it  is  collected. 
In  all  cases  it  has  a  powerful  odor,  that  of  the  root  and  fruit  the 
most  powerful.  The  fruit  is  gathered  when  ripe  and  dried  in  the 
shade ;  the  juice  when  extracted  is  left  to  thicken  in  the  sun.  The 
same  is  the  case,  too,  with  the  juice  of  the  root,  which  is  extracted 
either  by  pounding  it  or  by  boiling  it  down  to  one  third  in  red  wine. 
The  leaves  are  best  kept  in  brine ;  in  fact  when  fresh  their  juice 
is  a  baneful  poison,  and  these  noxious  properties  are  far  from  being 
removed  even  when  they  are  preserved  in  brine.  The  very  odor 
of  them  is  highly  oppressive  to  the  head,  although  there  are  coun- 
tries in  which  the  fruit  is  eaten.  Persons  ignorant  of  its  properties 
are  apt  to  be  rendered  unconscious  by  the  odor  of  the  plant  when  in 
excess,  and  too  strong  a  dose  of  the  juice  is  productive  of  fatal  effects. 

Administered  in  doses  proportioned  to  the  strength  of  the  pa- 
tient, the  juice  has  a  narcotic  effect,  a  medium  dose  being  one 
cyathus.  It  is  given,  too,  for  injuries  inflicted  by  serpents,  and 
before  incisions  or  punctures  are  made  in  the  body  in  order  to 
insure  insensibility  to  pain.  In  fact  for  this  last  purpose,  with  some 
persons,  the  odor  is  quite  sufficient  to  induce  sleep. 

C.  GEOGRAPHY,  ASTRONOMY,  AND  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE 

210.  Form  and  Size  of  the  Earth 

Ancient  science  reached  the  height  of  its  development  in  the  third  century 
B.C.  The  chief  center  of  culture  was  Alexandria,  which  gave  its  name  to  the 
period  immediately  following  its  founding.  Among  the  great  names  of  the 
Alexandrian  age  is  that  of  Eratosthenes  (about  275-195),  a  man  of  very  ver- 
satile genius  and  for  a  time  Librarian.  Although  interested  in  many  things, 
he  is  chiefly  famous  for  his  contribution  to  mathematical  geography.  It  had 
long  been  known  that  the  earth  was  round,  and  attempts  had  been  made  to 
compute  its  circumference ;  but  Eratosthenes  made  a  closer  calculation  than 
had  previously  been  reached.  He  was  also  the  first  to  suggest  the  possibility 
of  reaching  India  by  sailing  west  across  the  Atlantic.  The  fragments  of  his 
works  have  been  collected  by  Berger,  H.,  Die  geogr aphis chen  Fragmente  des 
Eratosthenes  (Teubner,  1880).    See  also  the  same  author's  Geschichte  der 


636 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


wissenschaftlichen  Erdkunde  der  Griechen  (2d  ed.,  Leipzig,  1903) ;  Tozer,  H.  F. 
History  of  Ancient  Geography  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  1897),  ch.  ix; 
Knaack,  "Eratosthenes,"  in  Pauly7Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VI.  358-89. 

The  following  seems  to  be  the  most  exact  report  preserved  from  antiquity, 
presenting  the  mathematical  computations  of  Eratosthenes.  It  is  from  Cleo- 
medes,  Concerning  the  Circular  Motion  of  the  Heavenly  Bodies,  I.  10  (ed.  Ziegler) ; 
see  Berger,  Eratosthenes,  p.  122.  Translated  by  E.  G.  S.  Verified  by  T.  W. 
Edmondson. 

Under  the  same  meridian,  he  1  says,  lie  Syene  and  Alexandria. 
Since  then  the  greatest  (lines)  in  the  universe  are  the  meridians,2 
the  spherical  lines  lying  under  them  on  the  earth  must  necessarily 
be  the  greatest.  Consequently  whatever  extent  the  theory  (of 
Eratosthenes)  will  demonstrate  for  the  spherical  line  running 
through  Syene  and  Alexandria,  so  extensive  also  will  be  the  greatest 
spherical  line  of  the  earth.  He  then  says  :  And  it  is  so,  that  Syene 
lies  under  the  summer  solstice.3  Whenever  therefore  the  sun, 
having  passed  into  Cancer  and,  effecting  the  summer  solstice,  is 
precisely  at  the  zenith  point  of  the  sky,  the  gnomon  4  of  the  sun- 
dial necessarily  becomes  shadowless,  in  accordance  with  the  exact 
perpendicular  of  the  sun  standing  overhead ;  5  and  it  is  reasonable 
that  this  should  happen  to  the  extent  of  three  hundred  stadia  in 
diameter.  At  Alexandria  at  the  same  hour  the  gnomons  of  the 
sun-dials  cast  a  shadow,  since  this  city  lies  more  to  the  north  than 
Syene.  Inasmuch  as  these  cities  lie  under  the  same  meridian  and 
the  greatest  spherical  line,  if  we  draw  the  arc  from  the  apex  of  the 
shadow  of  the  sun-dial  to  the  base  itself  of  the  sun-dial  which  is  in 
Alexandria,  this  arc  will  prove  a  segment  of  the  greatest  spherical 
line  in  the  concave  sun-dial,  since  the  concave  surface  of  the  sun- 
dial lies  under  the  largest  spherical  line.    If  consequently  we  were 

1  Eratosthenes. 

2  Here  Eratosthenes  made  a  slight  error  in  assuming  the  earth  to  be  an  exact  sphere, 
whereas  in  fact  it  is  slightly  flattened  at  the  poles. 

3  Here  is  another  error,  due  to  the  imperfection  of  the  ancient  method  of  observa- 
tion, or  we  should  rather  say,  to  their  imperfect  instruments.  In  fact  Syene  is  37  miles 
north  of  the  tropic. 

4  "The  gnomon  which  he  used  as  the  instrument  for  his  observations  was  an  up- 
right staff  set  in  the  midst  of  a  scaphe  or  bowl,  which  was  so  arranged  as  to  correspond 
to  the  celestial  hemisphere,  only  inverted,  and  was  marked  with  lines  like  a  dial"; 
Tozer,  History  of  Anc.  Geog.  170. 

6  The  demonstration  beginning  here  i's  clearly  explained,  and  illustrated  with  a 
diagram,  by  Tozer,  op.  cit.  170-2,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 


CIRCUMFERENCE  OF  THE  EARTH  637 


to  conceive  straight  lines  extended  through  the  earth  from  each 
of  the  sun-dials,  they  will  meet  at  the  centre  of  the  earth.  Since 
then  the  sun-dial  at  Syene  lies  perpendicularly  under  the  sun,  if 
we  conceive  in  addition  a  straight  line  drawn  from  the  sun  to  the 
apex  of  the  style  of  the  sun-dial,  then  the  line  drawn  from  the  sun 
to  the  centre  of  the  earth  will  prove  one  straight  line.  If  then  we 
conceive  another  straight  line  from  the  apex  of  the  shadow  of  the 
gnomon  drawn  up  to  the  sun  from  the  concave  dial  in  Alexandria, 
this  one  and  the  aforesaid  straight  line  will  prove  to  be  parallel, 
passing  from  different  parts  of  the  sun  to  different  parts  of  the 
earth.  Into  these  (lines),  which  are  parallel,  the  line  drawn  from 
the  centre  of  the  earth  to  the  dial  at  Alexandria  falls  as  a  straight 
line,  so  as  to  render  the  alternate  angles  equal.  Of  these  (angles) 
the  one  is  at  the  centre  of  the  earth  through  the  meeting  of  the 
straight  lines  which  were  drawn  from  the  apex  of  its  shadow.  The 
other  angle  results  through  the  meeting  of  (the  lines  drawn)  from 
the  apex  of  the  dial  at  Alexandria  and  the  line  drawn  upward  from 
the  apex  of  its  shadow  to  the  sun  through  the  contact  with  it. 
Upon  this  is  constructed  the  circular  line  which  has  been  circum- 
scribed from  the  apex  of  the  shadow  of  the  gnomon  to  its  base ; 
and  upon  that  at  the  centre  of  the  earth  the  (line)  which  passes 
from  Syene  to  Alexandria.  Similar  then  are  the  arcs  to  each  other, 
namely,  those  based  on  equal  angles.  The  relation  therefore 
which  the  line  in  the  concave  has  to  its  own  circle  is  the  same  as 
the  relation  of  the  line  drawn  from  Syene  to  Alexandria.  The  line 
in  the  concave  is  to  be  of  its  own  circle;  therefore  necessarily 
also  the  distance  from  Syene  to  Alexandria  must  be  of  the  largest 
circle  of  earth ;  and  this  is  (a  distance)  of  5,000  stadia.1  The  whole 
circle  therefore  amounts  to  250,000  stadia.2 
Such  is  the  computation  of  Eratosthenes. 

1  Eratosthenes  has  overestimated  the  distance  by  more  than  one  fifth ;  Tozer, 
op.  cit.  172. 

2  "The  general  accuracy  of  the  result  is  very  striking;  for  whereas  the  real 
circumference  of  the  earth  at  the  equator  is  25,000  English  miles,  Eratosthenes  esti- 
mates the  great  circle  of  the  meridian  at  25,000  geographical  miles,  which  is  about  one 
seventh  part  in  excess.  By  the  ancients  it  was  regarded  as  an  extraordinary  achieve- 
ment of  science,  and  immense  importance  was  attached  to  it "  ;  Tozer,  op.  cit.  172.  For 
verifying  this  statement  it  is  necessary  to  begin  with  the  English  equivalent  of  the 
stadium,  which  contained  600  Greek  feet  of  the  Attic  standard  here  used.  A  foot  of 
that  standard  is  equivalent  to  11.65  inches. 


638 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


211.  Evidences  of  the  Rotundity  and  Size  of  the  Earth 

(Strabo  i.  i.  20) 

Below  is  a  study  of  the  form  and  dimensions  of  the  earth  by  Strabo,  the 
geographer,  who  wrote  in  the  time  of  the  princeps  Tiberius,  but  who  drew  his 
information  largely  from  the  scientists  of  the  Alexandrian  age. 

Geometry  and  astronomy,  as  we  before  remarked,  seem  abso- 
lutely indispensable  in  this  science  (geography).  This  in  fact  is 
evident,  that  without  some  such  assistance,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  be  accurately  acquainted  with  the  configuration  of  the  earth; 
its  zones,  dimensions,  and  the  like  information. 

As  the  size  of  the  earth  has  been  demonstrated  by  other  writers, 
we  shall  here  take  for  granted  and  receive  as  accurate  what  they 
have  advanced.  We  shall  also  assume  that  the  earth  is  spheroidal, 
that  its  surface  is  likewise  spheroidal,  and  above  all,  that  bodies 
have  a  tendency  towards  its  centre,  which  latter  point  is  clear  to  the 
perception  of  the  most  average  understanding.  However  we  may 
show  summarily  that  the  earth  is  spheroidal,  from  the  consideration 
that  all  things  however  distant  tend  to  its  centre,  and  that  every 
body  is  attracted  toward  its  centre  of  gravity ;  this  is  more  distinctly 
proved  from  observations  of  the  sea  and  sky,  for  here  the  evidence 
of  the  senses,  and  common  observation,  is  alone  requisite.  The 
convexity  of  the  sea  is  a  further  proof  of  this  to  those  who  have 
sailed ;  for  they  cannot  perceive  lights  at  a  distance  when  placed 
at  the  same  level  as  their  eyes,  but  if  raised  on  high,  they  at  once 
become  perceptible  to  vision,  though  at  the  same  time  further 
removed.  So,  when  the  eye  is  raised,  it  sees  what  before  was 
utterly  imperceptible.  Homer  speaks  of  this  when  he  says, 
Lifted  up  on  the  vast  wave  he  quickly  beheld  afar.1 

Sailors,  as  they  approach  their  destination,  behold  the  shore  con- 
tinually raising  itself  to  their  view ;  and  objects  which  had  at  first 
seemed  low,  begin  to  elevate  themselves.  Our  gnomons  also  are, 
among  other  things,  evidence  of  the  revolution  of  the  heavenly 
bodies ;  and  common  sense  at  once  shows  us,  that  if  the  depth  of 
the  earth  were  infinite,  such  a  revolution  could  not  take  place.2 

1  Odyssey  v.  393. 

2  Strabo  holds  the  opinion  that  the  earth  is  the  center  of  the  universe ;  but  see  no. 

213. 


WEST  TO  INDIA 


639 


(Strabo  i.  4.  6) 

In  the  subjoined  passage  Strabo  quotes  Eratosthenes  and  comments  on  his 
view. 

Further,  endeavoring  to  support  the  opinion  that  it  is  in  accord- 
ance with  natural  philosophy  to  reckon  the  greatest  dimension  of 
the  habitable  earth  from  east  to  west,  he  (Eratosthenes)  says  that, 
according  to  the  laws  of  natural  philosophy,  the  habitable  earth 
ought  to  occupy  a  greater  length  from  east  to  west,  than  its  breadth 
from  north  to  south.  The  temperate  zone,  which  we  have  already 
designated  as  the  longest  zone,  is  that  which  the  mathematicians 
denominate  a  continuous  circle  returning  upon  itself.  So  that  if 
the  extent  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  were  not  an  obstacle,  we  might 
easily  pass  by  sea  from  Iberia  to  India,  still  keeping  in  the  same 
parallel ; 1  the  remaining  portion  of  which  parallel,  measured  as 
above  in  stadia,  occupies  more  than  a  third  of  the  whole  circle :  since 
the  parallel  drawn  through  Athens,  on  which  we  have  taken  the 
distances  from  India  to  Iberia,  does  not  contain  altogether  200,000 
stadia.2 

212.  Propositions  of  Aristarchus 

(Aristarchus,  On  the  Sizes  and  Distances  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  translated 
and  edited  by  Heath,  Th.,  Aristarchus  of  Samos,  the  Ancient  Copernicus. 
Clarendon  Press,  191 3) 

The  greatest  astronomer  of  ancient  times  was  Aristarchus  of  Samos,  who 
flourished  early  in  the  third  century.  At  least  a  part  of  his  time  he  spent  at 
Alexandria.  Among  his  achievements  were  computations  of  the  size  and 
distance  of  the  moon  and  sun  respectively,  which  were  more  accurate  than  the 
calculations  of  his  predecessors. 

In  this  work  Aristarchus  still  believed  the  earth  to  be  the  center  of  the 
universe.  Of  the  propositions  given  in  the  treatise  cited  above,  the  few  here 
subjoined  will  perhaps  be  most  interesting  to  the  general  reader.  For  the 
demonstrations,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Heath. 

The  moon  receives  its  light  from  the  sun. 

The  earth  is  in  the  relation  of  a  point  and  center  of  the  sphere 
in  which  the  moon  moves. 

1  This  truth,  brought  to  light  by  Eratosthenes,  was  afterward  lost  to  the  world 
till  its  rediscovery  in  the  age  of  Columbus. 

2  The  parallel  of  longitude  passing  through  Athens  is  about  36  degrees  north.  His 
computation  of  its  circumference  corresponds  substantially  with  his  estimate  of  the 
greatest  meridian  circle;  see  p.  637,  n.  2  supra. 


640 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


The  distance  of  the  sun  from  the  earth  is  greater  than  18 
times,  but  less  than  20  times,  the  distance  of  the  moon  (from 
the  earth). 

The  diameter  of  the  moon  is  less  than  but  greater  than  ^ 
of  the  distance  of  the  centre  of  the  moon  from  our  eye. 

The  diameter  of  the  sun  has  to  the  diameter  of  the  earth  a  ratio 
greater  than  19:3  but  less  than  43  :  6. 

The  sun  has  to  the  moon  a  ratio  greater  than  5832  :  1  but  less 
than  8000  :  1 . 

213.  The  Heliocentric  Theory 

It  was  probably  after  the  publication  of  the  work  excerpted  above  that 
Aristarchus  became  convinced  that  the  sun  is  the  center,  around  which  the 
earth  and  planets  move.  The  theory  was  rejected  by  astronomers  of  the  time, 
and  was  in  this  way  lost  to  the  world  till  its  rediscovery  by  Copernicus.  On 
Aristarchus,  see  the  work,  of  Heath  mentioned  above,  and  Hultsch,  "Aristar- 
chus," in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  II.  873-6.  The  treatise  in  which  he 
expressed  his  heliocentric  view  was  perhaps  termed  Hypotheses,  or  The  Con- 
struction of  Hypotheses.    It  is  quoted  by  Archimedes,  Sand-Reckoner,  as  follows. 

The  term  world,  as  it  is  defined  by  most  astronomers,  is  here 
designed  to  signify  a  sphere  of  the  heavens,  whose  center  coincides 
with  the  center  of  the  earth,  and  whose  semi-diameter  is  the  distance 
from  the  center  of  the  earth  to  the  center  of  the  sun.  This  defini- 
tion of  the  term  world,  as  given  in  the  writings  of  other  astrono- 
mers, Aristarchus  of  Samos  refutes,  and  has  given  it  a  far  more 
extensive  signification ;  for  according  to  his  hypothesis,  neither  the 
fixed  stars  nor  the  sun  are  subject  to  any  motion;  but  the  earth 
annually  revolves  round  the  sun  in  the  circumference  of  a  circle, 
in  the  centre  of  which  the  sun  remains  fixed.  The  sphere  of  the 
fixed  stars,  too,  whose  center  he  supposes  to  coincide  with  the  sun's, 
is  of  such  immense  magnitude  that  the  circle,  in  whose  periphery 
the  earth  is  supposed  to  revolve  round  the  sun,  bears  no  greater 
proportion  to  the  distance  of  the  fixed  stars  than  the  center  of  a 
sphere  does  to  its  superficies. 


PRACTICAL  SCIENCE 


641 


214.  The  Value  of  Astronomy  for  Geography,  Architec- 
ture, and  City-Building 

(Hipparchus,  quoted  by  Strabo  i.  1.  12  sq.) 

Hipparchus  was  a  famous  geographer  and  astronomer  of  the  latter  half  of 
the  second  century  B.C.  He  was  a  prolific  writer  in  both  branches  of  science. 
See  Rehm,  "Hipparchos,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VIII.  1666-81. 

Many  have  testified  to  the  amount  of  knowledge  which  this 
subject  requires,  and  Hipparchus,  in  his  Strictures  on  Eratosthenes, 
well  observes,  "that  no  one  can  become  really  proficient  in  geog- 
raphy, either  as  a  private  individual  or  as  a  professor,  without  an 
acquaintance  with  astronomy,  and  a  knowledge  of  eclipses.  For 
instance,  no  one  could  tell  whether  Alexandria  in  Egypt  were  north 
or  south  of  Babylon,  nor  yet  the  intervening  distance,  without 
observing  the  latitudes.  Again,  the  only  means  we  possess  of  be- 
coming acquainted  with  the  longitudes  of  different  places  is  afforded 
by  the  eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon."  Such  are  the  very  words  of 
Hipparchus. 

Every  one  who  undertakes  to  give  an  accurate  description  of  a 
place,  should  be  particular  to  add  its  astronomical  and  geometrical 
relations,  explaining  carefully  its  extent,  distance,  degrees  of  lati- 
tude, and  "climate."  Even  a  builder  before  constructing  a  house 
or  an  architect  before  laying  out  a  city,  would  take  these  things 
into  consideration ;  much  more  should  he  who  examines  the  whole 
earth :  for  such  things  in  a  peculiar  manner  belong  to  him.  In 
small  distances  a  little  deviation  north  or  south  does  not  signify, 
but  when  it  is  the  whole  circle  of  the  earth,  the  north  extends  to 
the  furthest  confines  of  Scythia,  or  Celtica,  and  the  south  to  the 
extremities  of  Ethiopia :  there  is  a  wide  difference  here.  The  case 
is  the  same  should  we  inhabit  India  or  Spain,  one  in  the  east,  the 
other  far  west,  and,  as  we  are  aware,  the  antipodes  to  each  other. 

215.  Hieron's  Ship 

(Moschion,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  v.  4°-44) 

Regarding  Moschion  little  is  known.  He  seems  to  have  belonged  to  the 
class  of  paradoxographists,  writers  who  undertook  the  task  of  describing  remark- 
able things  of  all  sorts,  literary  guides  to  the  wonders  of  the  world.  Christ, 


642 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


Griech.  Lit.  II.  184,  regards  paradoxography  as  a  "parasitic  growth  "  on  the  tree 
of  literature,  history,  and  natural  science.  The  work  was  pursued  with  little 
discrimination  between  truth  and  fiction.  Moschion,  however,  was  doubtless 
a  contemporary  of  Hieron,  and  we  have  no  reason  to  discredit  the  essentials  of 
the  following  account.  The  selection  is  given  to  illustrate  the  practical  me- 
chanics of  the  age  in  the  construction  of  perhaps  the  most  wonderful  ship  known 
to  antiquity. 

40.  Concerning  the  ship  built  by  Hieron,  tyrant  of  Syracuse, 
which  also  Archimedes  the  geometrician  superintended,  I  do  not 
think  it  right  to  be  silent,  since  a  certain  man  named  Moschion 
has  given  a  description  of  it,  which  quite  recently  I  read  over  with 
great  care. 

Moschion  writes  as  follows :  Diocleides,  a  citizen  of  Abdera, 
speaks  with  great  admiration  of  the  engine  called  helepolis,  which 
Demetrius  brought  against  the  city  of  the  Rhodians,  and  applied 
to  their  walls.  Timaeus,  too,  extols  highly  the  funeral  pile  made 
by  Dionysius  the  tyrant  of  Sicily.  Hieronymus  also  lavishes  his 
admiration  on  the  building  and  adorning  of  the  chariot  in  which 
the  body  of  Alexander  was  borne  to  the  tomb.  Further,  Poly- 
cleitus  speaks  in  high  terms  of  the  candlestick  which  was  made 
for  the  king  of  Persia.  But  Hieron,  king  of  the  Syracusans,  who 
was  in  every  respect  a  friend  of  the  Romans,  was  very  attentive  to 
the  furnishing  of  temples  and  gymnasia ;  and  was  also  very  zealous 
in  ship-building,  for  he  made  a  great  number  of  grain  vessels,  the 
construction  of  one  of  which  I  will  describe.  For  the  wood  he 
caused  such  a  number  of  trees  to  be  cut  down  on  Mount  iEtna  as 
would  have  sufficed  for  sixty  triremes ;  and  when  this  was  done, 
he  prepared  nails  and  planks  for  the  sides  and  for  the  inside,  and 
wood  for  every  other  purpose  that  could  be  required,  some  from 
Italy  and  some  from  Sicily.  For  ropes  he  provided  cordage  from 
Spain,  and  hemp  and  pitch  from  the  river  Rhone ;  and  he  collected 
great  quantities  of  useful  things  from  all  quarters.  Moreover  he 
collected  shipwrights  and  other  artisans.  Having  appointed 
Archias  the  Corinthian  superintendent  of  them  all,  and  the  prin- 
cipal architect,  he  bade  them  labor  at  the  construction  with  zeal 
and  earnestness,  he  himself  also  devoting  his  days  to  watching  its 
progress. 

In  this  way  he  finished  half  the  ship  in  six  months ;  and  every 


HIERON'S  SHIP 


643 


part  of  the  vessel,  as  soon  as  it  was  finished,  was  immediately 
covered  over  with  plates  of  lead.  There  were  three  hundred  laborers 
employed  in  working  up  the  timber,  besides  the  subordinate  journey- 
men whom  they  had  to  assist  them.  The  portion  that  was  so  far 
done  it  was  arranged  to  haul  down  to  the  sea  that  it  might  receive 
the  finishing  touches  there.  When  there  arose  a  great  inquiry  as 
to  the  best  method  of  launching  it  into  the  sea,  Archimedes  the 
mechanician  launched  it  by  himself  with  the  aid  of  a  few  persons. 
Having  prepared  a  helix,  he  drew  this  vessel,  enormous  as  it  was, 
down  into  the  sea.  Thus  Archimedes  was  the  person  who  first  in- 
vented the  helix.  Next  the  remainder  of  the  ship  was  also  com- 
pleted in  six  months  more,  and  was  fastened  all  around  with  brazen 
nails,  the  majority  of  which  weighed  ten  minas,  and  the  rest  were 
half  as  big  again.  They  were  driven  in  through  holes  made  before- 
hand by  augers  so  as  to  hold  the  planks  firm,  and  were  fastened 
to  the  wood  with  leaden  plugs,  pieces  of  cloth  being  put  under, 
impregnated  with  pitch.  After  this  was  done,  after  Hieron  had 
completed  the  external  form  of  the  ship,  he  labored  on  the  interior. 

41.  The  vessel  was  constructed  with  twenty  banks  of  oars 
and  three  entrances.  The  lowest  entrance  led  to  the  hold,  to 
which  the  descent  was  by  two  ladders  of  many  steps  each ;  and  the 
next  was  contrived  for  those  who  wished  to  go  down  to  the  living 
rooms ;  and  the  third  was  for  the  armed  men.  On  each  side  of 
the  middle  entrance  were  apartments  for  the  men,  each  with  four 
couches  in  them,  thirty  in  number.  The  apartment  for  the  sailors 
was  capable  of  holding  fifteen  couches,  and  it  had  within,  three 
chambers  each  containing  three  couches ;  and  the  kitchen  was 
toward  the  stern  of  the  ship.  All  these  rooms  had  floors  of  mosaic 
work,  of  all  kinds  of  stones  tesselated.  On  this  mosaic  the  whole 
story  of  the  Iliad  was  presented  in  a  marvellous  manner.  In  all 
the  furniture  and  in  the  ceilings  and  doors  everything  was  executed 
in  the  same  admirable  way.  Along  the  uppermost  passage  were  a 
gymnasium  and  walks,  with  their  appointments  in  all  respects  cor- 
responding to  the  size  of  the  vessel.  In  them  were  gardens  of  all 
sorts  of  most  wonderful  beauty,  enriched  with  all  varieties  of  plants 
and  shaded  by  roofs  of  lead  or  tiles.  In  addition  there  were  tents 
roofed  with  boughs  of  white  ivy  and  of  the  vine,  the  roots  of  which 
derived  their  moisture  from  casks  full  of  earth,  and  were  watered  in 


644 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


the  same  manner  as  were  the  gardens.  The  tents  themselves  helped 
to  shade  the  walks.  Near  these  objects  was  a  temple  devoted  to 
Aphrodite,  containing  three  couches  with  a  floor  of  agate  and  other 
most  beautiful  stones  of  every  kind  that  the  island  afforded.  Its 
walls  and  roof  were  made  of  Cyprus  wood,  and  its  doors  of  ivory 
and  citron  wood.  It  was  furnished  exquisitely  with  pictures  and 
statues  and  with  goblets  and  vases  of  every  form  and  shape  imagi- 
nable. 

42.  Next  to  that  was  a  lounging-room  with  a  capacity  for  five 
couches,  with  its  doors  and  walls  of  box-wood,  having  a  book-case 
in  it,  and  on  the  roof  a  clock  imitated  from  the  dial  at  Achradina. 
There  was  also  a  bath-room  with  a  capacity  for  three  couches, 
having  three  brazen  vessels  for  hot  water  and  a  bath  holding  five 
measures  of  water  beautifully  adorned  with  Tauromenian  marble. 
Many  rooms,  too,  were  prepared  for  the  marines  and  for  those  who 
attended  to  the  pumps.  Besides  all  this  there  were  ten  stalls  for 
horses  on  each  side  of  the  walls ;  and  near  them  the  fodder  for  the 
horses  was  kept,  and  the  arms  and  furniture  of  the  horsemen  and 
the  grooms.  There  was  a  cistern,  too,  near  the  head  of  the  ship 
carefully  shut  and  containing  two  thousand  measures  of  water, 
made  of  beams  closely  compacted  with  pitch  and  canvas.  Next  to 
the  cistern  was  a  large  water-tight  tank  for  fish,  made  so  with 
beams  of  wood  and  lead.  It  was  full  of  sea- water  and  in  it  great 
numbers  of  fish  were  kept. 

On  each  side  of  the  walls  were  projecting  beams,  placed  at  well 
proportioned  intervals ;  to  them  were  attached  stores  of  wood  and 
ovens  and  baking  places  and  mills  and  much  other  useful  apparatus. 
All  round  the  outside  of  the  ship  ran  atlases  six  cubits  high,  which 
supported  the  weight  placed  above  them  and  the  triglyph,  all 
fixed  at  convenient  distances  from  one  another.  The  whole  ship 
was  adorned  with  suitable  pictures. 

43.  In  the  vessel  were  eight  towers  of  a  size  proportioned  to  the 
burden  of  the  ship,  two  at  the  stern  and  as  many  at  the  head,  and 
the  rest  in  the  middle  of  the  ship.  To  each  were  fastened  two  large 
beams,  or  yards,  from  which  port-holes  were  fixed.  Through  them 
stones  were  discharged  upon  any  enemy  who  might  come  against  the 
ship.  On  each  of  the  towers  stood  four  young  men  fully  armed, 
and  two  archers.    The  whole  interior  of  the  towers  was  full  of 


HIERON'S  SHIP 


645 


stones  and  darts.  A  wall  with  buttresses  and  decks  ran  all  through 
the  ship  supported  on  trestles ;  and  on  these  decks  were  placed  a 
catapult  which  hurled  a  stone  weighing  three  talents  and  an  arrow 
twelve  cubits  long.  This  engine  was  devised  and  constructed  by 
Archimedes ;  and  it  could  throw  every  arrow  a  furlong.  Besides 
there  were  mats  composed  of  stout  ropes  suspended  by  brazen 
chains ;  and  as  there  were  three  masts,  from  each  of  them  were 
suspended  two  large  yards  bearing  stones,  from  which  hooks  and 
leaden  weights  were  let  down  upon  any  enemy  which  might  attack 
the  vessel.  There  was  also  a  palisade  all  round  the  ship  made  of 
iron,  as  a  defence  against  those  who  might  attempt  to  board  it, 
and  iron  ravens,  as  they  were  called,  all  round  the  ship,  which, 
being  shot  forth  by  engines,  seized  on  the  vessels  of  the  enemy, 
and  brought  them  round  so  as  to  expose  them  to  blows.  On  each 
side  of  the  ship  stood  sixty  young  men  clad  in  complete  armor; 
and  an  equal  number  stood  on  the  masts  and  on  the  yards  which 
carried  the  stones.  They  were  also  at  the  mast-head,  which  was  of 
bronze.  On  the  first  were  three  men,  on  the  second  two,  and  on 
the  third  one.  They  had  stones  brought  up  to  them  in  wicker- 
baskets  by  means  of  pulleys,  and  arrows  were  supplied  to  them  by 
boys  within  the  defended  parts  of  the  mast-heads.  The  vessel 
had  four  wooden  anchors  and  eight  iron  ones.  The  second  and 
third  of  the  masts  were  easily  found  but  the  first  was  procured 
with  difficulty  among  the  mountains  of  Bruttium,  and  was  dis- 
covered by  a  swineherd.  Phileas,  a  mechanic  of  Tauromenium, 
brought  it  down  to  the  seaside. 

The  hold,  although  of  enormous  depth,  was  pumped  out  by  one 
man  by  means  of  a  pulley,  with  an  engine  which  was  the  con- 
trivance of  Archimedes.  The  name  of  the  ship  was  '  the  Syracusan,' 
but  when  Hieron  sent  it  to  sea,  he  altered  its  name,  calling  it  '  the 
Alexandrian.' 

It  had  some  small  launches  attached  to  it,  the  first  of  which 
was  one  of  the  light  galleys  called  cercurus,  capable  of  holding  a 
weight  of  three  thousand  talents.  It  was  wholly  moved  by  oars. 
After  that  came  many  galleys  and  skiffs  of  about  fifteen  hundred 
talents  burden.  The  crews  also  were  proportionally  numerous; 
for  besides  the  men  who  have  already  been  mentioned,  there  were 
six  hundred  more,  whose  post  was  at  the  head  of  the  ship,  always 


646 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


watching  for  the  orders  of  the  captain.  There  was  a  tribunal  in- 
stituted to  judge  of  all  offences  committed  on  board  the  ship, 
consisting  of  the  captain  and  pilot,  and  the  officer  of  the  watch. 
They  decided  every  case  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Syracusans. 

44.  They  put  on  board  the  ship  sixty  thousand  measures  of 
grain,  ten  thousand  jars  of  Sicilian  salt-fish,  twenty  thousand  talents 
weight  of  wool,  and  of  other  cargo  twenty  thousand  talents  weight. 
Besides  all  this,  there  were  the  provisions  necessary  for  the  crew. 
When,  however,  Hieron  found  that  some  harbors  in  Sicily  were  not 
large  enough  to  admit  this  ship  and  that  other  harbors  were  dan- 
gerous, he  determined  to  send  it  as  a  present  to  Ptolemy,  king  of 
Egypt,  at  Alexandria. 

D.    HISTORICAL  CRITICISM 

It  is  appropriate  to  include  in  this  chapter  selections  from  Polybius  of 
Megalopolis,  who  composed  history  in  a  scientific  spirit.  He  was  born  about 
201  and  died  about  120.  His  father  Lycortas  was  general,  chief  executive,  of 
the  Achaean  league,  and  at  an  early  age  Polybius  entered  the  army  and  engaged 
in  active  service.  In  time  he  became  a  general  and  diplomatist  of  distinguished 
ability.  After  the  defeat  of  Perseus,  king  of  Macedon,  by  the  Romans  (168), 
Polybius  was  brought  to  Rome  with  a  thousand  other  Achaeans  as  hostages. 
At  this  time  the  Romans  must  have  regarded  him  as  an  enemy ;  but  during 
his  stay  in  the  imperial  city  he  became  attached  to  certain  great  families  of 
Rome,  and  became  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  her  people  and  her  institutions. 
His  partiality  for  Rome  may  in  fact  be  regarded  as  a  defect  of  his  history. 

The  composition  of  his  great  work  required  many  years,  and  there  is  evi- 
dence of  changes  of  plan  and  of  views.  It  contained  forty  books,  of  which  we 
have  but  a  small  part  — books  i-v  entire,  a  great  part  of  vi,  and  fragments  of  the 
rest.  In  the  study  of  this  author  the  first  thing  to  notice  is  his  historical  method. 
No  better  introduction  to  the  scientific  study  of  history  could  be  found  in  any 
modern  authority.  The  moderns  have  little  to  change  in  him  and  little  to 
add.  Apart  from  the  matter  of  style  he  is,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Thucydides,  the  greatest  of  ancient  historians,  hence  one  of  the  foremost  of  all 
time.  Whereas  Thucydides  gives  us  the  finished  product  only,  Polybius  takes 
us  into  his  workshop  and  shows  us  the  details  of  his  process ;  hence  arises  his 
value  for  the  study  of  method. 

The  object  of  his  work  is  to  show  how  and  under  what  kind  of  polity  Rome 
gained  the  supremacy  over  nearly  the  whole  habitable  world  (i.  5  ;  cf.  xxxix.  19). 
The  main  period  covered  extends  from  220  to  168,  fifty-three  years  (iii.  1-3,  5). 
It  begins  near  the  opening  of  the  war  with  Hannibal  and  the  outbreak  of  the 
social  war  in  Greece,  when  the  history  of  the  world  verges  toward  a  unity  which 
admits  of  universal  treatment  (i.  3  ;  ii.  37) ;  it  continues  the  history  of  Timaeus, 


POLYBIUS 


647 


which  breaks  off  at  about  this  point.  To  the  body  of  the  work  he  has  prefixed 
a  long  introduction;  and  on  reaching  the  year  168  he  takes  a  new  start  and 
continues  the  narrative  to  the  destruction  of  Carthage  in  146. 

In  his  opinion  there  are  three  principal  elements  of  historiography.  The 
first  is  the  study  of  documents,  of  which  he  has  made  extensive  use,  but  which 
he  considers  the  least  important  element  (xii.  25;  cf.  iii.  21,  33,  56;  xvi.  15). 
The  second  element  is  physical  and  political  geography  learned  in  part  by  per- 
sonal observation.  Polybius  himself  traveled  extensively,  facing  great  dangers 
and  undergoing  hardships  to  obtain  the  geographical  knowledge  necessary  for 
his  work  (iii.  48).  In  spite  of  every  effort  he  has  made  some  egregious  mis- 
takes. Especially  a  historian,  he  asserts,  should  have  a  knowledge  of  the  re- 
sources of  the  country  of  which  he  treats.  While  criticising  others  for  their 
ignorance  of  such  subjects  (cf.  ii.  62),  he  gives  a  careful  account  of  the  products 
of  the  regions  with  which  his  narrative  is  connected:  e.g.,  Lusitania ;  xxxiv. 
8  —  silver-mining  near  New  Carthage ;  xxxiv.  9  —  gold-mining  near  Aquileia ; 
xxxiv.  10.  The  third  element  of  historiography  is  political  and  military  science 
learned  by  actual  experience. 

These  elements  are  means  to  an  end,  namely  the  establishment  of  truth, 
which  is  the  essential  virtue  of  history  (cf.  ii.  56).  In  pursuing  this  object 
Polybius  aims  not  only  to  render  his  own  work  sound  and  trustworthy  but  also 
to  come  to  the  aid  of  other  writers  who  have  made  mistakes :  "I  thought  it  a 
point  of  honor  not  to  look  upon  the  mistakes  of  others  as  personal  triumphs, 
after  the  manner  of  some  writers,  but  to  do  the  best  I  could  to  secure  correct- 
ness, not  only  of  my  own  historical  writings  but  of  those  of  other  historians 
also,  for  the  benefit  of  the  world  at  large"  (xvi.  20). 

The  most  important  subjects  of  history  are  motive  and  cause,  which  ordi- 
narily are  different  sides  of  the  same  thing  (iii.  7).  A  general  must  study  the 
character  of  his  opponent  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  his  weakness  (iii.  80  sq.). 
A  statesman  must  have  an  eye  to  the  motives  for  treaties,  enmities,  and  the 
like,  that  he  may  know  how  to  deal  with  them  (iii.  12).  Cause  must  be  dis- 
tinguished from  occasion.  The  latter  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  actions,  whereas 
the  former  is  the  motive  which  lies  back  of  these  actions  (iii.  6  sq.).  In  his 
opinion,  however,  causation  is  far  broader  and  deeper  than  the  motives  of  an 
individual  or  of  any  small  group  of  individuals.  The  chief  cause  of  the  decline 
of  Hellas,  for  example,  is  depopulation,  and  the  cause  of  depopulation  is  a  per- 
verted passion  for  show  and  money  and  for  the  pleasures  of  an  idle  life,  which 
leads  to  race  suicide  (xxxvii.  9).  The  cause  of  the  success  of  Rome  lies 
in  her  institutions  and  in  the  character  of  her  people  (bk.  vi).  With  Polybius, 
however,  causation  is  not  so  abstract  and  so  mysterious  an  idea  as  with  us. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  theory  of  evolution  the  modern  historian  has  created, 
so  to  speak,  a  reservoir  of  economic,  social,  and  psychological  forces,  from 
which  he  may  draw  at  pleasure  whatever  he  desires  to  fit  any  possible  situ- 
ation. Doubtless  this  creation  is  in  part  imaginary,  especially  in  its  excess  of 
abstraction,  for  which  we  may  find  a  corrective  in  the  concrete,  unclouded 
vision  of  Thucydides  and  Polybius. 


648 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


Timaeus,  an  historian  whom  Polybius  criticizes  with  perhaps  excessive 
severity,  was  a  native  of  Tauromenium,  Sicily  (about  346-250).  His  His- 
tories (of  Sicily  and  Italy)  extended  from  mythical  times  to  the  death  of 
Agathocles,  289  B.C.  (Diod.  xxi.  17).  A  later  addition  continued  the  narrative 
through  the  career  of  Pyrrhus  to  272.  As  his  work  contained  many  references 
to  eastern  Hellas,  it  assumed  something  of  the  character  of  a  universal  history. 
The  extant  fragments  may  be  found  in  Miiller,  Frag.  hist,  grcec.  I.  193-233  ; 
IV.  625  sq.,  640  sq.  Further  extracts  from  Polybius  will  be  found  in  the  first 
volume  of  this  series. 

216.  Certain  Faults  of  Timaeus 

(Polybius  xii.  4  a-d) 

(a)  It  is  difficult  to  pardon  such  errors  in  Timaeus,  considering 
how  severe  he  is  in  criticising  the  slips  of  others.  For  instance  he 
finds  fault  with  Theopompus  for  stating  that  Dionysius  sailed  from 
Sicily  to  Corinth  in  a  merchant  vessel,  whereas  he  really  arrived 
in  a  ship  of  war.  And  again  he  falsely  charges  Ephorus  with  con- 
tradicting himself,  on  the  ground  that  he  asserts  that  Dionysius 
the  Elder  ascended  the  throne  at  the  age  of  twenty- three,  reigned 
forty-two  years,  and  died  at  sixty-three.  Now  no  one  would  say, 
I  think,  that  this  was  a  blunder  of  the  historian,  but  clearly  one 
of  the  transcriber.  For  either  Ephorus  must  be  more  foolish  than 
Corcebus  and  Margites,1  if  he  were  unable  to  calculate  that  forty- 
two  added  to  twenty-three  make  sixty-five ;  or,  if  that  is  incredible 
in  the  case  of  a  man  like  Ephorus,  it  must  be  a  mere  mistake  of  the 
transcriber,  and  the  carping  and  malevolent  criticism  of  Timaeus 
must  be  rejected. 

(b)  Again,  in  his  history  of  Pyrrhus,  he  says  that  the  Romans 
still  keep  up  the  memory  of  the  fall  of  Troy  by  shooting  to  death 
with  javelins  a  war-horse  on  a  certain  fixed  day,  because  the  cap- 
ture of  Troy  was  accomplished  by  means  of  the  "Wooden  Horse." 
This  is  quite  childish.  On  this  principle,  all  non-Hellenic  nations 
must  be  put  down  as  descendants  of  the  Trojans ;  for  nearly  all  of 
them,  or  at  any  rate  the  majority,  when  about  to  commence  a  war 
or  a  serious  battle  with  an  enemy,  first  kill  and  sacrifice  a  horse. 
In  making  this  sort  of  ill-founded  deduction,  Timaeus  seems  to  me 

1  Corcebus  and  Margites  are  types  of  stupidity  in  Greek  literature.  The  latter  is 
the  subject  of  a  mock  epic  attributed  to  Homer. 


CRITICISM  OF  TIM/EUS 


649 


to  show  not  only  want  of  knowledge,  but,  what  is  worse,  a  trick 
of  misapplying  knowledge.  For,  because  the  Romans  sacrifice  a 
horse,  he  immediately  concludes  that  they  do  it  because  Troy  was 
taken  by  means  of  a  horse. 

(c)  These  instances  clearly  show  how  Worthless  his  account 
of  Libya,  Sardinia,  and  above  all,  of  Italy 1  is ;  and  that,  speaking 
generally,  he  has  entirely  neglected  the  most  important  element 
in  historical  investigation,  namely,  the  making  of  personal  inquiries. 
For  as  historical  events  take  place  in  many  different  localities,  and 
as  it  is  impossible  for  the  same  man  to  be  in  several  places  at  the 
same  time,  and  also  impossible  for  him  to  see  with  his  own  eyes 
all  places  in  the  world  and  observe  their  peculiarities,  the  only 
resource  left  is  to  ask  questions  of  as  many  people  as  possible ; 
and  to  believe  those  who  are  worthy  of  credit ;  and  to  show  critical 
sagacity  in  judging  of  their  reports. 

(d)  And  though  Timaeus  makes  great  professions  on  this  head, 
he  appears  to  me  to  be  very  far  from  arriving  at  the  truth.  In- 
deed, so  far  from  making  accurate  investigations  of  the  truth 
through  other  people,  he  does  not  tell  us  anything  trustworthy 
even  of  events  of  which  he  has  been  an  eye-witness,  or  of  places  he 
has  personally  visited.  This  will  be  made  evident,  if  we  can  con- 
vict him  of  being  ignorant,  even  in  his  account  of  Sicily,  of  the 
facts  which  he  brings  forward.  For  it  will  require  very  little  further 
proof  of  his  inaccuracy,  if  he  can  be  shown  to  be  ill-informed  and 
misled  about  the  localities  in  which  he  was  born  and  bred,  and  that 
too  the  most  famous  of  them. 

217.  Tbleus'  Chronological  and  Archaeological 
Studies 

(Polybius  xii.  11) 

This  is  the  man  forsooth  who  drew  out  a  comparative  list  of 
the  ephors  and  the  kings  of  Sparta  from  the  earliest  times ;  as  well 
as  one  comparing  the  archons  at  Athens  and  priestesses  in  Argos 
with  the  list  of  Olympic  victors,  and  thereby  convicted  those  cities 
of  being  in  error  about  those  records  because  there  was  a  discrep- 

1  In  a  passage  above  (ch.  3)  Polybius  has  criticized  Timaeus'  treatment  of  these 
countries. 


650 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


ancy  of  three  months  between  them !  This  again  is  the  man  who 
discovered  the  engraved  tablets  in  the  inner  shrines,  and  the  records 
of  the  guest-friendships  on  the  doorposts  of  the  temples.  And  we 
cannot  believe  that  such  a  man  could  have  been  ignorant  of  any- 
thing of  this  sort  that  existed,  or  would  have  omitted  to  mention 
it  if  he  had  found  it.  Nor  can  he  on  any  ground  expect  pardon, 
if  he  has  told  an  untruth  about  it :  for,  as  he  has  shown  himself  a 
bitter  and  uncompromising  critic  of  others,  he  must  naturally  look 
for  equally  uncompromising  attacks  from  them. 


218.  Truth  the  Prime  Virtue  of  History 

(Polybius  xii.  12) 

12.  Timseus  says  that  the  greatest  fault  in  history  is  want  of 
truth;  and  he  accordingly  advises  all,  whom  he  may  have  con- 
victed of  making  false  statements  in  their  writings,  to  find  some 
other  name  for  their  books,  and  to  call  them  anything  they  like 
except  history.  .  .  . 

For  example  in  the  case  of  a  carpenter's  rule,  though  it  may  be 
too  short  or  too  narrow  for  your  purpose,  yet  if  it  have  the  essential 
feature  of  a  rule,  that  of  straightness,  you  may  still  call  it  a  rule ; 
but  if  it  has  not  this  quality,  and  deviates  from  the  straight  line, 
you  may  call  it  anything  you  like  except  a  rule.  "  On  the  same 
principle,"  says  he,  "  historical  writings  may  fail  in  style  or  treat- 
ment or  other  details ;  yet  if  they  hold  fast  to  truth,  such  books 
may  claim  the  title  of  history,  but  if  they  swerve  from  that,  they 
ought  no  longer  to  be  called  history."  Well,  I  quite  agree  that  in 
such  writings  truth  should  be  the  first  consideration ;  and,  in  fact, 
somewhere  in  the  course  of  my  work,  I  have  said  "that  as  in  a  living 
body,  when  the  eyes  are  out,  the  whole  is  rendered  useless,  so  if  you 
take  truth  from  history  what  is  left  is  but  an  idle  tale"  I  said  again, 
however,  that  "there  were  two  sorts  of  falsehoods,  the  ignorant 
and  the  intentional ;  and  the  former  deserved  indulgence,  the  latter 
uncompromising  severity."  .  .  .  These  points  being  agreed  upon 
—  the  wide  difference  between  ignorant  and  intentional  lie,  and 
the  kindly  correction  due  to  the  one,  and  the  unbending  denuncia- 
tion to  the  other  —  it  will  be  found  that  it  is  to  the  latter  charge 


VALUE  OF  EXPERIENCE 


that  Timaeus  more  than  anyone  lays  himself  open.  And  the  proof 
of  his  character  in  this  respect  is  clear. 

219.  The  Historian's  Need  of  Practical  Experience 

(Polybius  xii.  25  e-n) 

(e)  In  the  same  way  the  science  of  genuine  history  is  threefold : 
first,  the  dealing  with  written  documents  and  the  arrangement  of 
the  material  thus  obtained;  second,  topography,  the  appearance 
of  cities  and  localities,  the  description  of  rivers  and  harbors,  and 
speaking  generally,  the  peculiar  features  of  seas  and  countries  and 
their  relative  distances;  thirdly,  political  affairs.  Now,  as  in  the 
case  of  medicine,  it  is  the  last  branch  that  many  attach  themselves 
too,  owing  to  their  preconceived  opinions  on  the  subject.  And  the 
majority  of  writers  bring  to  the  undertaking  no  spirit  of  fairness  at 
all :  nothing  but  dishonesty,  impudence,  and  unscrupulousness. 
Like  vendors  of  drugs,  their  aim  is  to  catch  popular  credit  and  favor, 
and  to  seize  every  opportunity  of  enriching  themselves.  About 
such  writers  it  is  not  worth  while  to  say  more. 

(/)  But  some  of  those  who  have  the  reputation  of  approaching 
history  in  a  reasonable  spirit  are  like  the  theoretical  physicians. 
They  spend  all  their  time  in  libraries,  and  acquire  generally  all  the 
learning  which  can  be  got  from  books,  and  then  persuade  themselves 
that  they  are  adequately  equipped  for  their  task.  .  .  .  Yet  in  my 
opinion  they  are  only  partially  qualified  for  the  production  of  general 
history.  To  inspect  ancient  records  indeed,  with  the  view  of  ascer- 
taining the  notions  entertained  by  the  ancients  of  certain  places, 
nations,  polities  and  events,  and  of  understanding  the  several  cir- 
cumstances and  contingencies  experienced  in  former  times,  is  useful ; 
for  the  history  of  the  past  directs  our  attention  in  a  proper  spirit 
to  the  future,  if  a  writer  can  be  found  to  give  a  statement  of  facts 
as  they  really  occurred.  But  to  persuade  one's  self,  as  Timaeus 
does,  that  such  ability  in  research  is  sufficient  to  enable  a  man  to 
describe  subsequent  transactions  with  success  is  quite  foolish.  It 
is  as  though  a  man  were  to  imagine  that  an  inspection  of  the  works 
of  the  old  masters  would  enable  him  to  become  a  painter  and  a 
master  of  the  art  himself. 

(g)  This  will  be  rendered  still  more  evident  from  what  I  have 


652 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


now  to  say,  particularly  from  certain  passages  in  the  history  of 
Ephorus.  This  writer  in  his  treatment  of  war  seems  to  me  to  have 
had  some  idea  of  naval  tactics,  but  to  be  quite  unacquainted  with 
fighting  on  shore.  Accordingly,  if  one  turns  one's  attention  to 
the  naval  battles  at  Cyprus  and  Cnidos,  in  which  the  generals  of 
the  king  were  engaged  against  Evagoras  of  Salamis  and  then  against 
the  Lacedaemonians,  one  will  be  struck  with  admiration  of  the  his- 
torian, and  will  learn  many  useful  lessons  as  to  what  to  do  in  similar 
circumstances.  But  when  he  tells  the  story  of  the  battle  of  Leuctra 
between  the  Thebans  and  Lacedaemonians,  or  again  that  of  Mantineia 
between  the  same  combatants,  in  which  Epaminondas  lost  his  life, 
if  in  these  accounts  one  examines  attentively  and  in  detail  the 
arrangements  and  evolutions  in  the  line  of  battle,  the  historian  will 
appear  quite  ridiculous,  and  betray  his  entire  ignorance  and  want 
of  personal  experience  in  such  matters.  The  battle  of  Leuctra 
indeed  was  simple,  and  confined  to  one  division  of  the  forces  en- 
gaged, and  therefore  does  not  make  the  writer's  lack  of  knowledge 
so  very  glaring ;  but  that  of  Mantineia  was  complicated  and  tech- 
nical, and  is  accordingly  unintelligible,  and  indeed  completely  incon- 
ceivable to  the  historian.  This  will  be  rendered  clear  by  first  lay- 
ing down  a  correct  plan  of  the  ground,  and  then  measuring  the 
extent  of  the  movements  as  described  by  him.  The  same  is  the 
case  with  Theopompus,  and  above  all  with  Timaeus,  the  subject 
of  this  book.  These  latter  writers  also  can  conceal  their  ignorance, 
so  long  as  they  deal  with  generalities ;  but  directly  they  attempt 
minute  and  detailed  description,  they  show  they  are  no  better  than 
Ephorus.  .  .  . 

Qi)  It  is  in  fact  as  impossible  to  write  well  on  the  operations  of 
a  war,  if  a  man  has  had  no  experience  of  actual  service,  as  it  is  to 
write  well  on  politics  without  having  been  engaged  in  political 
transactions  and  vicissitudes.  And  when  history  is  written  by 
the  book-learned,  without  technical  knowledge,  and  without  clear- 
ness of  detail,  the  work  loses  all  its  value.  For  if  you  take  from 
history  its  element  of  practical  instruction,  what  is  left  of  it  has 
nothing  to  attract  and  nothing  to  teach.  Again,  in  the  topography 
of  cities  and  localities,  when  such  men  attempt  to  go  into  details, 
being  entirely  without  personal  knowledge,  they  must  in  a  similar 
manner  necessarily  pass  over  many  points  of  importance;  while 


THE  BOOK-WORM  HISTORIAN 


653 


they  waste  words  on  many  that  are  not  worth  the  trouble.  And 
this  is  what  his  failure  to  make  personal  inspection  brings  upon 
Timaeus.  .  .  . 

(i)  In  his  thirty-fourth  book  Timaeus  says  that  "he  spent  fifty 
continuous  years  at  Athens  as  an  alien,  and  never  took  part  in  any 
military  service,  or  went  to  inspect  the  localities."  Accordingly, 
when  he  comes  upon  any  such  matters  in  the  course  of  his  history, 
he  shows  much  ignorance  and  makes  many  misstatements ;  and 
if  he  ever  does  come  near  the  truth,  he  is  like  one  of  those  animal 
painters  who  draw  from  models  of  stuffed  skins.  Such  artists 
sometimes  preserve  the  correct  outline,  but  the  vivid  look  and 
life-like  portraiture  of  the  real  animal,  the  chief  charm  of  the  painter's 
art,  are  quite  wanting.  This  is  just  the  case  with  Timaeus,  and  in 
fact  with  all  who  start  with  mere  book-learning ;  there  is  nothing 
vivid  in  their  presentment  of  events,  for  that  can  only  come  from 
the  personal  experience  of  the  writers.  And  hence  it  is,  that 
those  who  have  gone  through  no  such  course  of  actual  experience 
produce  no  genuine  enthusiasm  in  the  minds  of  their  readers. 
Former  historians  showed  their  sense  of  the  necessity  of  making 
professions  to  this  effect  in  their  writings.  For  when  their  subject 
was  political,  they  were  careful  to  state  that  the  writer  had  of 
course  been  engaged  in  politics,  and  had  had  experience  in  matters 
of  the  sort;  or  if  the  subject  was  military,  that  he  had  served  a 
campaign  and  been  actually  engaged ;  and  again,  when  the  matter 
was  one  of  everyday  life,  that  he  had  brought  up  children  and  had 
been  married ;  and  so  on  in  every  department  of  life,  which  we 
may  find  adequately  treated  by  those  writers  alone  who  have  had 
personal  experience,  and  have  accordingly  made  that  branch  of 
history  their  own.  It  is  difficult  perhaps  for  a  man  to  have  been 
actually  and  literally  engaged  in  everything ;  but  in  the  most 
important  actions  and  most  frequently  occurring  he  must  have  been 
so. 

(j)  And  that  this  is  no  impossibility,  Homer  is  a  convincing 
instance  ;  for  in  him  you  may  see  this  quality  of  personal  knowledge 
frequently  and  conspicuously  displayed.  The  upshot  of  all  this  is 
that  the  study  of  documents  is  only  one  of  three  elements  in  the 
preparation  of  an  historian,  and  is  only  third  in  importance.  And 
no  clearer  proof  of  this  could  be  given  than  that  furnished  by  the 


654  SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 

deliberative  speeches,  harangues  of  commanders,  and  orations  of 
ambassadors  as  recorded  by  Timaeus.  For  the  truth  is,  that  the 
occasions  are  rare  which  admit  of  all  possible  arguments  being  set 
forth ;  as  a  rule,  the  circumstances  of  the  case  confine  them  to 
narrow  limits.  And  of  such  speeches  one  sort  is  regarded  with 
favor  by  men  of  our  time,  another  by  those  of  an  earlier  age ;  dif- 
ferent styles  again  are  popular  with  ^Etolians,  Peloponnesians,  and 
Athenians.  But  to  make  digressions,  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
for  the  purpose  of  setting  forth  every  possible  speech  that  could 
be  made,  as  Timaeus  does  by  his  trick  of  inventing  words  to  suit 
every  sort  of  occasion,  is  utterly  misleading,  pedantic,  and  worthy 
of  a  schoolboy  essayist.  And  this  practice  has  brought  failure  and 
discredit  on  many  writers.  Of  course  to  select  from  time  to  time 
the  proper  and  appropriate  language  is  a  necessary  part  of  our  art ; 
but  as  there  is  no  fixed  rule  to  decide  the  quantity  and  quality  of 
the  words  to  be  used  on  a  particular  occasion,  great  care  and  train- 
ing is  required  if  we  are  to  instruct  and  not  mislead  our  readers. 
The  exact  nature  of  the  situation  is  difficult  to  communicate  always ; 
still  it  may  be  brought  home  to  the  mind  by  means  of  systematic 
demonstration,  founded  on  personal  and  habitual  experience.  The 
best  way  of  securing  that  this  should  be  realised  is  for  historians, 
first,  to  state  clearly  the  position,  the  aims,  and  the  circumstances 
of  those  deliberating ;  and  then,  recording  the  real  speeches  made, 
to  explain  to  us  the  causes  which  contributed  to  the  success  or 
failure  of  the  several  speakers.  Thus  we  could  obtain  a  free  con- 
ception of  the  situation,  and  by  exercising  our  judgment  upon  it, 
and  drawing  analogies  from  it,  should  be  able  to  form  a  thoroughly 
sound  opinion  upon  the  circumstances  of  the  hour.  But  I  suppose 
that  tracing  causes  is  difficult,  while  stringing  words  together  in 
books  is  easy.  Few  again  have  the  faculty  of  speaking  briefly  to 
the  point,  and  getting  the  necessary  training  for  doing  so ;  while 
to  produce  a  long  and  futile  composition  is  within  most  people's 
capacity  and  is  common  enough.  .  .  . 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Science.  —  Marmery,  J.  V.,  Progress  of  Science  (London:  Chapman, 
1895),  chs.  ii,  iii;  Williams,  H.  S.,  History  of  Science,  5  vols.  (Harper,  1904)  I. 
chs.  ix,  xi;  Whibley,  Companion  to  Greek  Studies  (Cambridge:  University 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Press,  1905),  205-7  with  references;  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  1.  473-507; 
Susemihl,  Fr.,  Geschichte  der  griech.  Litter atur  der  Alexandrinerzeit,  2  vols. 
(Leipzig,  1 89 1,  1892),  see  Contents  for  the  various  scientists;  Giinther  and 
Windelband,  Geschichte  der  antiken  Naturwissenschaft  (Miiller's  Hdb.  der  kl. 
Altwiss.  V,  Nordlingen:  Beck,  1888);  Heiberg,  J.  L.  "Exakte  Wissenschaft 
und  Medizin,"  in  Gercke  and  Norden,  Einleitung  in  die  Alter ■tumswiss ens chaff, 
II  (1910).  393-432  with  references;  Naturwissenschaften  und  Mathematik  im 
klassischen  Altertum  (Teubner,  191 2);  Loria,  G.,  Le  scienze  esatte  nelV  antica 
Grecia  (Modena,  1 893-1 902). 

For  mathematics,  see  Zeuthen,  H.  G.,  Histoire  des  mathematiques  dans 
Vantiquite  et  le  moyen  age  (Paris,  1902) ;  Cantor,  M.,  Vorlesungen  iiber  Ge- 
schichte der  Mathematik,  I  (3d  ed.,  Leipzig,  1907) ;  Ball,  W.  W.  R.,  A  Short  Ac- 
count of  the  History  of  Mathematics  (Macmillan,  191 2) ;  Hultsch,  Fr.,  "Arithme- 
tica,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  II.  1066-1116. 

For  astronomy,  geography,  and  kindred  subjects,  see  Geographi  grceci 
minores,  2  vols,  of  text  and  a  third  of  maps  (Paris,  1855-1861) ;  Columba,  G.  M., 
Eratostene  e  la  misurazione  del  meridano  terrestre  (Palermo,  1895)  5  Berger,  H., 
Die  gcogr aphis chen  Fragmente  des  Eratosthenes  neu  gesammelt,  etc.  (Teubner, 
1880) ;  Geschichte  der  wissenschaftlichen  Erdkunde  der  Griechen  (2d  ed.,  Leipzig : 
Weit,  1903) ;  Bunbury,  E.  H.,  History  of  Ancient  Geography,  2  vols.  (2d  ed., 
London,  1883);  Tozer,  H.  F.,  History  of  Ancient  Geography  (Cambridge: 
University  Press,  1897) ;  Nissen,  H.,  "Die  Erdmessung,  des  Eratosthenes,"  in 
Rhein.  Mus.  LVIII  (1903).  231-45;  Tannery,  P.,  Recherches  sur  V histoire  de 
Vastronomie  ancienne  (Paris,  1893);  Heath,  Th.  L.,  Aristarchus  of  Samos ;  the 
Ancient  Copernicus  (Oxford:  Clarendon  Press,  191 2) ;  The  Method  of  Archi- 
medes discovered  by  Heiberg  (Cambridge:  University  Press,  191 2);  Martin, 
Th.  H.,  "  Astronomie,"  in  Daremberg-Saglio,  Diet.  I.  476-504;  Hultsch,  Fr., 
Apollonius,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  II.  151  (no.  ii2)-6o;  "Archi- 
medes," ib.  507  (no.  3)~39;  "Aristarchus"  (of  Samos),  ib.  873  (no.  25)-6; 
"Astronomie,"  ib.  1828-62. 

On  medicine :  a  Corpus  medicorum  grcecorum  is  being  prepared  conjointly 
by  the  Academies  of  Copenhagen  and  Berlin  (Teubner) ;  Puschmann,  Th., 
Geschichte  des  medizinischen  Unterrichts  (Leipzig,  1889) ;  English  edition 
(London,  1891) ;  Neuberger,  M.,  Geschichte  der  Medizin,  2  vols.  (Stuttgart, 
1906,  1908) ;  Schwalbe,  E.,  Vorlesungen  iiber  die  Geschichte  der  Medizin  (2d 
ed.,  Jena.  Fischer,  1909);  Milne,  J.  St.,  Surgical  Instruments  in  Greek  and 
Roman  Times  (Aberdeen  University  Studies,  1907);  Randolph,  C.  B.,  "The 
Mandragora  of  the  Ancients,"  etc.,  in  Proceed.  Am.  Acad,  of  Arts  and  Sci.  XL. 
485-537  ;  Jones,  Ross,  and  Ellet,  Malaria:  a  Neglected  Factor  in  the  History  of 
Greece  and  Rome  (Cambridge,  1907) ;  Jones,  Malaria  and  Greek  History  (Univer- 
sity of  Manchester,  1909) ;  Meyer,  E.  H.  F.,  Geschichte  der  Botanik,  4  vols. 
(Konigsberg,  1854-1857) ;  Bretzl,  Botanische  Forschungen  des  Alexanderzuges 
(Leipzig,  1903).  Recent  literature  on  medicine  reviewed  by  Kind,  F.  E.,  in 
Jahresb.  CLVIII  (191 2).  132-234. 


656 


SCIENCE  AND  INVENTIONS 


II.  Polybius.  — The  best  edition  is  that  of  Biittner-Wobst,  Th.,  4  vols. 
(Teubner,  1905) ;  see  also  the  Didot  ed.  2  vols  with  Latin  translation  (Paris, 
1839) ;  History  of  the  Achcean  League  as  contained  in  the  Remains  of  Polybius, 
ed.  with  notes  by  Capes,  W.  W.  (London,  1888).  The  best  English  transla- 
tion is  by  Shuckburgh,  E.  S.  (Macmillan,  1889),  from  which  the  selections  for 
this  volume,  revised  by  E.  G.  S.,  have  been  taken.  Studies  in  Polybius  are 
Nissen,  H.,  "Die  Oekonomie  der  Geschichte  des  Polybius,"  in  Rhein.  Mus. 
XXVI  (1871).  241  sqq. ;  Bunbury,  E.  H.,  History  of  Ancient  Geography,  II. 
16-42;  Strachan-Davidson,  J.  L.,  "Polybius,"  in  Abbott,  E.,  Hellenica, 
387-424 ;  Hirzel,  R.,  "Der  Einfluss  der  Philosophic  auf  die  Geschichtschreibung 
des  Polybius,"  in  his  Untersuchungen  zu  Cicero 's  philosophischen  Schriften,  II. 
2.  Excurs.  vii,  841-907  ;  Thommen,  R.,  "Ueber  die  Abfassungszeit  des  Polybius," 
in  Hermes,  XX  (1885).  196-236;  Fustel  de  Coulanges,  N.  D.,  "Polybe;  ou 
Grece  conquise  par  les  Romains,"  in  his  Questions  historiques  (1893),  1 19-2  n  ; 
Duff,  M.  E.  G.,  "Criticism  of  Polybius'  History,"  in  Royal  Historical  Society 
Transactions,  new  ser.  XI  (1897).  1-17;  Biittner-Wobst,  Th.,  "Studien  zu 
Polybius,"  in  Philol.  LIX  (1900).  560  sqq. ;  "Polybius  als  Astronom,"  ib.  151 
sqq. ;  Schwartz,  E.,  Charakterkopfe  aus  der  antiken  Litteratur  (3d  ed.,  Leipzig, 
1910),  72  sqq. ;  Christ,  W.,  Griech.  Litt.  II.  292  sqq. ;  Bury,  J.  B.,  Ancient  Greek 
Historians  (Macmillan,  1909),  ch.  vi. 

Markhauser,  W.,  Der  Geschichtschreiber  Polybius,  seine  Weltanschauung  mid 
Staatslehre  (Munich,  1858) ;  Peter,  K.  L.,  Livius  und  Polybius:  iiber  die  Quellen 
des  XXI  und  XXII  Buchs  des  Livius  (Halle,  1863) ;  Scala,  R.  von,  Die  Studien 
des  Polybios  (Stuttgart,  1890) ;  Bender,  F.,  Antikes  Volkerrecht  im  Zeitalter  des 
Polybios  (Bonn,  1901);  Wunderer,  K.,  Polybiosforschungen,  3  vols.  (Leipzig, 
1901-1909) ;  Die  psychologischen  Anschauungen  des  Geschichtschreiber s  Polybios 
(Erlangen,  1905),  program  ;  Cuntz,  O.,  Polybios  und  sein  Werk  (Leipzig,  1902) ; 
Ullrich,  H.,  Die  Reden  bei  Polybios  (Zittau,  1905),  program;  Hahn,  L.,  Roms 
Sprache  und  der  Hellenismus  zur  Zeit  des  Polybios  (Niirnberg,  1906),  program; 
Laqueur,  R.,  Polybius  (Teubner,  1913). 


CHAPTER  XIX 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 
After  337  B.C. 

This  chapter  connects  closely  with  ch.  xvi. 

220.  In  the  Streets  of  Alexandria 
(Theocritus,  Idyl,  xv) 
For  Theocritus,  see  p.  56. 

The  poem  was  composed  at  Alexandria  after  the  marriage  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  and  Arsinoe,  probably  therefore  about  260  B.C.  Arsinoe'  is  giving 
a  festival  of  Adonis,  and  two  middle-class  women  from  Syracuse,  then  resident 
in  Alexandria,  go  out  to  see  the  festival.  One  of  them,  Gorgo,  first  calls  for 
the  other,  Praxinoe,  at  the  house  of  the  latter,  and  a  short  conversation  takes 
place  before  they  go  out.  With  them  go  their  two  slave  maids,  Eutychis  and 
Eunoe.  Their  gossip,  the  crowded  streets,  and  the  wares  which  they  inspect 
are  presented  most  interestingly  by  the  poet.  It  is  a  natural  and  fascinating 
picture  of  life  in  the  great  center  of  the  civilized  world  of  that  age. 

Gorgo.  Is  Praxinoe  at  home? 

Praxinoe.  Dear  Gorgo,  how  long  it  is  since  you  have  been 
here !  She  is  at  home.  The  wonder  is  that  you  have  got  here  at 
last !    Eunoe,  see  that  she  has  a  chair.    Throw  a  cushion  on  it  too. 

Gor.  It  does  most  charmingly  as  it  is. 

Prax.  Do  sit  down. 

Gor.  O,  what  a  thing  spirit  is !  I  have  scarcely  got  to  you 
alive,  Praxinoe  !  What  a  huge  crowd,  what  hosts  of  four-in-hands  ! 
Everywhere  cavalry  boots,  everywhere  men  in  uniform !  And  the 
road  is  endless ;  yes,  you  really  live  too  far  away ! 

Prax.  It  is  all  the  fault  of  that  madman  of  mine.  Here  he 
came  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  1  and  took  —  a  hole,  not  a  house, 
and  all  that  we  might  not  be  neighbors.  The  jealous  wretch,  always 
the  same,  ever  for  spite ! 

Gor.  Don't  talk  about  your  husband,  Dinon,  like  that,  my 

1  That  is,  from  Syracuse  to  Alexandria. 
657 


658 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


dear  girl,  before  your  little  boy,  —  look  how  he  is  staring  at  you ! 
Never  mind,  Zopirion,  sweet  child,  she  is  not  speaking  about  papa. 

Prax.  Our  lady ! 1  the  child  takes  notice. 

Gor.  Nice  papa ! 

Prax.  That  papa  of  his  the  other  day  —  we  call  every  day 
'the  other  day'  —  went  to  get  soap  and  dye  at  the  shop,  and  back 
he  came  to  me  with  salt  —  the  great  big,  stupid  fellow ! 

Gor.  Mine  has  the  same  trick,  too,  a  perfect  spendthrift, 
Diocleides !  Yesterday  he  got  what  he  meant  for  five  fleeces,  and 
paid  seven  drachmas  apiece  for  —  what  do  you  suppose  ?  —  dog- 
skins, shreds  of  old  leather  wallets,  mere  trash  —  trouble  on  trouble. 
But  come  take  your  cloak  and  shawl.  Let  us  be  off  to  the  palace 
of  rich  Ptolemy,  the  king,  to  see  the  Adonis ;  I  hear  the  queen  has 
provided  something  splendid ! 

Prax.  Fine  folks  do  everything  fitly. 

Gor.  What  a  tale  you  will  have  to  tell  about  the  things  you 
have  seen,  to  any  one  who  has  not  seen  them  !  It  seems  nearly  time 
to  go. 

Prax.  Idlers  have  always  holiday.  Eunoe,  bring  the  water 
and  put  it  down  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  lazy  creature  that  you 
are.  Cats  like  always  to  sleep  soft ! 2  Come,  bustle,  bring  the 
water ;  quicker.  I  want  water  first,  and  how  she  carries  it !  give 
it  me  all  the  same  ;  don't  pour  out  so  much,  you  extravagant  thing. 
Stupid  girl !  Why  are  you  wetting  my  dress  ?  There,  stop,  I  have 
washed  my  hands,  as  heaven  would  have  it.  Where  is  the  key  of 
the  big  chest?    Bring  it  here. 

Gor.  Praxinoe,  that  mantle  becomes  you  wonderfully.  Tell 
me  how  much  did  the  stuff  cost  you  just  off  the  loom? 

Prax.  Don't  speak  of  it,  Gorgo !  More  than  a  mina,  or  two, 
in  good  silver  money  —  and  the  work  on  it !  I  nearly  slaved  my 
soul  out  over  it. 

Gor.  Well,  it  is  most  successful ;  all  you  could  wish. 

Prax.  Thanks  for  the  pretty  speech!  Bring  my  shawl  and 
set  my  hat  on  my  head,  the  fashionable  way.  No,  child,  I  don't 
mean  to  take  you.    Boo !    Bogies !    There's  a  horse  that  bites ! 

1  Persephone. 

2  In  speaking  of  cats  she  means  lazy  servants,  like  Eunoe.  Cats  were  not  common 
in  Greece ;  the  proverb,  therefore,  must  have  been  Alexandrian. 


A  CROWDED  STREET 


659 


Cry  as  much  as  you  please,  but  I  cannot  have  you  lamed.  Let  us 
be  moving.  Phrygia,  take  the  child  and  keep  him  amused ;  call 
in  the  dog  and  shut  the  street  door. 

{They  go  out.) 

Ye  gods,  what  a  crowd !  How  on  earth  are  we  ever  to  get  through 
this  coil  ?  They  are  like  ants  that  no  one  can  measure  or  number. 
Many  a  good  deed  have  you  done,  Ptolemy ;  since  your  father 
joined  the  immortals,  there's  never  a  malefactor  to  spoil  the  passer- 
by, creeping  on  him  in  Egyptian  1  fashion  —  O,  the  tricks  those 
perfect  rascals  used  to  play.  Birds  of  a  feather,  ill  jesters,  scoundrels 
all !  Dear  Gorgo,  what  will  become  of  us?  Here  come  the  king's 
war-horses !  My  dear  man,  don't  trample  on  me.  Look,  the 
bay's  rearing,  see,  what  temper !  Eunoe,  you  fool-hardy  girl,  will 
you  never  keep  out  of  the  way  ?  The  beast  will  kill  the  man  that's 
leading  him.  What  a  good  thing  it  is  for  me  that  my  brat  stays 
safe  at  home. 

Gor.  Courage,  Praxinoe.  We  are  safe  behind  them,  now,  and 
they  have  gone  to  their  positions. 

Prax.  There !  I  begin  to  be  myself  again.  Ever  since  I  was 
a  child  I  have  feared  nothing  so  much  as  horses  and  the  chilly 
snake.    Come  along,  the  huge  mob  is  overflowing  us. 

Gor.  {to  an  old  woman).    Are  you  from  the  Court,  mother? 

Old  Woman.  I  am,  my  child. 

Prax.  Is  it  easy  to  get  there? 

Old  W.  The  Achaeans  got  into  Troy  by  trying,  my  prettiest 
lady.    Trying  will  do  everything  in  the  long  run. 

Gor.  The  old  wife  has  spoken  her  oracles,  and  off  she  goes. 

Prax.  Women  know  everything,  yes,  and  how  Zeus  married 
Hera! 

Gor.  See  Praxinoe,  what  a  crowd  there  is  about  the  doors. 

Prax.  Monstrous,  Gorgo !  Give  me  your  hand,  and  you, 
Eunoe,  catch  hold  of  Eutychis ;  never  lose  hold  of  her,  for  fear 
lest  you  get  lost !  Let  us  all  go  in  together ;  Eunoe,  clutch  tight 
to  me.  O  how  tiresome,  Gorgo,  my  muslin  veil  is  torn  in  two 
already !  For  heaven's  sake,  sir,  if  you  ever  wish  to  be  fortunate, 
take  care  of  my  shawl ! 

1  The  Greeks  looked  with  contempt  on  the  Egyptians. 


66o  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


Stranger.  I  can  hardly  help  myself,  but  for  all  that  I  will  be 
as  careful  as  I  can. 

Prax.  How  close-packed  the  mob  is,  they  hustle  like  a  herd  of 
swine. 

Stran.  Courage,  lady,  all  is  well  with  us  now. 

Prax.  Both  this  year  and  forever  may  all  be  well  with  you, 
my  dear  sir,  for  your  care  of  us.  A  good  kind  man  !  We're  letting 
Eunoe  get  jammed  —  come,  wretched  girl,  push  your  way  through. 
This  is  the  way.  We  are  all  on  the  right  side  of  the  door,  quoth 
the  bridegroom,  when  he  had  shut  himself  in  with  his  bride. 

Gor.  Do  come  here,  Praxinoe.  Look  first  at  these  embroideries. 
How  light  and  how  lovely  !  You  will  call  them  the  garments  of  the 
gods. 

Prax.  Lady  Athene,  what  spinning-women  wrought  them, 
what  painters  designed  these  drawings,  so  true  they  are?  How 
natural  they  stand  and  move,  like  living  creatures,  not  patterns 
woven.  What  a  clever  thing  is  man !  Ah,  and  himself,  Adonis, 
how  beautiful  to  behold  he  lies  on  his  silver  couch,  with  the  first 
down  on  his  cheeks,  the  thrice-beloved  Adonis  —  Adonis  beloved 
even  among  the  dead. 

Stranger  II.  You  weariful  women,  do  cease  your  endless 
cooing  talk !  They  bore  one  to  death  with  their  eternal  broad 
vowels ! 

Gor.  Indeed  !  And  where  may  this  person  come  from?  What 
is  it  to  you  if  we  are  chatterboxes !  Give  orders  to  your  servants, 
sir.  Do  you  pretend  to  command  ladies  of  Syracuse?  If  you 
must  know,  we  are  Corinthians  by  descent,1  like  Bellerophon  him- 
self, and  we  speak  Peloponnesian.  Dorian  women  may  lawfully 
speak  Doric,  I  presume? 

Prax.  Lady  Persephone,  never  may  we  have  more  than  one 
master.    I  am  not  afraid  of  your  putting  me  on  short  commons. 

Gor.  Hush,  hush,  Praxinoe  —  the  Argive  woman's  daughter, 
the  great  singer,  is  beginning  the  Adonis;  she  that  won  the  prize 
last  year  for  dirge-singing.  I  am  sure  she  will  give  us  something 
lovely ;  see,  she  is  preluding  with  her  airs  and  graces. 

(The  song  is  here  omitted.) 

1  The  Corinthians  prided  themselves  on  their  descent,  considering  themselves  above 
the  Alexandrians,  who  were  a  mixed  race. 


SHAVING 


661 


Gor.  Praxinoe,  the  woman  is  cleverer  than  we  fancied  !  Happy 
woman  to  know  so  much,  thrice  happy  to  have  so  sweet  a  voice. 
Well,  all  the  same,  it  is  time  to  be  making  for  home.  Diocleides 
has  not  had  his  dinner,  and  the  man  is  all  vinegar.  Don't  venture 
near  him  when  he  is  kept  waiting  for  dinner.  Farewell,  beloved 
Adonis,  may  you  find  us  glad  at  your  next  coming ! 

221.  The  Custom  of  Shaving  the  Beard 

(Chrysippus,  The  Beautiful  and  the  Pleasant;  also  a  comedy  of  Alexis,  quoted 

by  Athenaeus  xiii.  18) 

Those  who  are  interested  in  Greek  portrait  busts  and  statues  notice  that 
before  Alexander  the  Great  mature  men  uniformly  wear  beards,  whereas  from 
his  time  it  is  the  custom  of  all  excepting  the  philosophers  to  shave  their  faces 
clean.  From  the  excerpt  below  we  learn  that  in  various  states  laws  were 
passed  to  prohibit  shaving,  but  as  is  usual  with  such  enactments,  they  were 
generally  disobeyed. 

You  prefer,  however,  to  have  all  the  objects  of  your  affection 
with  clean-shaven  faces.  This  custom  of  shaving  the  beard  arose 
in  the  age  of  Alexander,  as  Chrysippus  tells  us  in  the  fourth  book 
of  his  work  on  The  Beautiful  and  the  Pleasant;  and  I  think  it  will 
not  be  out  of  place  for  me  to  quote  what  he  says;  for  he  is  an 
author  of  whom  I  am  very  fond,  because  of  his  great  learning  and 
his  gentle  good-natured  disposition.  These  are  the  words  of  the 
philosopher:  "The  custom  of  shaving  the  beard  was  introduced 
in  the  time  of  Alexander,  for  the  people  in  earlier  times  did  not 
practise  it;  and  Timotheus  the  piper  used  to  wear  a  long  beard 
when  playing  on  the  pipe.  At  Athens,  too,  they  even  now  remem- 
ber that  the  man  who  first  shaved  his  chin,  no  long  time  ago,  was 
given  the  name  Korses.  In  regard  to  this  circumstance  Alexis 
writes : 

Do  you  see  any  man  whose  beard  has  been 

Removed  by  sharp  pitch-plasters  or  by  razors  ? 

In  one  of  these  two  ways  he  may  be  mentioned : 

Either  he  seems  to  me  to  think  of  war, 

And  so  to  be  rehearsing  acts  of  fierce 

Hostility  against  his  beard  and  chin, 

Or  else  has  some  disease  that  comes  from  wealth ; 


662 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


For  how,  I  pray  you,  do  your  beards  annoy  you?  — 
Beards  by  which  you  may  best  be  known  as  men? 
Unless  in  fact  you're  planning  now  some  deed 
Unworthy  of  the  sex  and  name  of  men. 

Diogenes,  too,  when  he  saw  a  certain  smooth- chinned  man, 
remarked :  I  fear  you  think  you  have  great  reason  for  accusing 
nature  because  it  made  you  a  man  and  not  a  woman.  ...  At 
Rhodes,  though  there  is  a  law  prohibiting  shaving,  no  one  prose- 
cutes another  on  that  charge,  for  the  entire  population  shaves. 
At  Byzantium  also  there  is  a  penalty  to  which  every  barber  is 
liable  who  owns  a  razor,  but  every  one  uses  a  razor  none  the  less 
for  that  law."    Such  is  the  statement  of  the  admirable  Chrysippus. 

222.  The  Make-up  of  Het^r^e 

(Alexis,  Isostasion,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xiii.  23) 

For  Alexis  see  introduction  to  no.  223.  Isostasion  seems  to  signify  Equi- 
poise. 

For  first  of  all,  to  earn  themselves  great  gain, 
And  better  to  plunder  all  the  neighboring  men, 
They  use  a  lot  of  adventitious  aids  — 
They  plot  to  take  in  every  one.    And  when 
By  subtle  artifice  they've  made  some  money, 
They  enlist  fresh  girls  and  add  recruits,  who  ne'er 
Have  tried  the  trade,  unto  their  cunning  troop, 
And  drill  them  so  that  they  are  very  soon 
Different  in  manners  and  in  look  and  semblance 
From  all  they  were  before.    Suppose  one's  short, 
They  put  cork  soles  within  the  heels  of  her  shoes ; 
If  any  one's  too  tall,  she  wears  a  slipper 
Of  thinnest  substance,  and  with  head  depressed 
Between  her  shoulders,  walks  the  public  streets, 
And  so  takes  off  from  her  superfluous  height. 
If  any  one's  too  lean  about  the  flank, 
They  hoop  her  with  a  bustle,  so  that  all 
Who  see  her  marvel  at  her  fair  proportions. 
Has  any  one  too  prominent  a  stomach, 


WOMEN 


663 


They  crown  it  with  false  bosom,  such  as  perchance 

At  times  you  may  in  comic  actors  see ; 

And  what  is  still  too  prominent,  they  force 

Back,  ramming  it  as  if  with  scaffolding. 

Has  any  one  red  brows,  those  they  smear 

With  soot.    Has  any  one  a  dark  complexion, 

White  lead  will  that  correct.    This  girl's  too  fair, 

They  rub  her  well  with  rich  vermillion. 

Is  she  a  splendid  figure,  then  her  charms 

Are  shown  in  unclad  beauty  to  the  purchaser. 

Has  she  good  teeth,  then  she  is  forced  to  laugh, 

That  all  the  bystanders  may  see  her  mouth, 

How  beautiful  it  is ;  and  if  she  be 

But  ill  inclined  to  laugh,  then  she  is  kept 

Close  within  doors  whole  days,  and  all  the  things 

Which  cooks  keep  by  them  when  they  sell  goats'  heads, 

Such  as  a  stick  of  myrrh,  she's  forced  to  keep 

Between  her  lips,  till  they  have  learned  the  shape 

Of  the  required  smile.    And  by  such  arts 

They  make  their  charms  and  persons  up  for  market. 

223.  Wives  are  Undesirable 

(Alexis,  Soothsayers,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xiii.  7) 

Alexis  of  Thurii,  about  390  to  about  290,  was  one  of  the  most  famous  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Middle  Comedy.  He  is  said  to  have  lived  a  hundred  and  six 
years ;  and  he  certainly  produced  an  enormous  number  of  comedies.  Although 
he  began  to  write  plays  before  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  and  though 
the  date  of  his  Soothsayers  is  unknown,  the  subjoined  selection  is  grouped  with 
the  excerpt  from  Menander  on  the  same  subject  because  of  a  similarity  in  the 
tone  of  the  three  passages. 

Oh  wretched  are  we  husbands,  who  have  sold 

All  liberty  of  life,  all  luxury, 

And  live  as  slaves  of  women,  not  as  freemen. 

We  say  we  have  a  dowry ;  do  we  not 

Endure  the  penalty,  full  of  female  bile, 

Compared  to  which  the  bile  of  man's  pure  honey  ? 

For  men,  though  injured,  pardon ;  but  the  women 


664 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


First  injure  us  and  then  reproach  us  more. 

They  rule  those  whom  they  should  not ;  those  they  should 

They  constantly  neglect.    They  falsely  swear ; 

They  have  no  single  hardship,  no  disease ; 

And  yet  they  are  complaining  without  end. 

(Menander,  Woman  Carrying  the  Sacred  Vessel  of  Athena,  quoted  by 
Athenaeus  xiii.  8) 

A.  You  will  not  marry,  if  you're  in  your  senses 
And  leave  this  life  you're  in.    For  I  myself 

Did  marry ;  so  I  recommend  you  not  to. 

B.  The  matter  is  decided  —  the  die  is  cast. 

A.  Go  on,  then.    I  do  wish  you  then  well  over  it ; 
But  you  are  taking  arms,  with  no  good  reason, 
Against  a  sea  of  troubles.    In  the  waves 
Of  the  deep  Libyan  or  yEgean  sea 
Scarce  three  of  thirty  ships  are  lost  or  wrecked ; 
But  scarcely  one  poor  husband  'scapes  at  all. 

(Menander,  Woman  Burned,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xiii.  8) 

Oh  may  the  man  be  totally  undone 

Who  was  the  first  to  venture  on  a  wife ; 

And  then  the  next  who  followed  his  example ; 

And  then  the  third  and  fourth  and  after  them  Metagenes.1 

224.    HlPPARCHIA,  THE  LADY  WHO  BECAME  A  PHILOSOPHER 
(Diogenes  Laertius,  Lives  and  Opinions  of  Eminent  Philosophers,  vi.  96-8) 

Little  is  known  of  this  Diogenes,  but  it  is  at  least  evident  that  he  did  not 
live  earlier  than  the  third  century  a.d.  In  his  fondness  for  displaying  his 
erudition,  and  in  his  lack  of  critical  ability,  we  may  class  him  with  Athenaeus, 
who  may  have  been  a  contemporary.  His  work  is  especially  valuable  as  it 
contains  many  quotations  from  earlier  and  more  important  writers.  See 
Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  II.  684-8;  Schwartz,  "Diogenes,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa, 
Real-Encycl.  V.  738-63. 

Hipparchia  was  the  daughter  of  well-to-do  parents  of  Maroneia,  Thrace, 
the  sister  of  Metrocles,  the  Cynic  philosopher.  Crates,  the  Cynic  philosopher 
whom  she  married,  lived  340-260  (?).    In  early  Hellas  there  had  been  many 

1  Doubtless  a  character  in  the  play. 


AN  INTELLECTUAL  WOMAN 


665 


intellectual  women,  but  the  fifth  and  fourth  centuries  were  less  favorable  to 
them.  In  the  Hellenistic  age,  however,  they  reappear.  The  excerpt  below  is 
interesting  for  its  presentation  of  a  woman  of  this  class. 

Hipparchia,  the  sister  of  Metrocles,  was  charmed  along  with 
others  by  the  doctrines  of  this  school.1  She  and  Metrocles  were 
natives  of  Maroneia.  She  fell  in  love  with  the  doctrines  and  the 
manners  of  Crates,  and  could  not  be  diverted  from  her  regard  for 
him  either  by  the  wealth  or  the  high  birth  or  the  personal  beauty 
of  any  of  her  suitors ;  but  Crates  was  everything  to  her.  She 
threatened  her  parents  to  make  away  with  herself,  if  she  were  not 
given  in  marriage  to  him.  When  entreated  by  her  parents  to  dis- 
suade her  from  this  resolution,  Crates  did  all  he  could ;  and  at  last, 
as  he  could  not  persuade  her,  he  arose  and  placing  all  his  furniture 
before  her,  he  said  :  "  This  is  the  bridegroom  whom  you  are  choosing, 
and  this  is  the  whole  of  his  property.  Consider  these  facts ;  for 
it  will  not  be  possible  for  you  to  become  his  partner,  if  you  do  not 
apply  yourself  to  the  same  studies  and  conform  to  the  same  habits 
as  he  does."  The  girl  chose  him ;  and  assuming  the  same  dress  as 
he  wore,  went  with  him  as  her  husband,  and  appeared  with  him  in 
public  everywhere,  and  went  to  all  entertainments  in  his  company. 

Once  when  she  went  to  sup  at  the  house  of  Lysimachus,  she 
attacked  Theodorus,  who  was  surnamed  the  Atheist.  To  him  she 
proposed  the  following  sophism:  "What  Theodorus  could  not  be 
called  wrong  for  doing,  that  same  thing  Hipparchia  could  not  be 
called  wrong  for  doing.  But  Theodorus  does  no  wrong  when  he 
beats  himself ;  therefore  Hipparchia  does  no  wrong  when  she  beats 
Theodorus."  He  made  no  reply  to  what  she  said,  but  only  pulled 
her  gown.  Hipparchia  was  neither  offended  nor  ashamed,  as 
many  a  woman  would  have  been ;  but  when  he  said  to  her :  — 

Who  is  the  woman  who  has  left  the  shuttle 
So  near  the  warp  ?  2 

She  replied :  "I,  Theodorus,  am  the  person ;  but  do  I  seem  to  you 
to  have  come  to  a  wrong  decision,  if  I  devote  that  time  to  philosophy 
which  otherwise  I  should  have  spent  at  the  loom?"  These  and 
many  other  sayings  are  reported  of  this  female  philosopher. 

1  The  school  of  Cynic  philosophy. 

2  Euripides,  Baccha,  1228. 


666 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


225.  The  Exposed  Child  and  its  Belongings 

(Menander,  Arbilrants,  1-178) 

In  the  New  Comedy  the  exposure  and  later  recognition  of  children  are  fre- 
quent events.  In  this  case  Davus,  a  slave,  has  found  the  child  and  has  handed 
him  over  to  Syriscus,  the  slave  of  another  master.  On  hearing  that  certain 
trinkets  were  found  with  the  child,  Syriscus  demands  them  of  Davus,  but  is 
refused,  whereupon  they  ask  Smicrines,  the  first  comer,  to  arbitrate  between 
them.  The  ring,  mentioned  in  this  excerpt  among  the  child's  belongings,  leads 
to  the  identification  of  the  parents.  It  so  happens  that  Smicrines  is  father  of 
the  child's  mother.  Its  father  was  her  husband  Charisius,  master  of  the  slave 
Onesimus  introduced  at  the  close  of  this  excerpt.  The  circumstance  that  the 
child  was  born  before  the  marriage  of  its  parents  troubles  the  situation,  which 
however  is  happily  cleared  in  the  end.  The  characters  of  the  persons  concerned 
are  interesting  studies,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  general  the  plays  of 
Menander  fairly  represent  real  phases  of  contemporary  life. 

Syriscus.  You  don't  choose  to  do  what  is  just. 
Davus.  Wretch,  you  belie  me.    You  have  no  right  to  what  is 
not  yours. 

Syr.  We  must  refer  the  matter  to  some  one. 
Dav.  With  all  my  heart. 
Syr.  Who  then  — 

Dav.  Anyone  will  do  for  me.  But  it  serves  me  right,  for  why 
did  I  tell  you  ? 

(An  old  man  enters.) 

Syr.  Will  you  take  this  gentleman  for  our  umpire? 
Dav.  By  all  manner  of  means.1 

Syr.  (addressing  the  old  man).    For  heaven's  sake,  noble  sir, 
might  it  please  you  to  bestow  on  us  a  little  of  your  leisure? 
Smicrines.  On  you?    What  about?  2 
Syr.  There  is  a  matter  we  are  disputing  over. 
Smic.  What  do  I  care? 

Syr.  We  are  in  search  of  an  impartial  judge  to  settle  this 
affair.    If  then  you  are  not  otherwise  occupied,  decide  between  us. 

1  dyadrj  rvxv,  a  formula  at  the  head  of  Attic  decrees,  "May  good  fortune  attend." 

2  We  notice  the  supercilious  air  of  Smicrines.  The  part  of  the  play  not  included 
in  this  excerpt  shows  him  not  only  crabbed  but  penurious,  excessively  anxious  to  dis- 
solve the  marriage  of  his  daughter  with  the  prodigal  Charisius  in  order  to  recover  her 
dowry  before  it  is  wasted. 


PRIVATE  ARBITRATION 


667 


Smic.  A  plague  take  you  fellows  !  What  ?  do  you  gO  about  in 
goatskins,1  and  talk  of  lawsuits? 

Syr.  Yet  for  all  that  —  it  is  no  long  business,  and  easy  to 
understand.  Do  us  this  favor,  father.  Do  not,  for  heaven's  sake, 
despise  us.  On  every  occasion  and  everywhere  justice  should  pre- 
vail. Whoever  happens  to  be  present  ought  to  make  it  his  business 
to  see  that  it  should  be  so,  for  this  is  common  to  the  life  of  us  all.2 

Dav.  {aside).  I  have  got  myself  into  a  controversy  with  a  very 
tolerable  orator.    Why  ever  did  I  let  myself  out  to  him? 

Smic.  Will  you  abide,  tell  me,  by  what  I  may  decide? 

Syr.  Certainly. 

Smic.  I  will  hear  you.  For  what  should  hinder  me?  You, 
who  have  held  your  peace  as  yet,  speak  first. 

Dav.  To  make  things  clear  to  you,  I  shall  have  to  go  back  a 
little,  and  not  merely  tell  you  what  passed  between  him  and  me. 
About  the  thirtieth,  I  think,  noble  sir,  I  was  tending  my  flock  in 
the  waste  adjoining  the  ploughlands  yonder,  and  on  that  day  I 
was  alone  by  myself.  There  I  found  a  young  child  with  necklets 
and  other  such  ornaments.3 

Syr.  That  is  what  it  is  about. 

Dav.  He  won't  let  me  speak. 

Smic.  If  you  interrupt,  I  will  come  down  on  you  with  my  cane. 
Dav.  And  quite  rightly  too. 
Smic.  Go  on. 

Dav.  I  do  so.  I  took  up  the  child.  I  went  home  with  it.  I 
had  in  mind  to  bring  it  up;  that  was  my  purpose  at  the  first. 
But  in  the  night  I  took  counsel  with  myself,  as  we  all  do,  and 
turned  the  matter  over  in  my  mind.  What  have  I  to  do  with  rear- 
ing children  and  such  like  cares?  Where  am  I  to  find  the  means 
for  meeting  such  a  burden?    Why  store  up  trouble  for  myself? 

1  The  dress  proves  them  to  be  slaves,  or  at  best  of  the  poorest  and  humblest  class  of 
free  laborers. 

2  Syriscus  shows  himself  throughout  a  model  of  uprightness  as  well  as  of  prudence, 
a  great  credit  to  his  class.  Davus,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  rascal  of  small  caliber,  utterly 
devoid  of  consideration  for  others,  intent  only  on  gaining  without  labor  a  few  drachmas 
for  himself. 

3  Among  the  ornaments,  as  explained  below,  was  a  ring  belonging  to  the  child's 
father.  The  mother's  object  in  leaving  the  ring  was  undoubtedly  to  aid  in  finding  the 
father. 


668 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


That  was  how  I  felt.  In  the  morning  I  was  again  tending  my  flock  ; 
this  man  came  up  —  he  is  a  charcoal-burner  —  to  the  spot  where 
I  was,  to  cut  logs  there.  He  was  an  old  acquaintance  of  mine; 
we  chatted  together.  Seeing  I  looked  thoughtful,  he  asked,  "Why 
so  grave?"  "Why  indeed,"  said  I,  "I  have  something  on  my 
mind,"  and  I  told  him  what  had  happened,  how  I  had  found  the 
child,  how  I  took  it  up.  Thereupon  he  at  once,  without  giving  me 
time  to  finish,  began  to  entreat  me  :  "So  may  good  luck  attend  you, 
Davus,"  —  that  he  kept  repeating  at  every  word,  —  "give  me  the 
child.  So  may  you  be  happy,  so  may  you  be  free.  For,"  says  he, 
"I  have  a  wife ;  she  has  lost  the  child  she  had  just  now"  —  mean- 
ing her  who  has  the  child  now  in  her  arms  (pointing  to  a  woman 
carrying  a  child). 

Smic.  Did  you  entreat  him  as  he  says? 

Syr.  I  did. 

Dav.  The  whole  day  he  never  let  me  alone.  I  gave  way  to  his 
importunity ;  I  promised ;  I  gave  him  the  child.  He  went  away 
calling  down  on  me  a  thousand  blessings ;  he  took  and  kissed  my 
hands. 

Smic.  Did  you  do  so  ? 

Syr.  I  did. 

Dav.  He  took  himself  off  with  his  wife.  Now  he  meets  me, 
and  all  at  once  he  claims  to  have  the  things  that  were  found  with 
this  child  —  mere  trifles  they  were,  not  worth  speaking  of ;  and 
he  says  he  is  much  ill-used  because  I  do  not  give  them  up,  but 
claim  to  keep  them  myself.  On  the  other  hand,  I  say  he  ought  to 
be  grateful  for  what  he  obtained  when  he  entreated  me ;  for  even 
if  I  do  not  give  him  everything,  I  ought  not  to  be  called  to  account. 
Even  if  he  had  been  walking  with  me  and  found  this  in  my  com- 
pany, and  it  were  a  case  of  a  find  in  common,  he  would  have  taken 
his  share  and  I  mine.  But  even  though  I  alone  found  and  you 
were  not  present,  do  you  suppose  that  you  are  to  have  everything 
and  I  nothing  at  all  ?  In  the  end  I  gave  you  something  of  my  own 
voluntarily.  If  then  it  suits  you  keep  it  now.  If  it  does  not  and 
you  no  longer  wish  for  it,  give  it  back  to  me ;  thus  you  will  wrong 
no  man  or  be  a  loser  yourself.  But  that  you  should  have  the 
whole,  partly  with  my  free  will  and  partly  by  forcing  me,  that  at 
all  events  is  wrong.    I  have  done ;  that  is  all  I  have  to  say. 


PLEA  FOR  THE  CHILD 


669 


Smic.  He  has  done.    Don't  you  hear? 

Syr.  He  has  done.  Very  good.  I  say  then  in  reply:  he  alone 
found  the  child,  and  all  this  which  he  now  says  is  right,  and  so  it 
was  in  fact,  father.  I  have  nothing  to  say  against  it.  Praying 
and  entreating  I  got  the  child  from  him ;  for  he  speaks  the  truth. 
A  certain  shepherd,  one  of  his  mates,  to  whom  he  spoke,  informed 
me  that  he  had  at  the  same  time  found  certain  ornaments  along 
with  the  boy.  He  then,  father,  comes  forward  now  to  claim  them. 
Give  me  the  child,  mistress  {taking  the  boy  and  holding  him  up 
before  Davus).1  The  necklets  and  the  tokens  he  demands  of  you, 
Davus ;  for  he  says  that  these  were  put  upon  him  as  ornaments, 
not  to  make  up  a  purse  for  you ;  and  I  who  am  now  his 
legal  guardian,  join  with  him  in  the  claim:  you  made  me  that  in 
giving  him  to  me.  The  case  then  you  have  to  decide,  noble  sir, 
seems  to  me  to  be  this :  are  these  gold  ornaments,  or  whatever  it 
may  be,  to  be  kept  safe  for  the  child  till  he  is  grown  up,  according 
to  the  intention  of  his  mother,  whoever  she  may  be,  or  is  he  who 
stripped  him  of  them  to  have  them  because  he  was  the  first  to 
find  what  was  another's?  What  then?  I  did  not,  you  will  say, 
demand  these  things  of  you  when  I  received  the  child.  I  was  not 
then  entitled  to  speak  in  his  behalf.  Nor  am  I  here  to  claim  any- 
thing of  you  on  my  own  account.  "A  find  in  common"  indeed! 
Do  not  talk  of  finding  anything  where  another  party  has  a  plaint 
to  bring  against  you.  This  is  not  appropriation  but  expropriation. 
Consider  this,  too,  father.  It  may  be  that  this  child  is  of  a  condi- 
tion above  us,  and  though  reared  among  rustics  will  have  a  soul 
above  these  things,  and  will  have  the  spirit  to  follow  his  own  nature 
and  to  bear  himself  like  a  free-born  man,  to  hunt  lions,  to  bear 
arms,  to  run  in  races.  You  have,  I  am  sure,  seen  tragedies  acted. 
All  this  then  must  be  quite  familiar  to  you.  Very  well.  An  old 
goatherd,  wearing  such  a  goatskin  as  I  have  on  now,  found  those 
famous  men  Neleus  and  Pelias.2  When  however  he  discovered 
they  were  his  betters,  he  declared  the  matter  how  he  found  them, 

1  Here  Syriscus  is  imitating  the  devices  of  litigants  before  the  courts.  "  It  must  be 
acknowledged  that  Syriscus  uses  this  method  of  arousing  pity  with  exceptional  re- 
straint and  dignity";  Capps,  Menander,  p.  58. 

2  Neleus  and  Pelias  were  sons  of  Poseidon,  who  set  them  adrift  in  their  infancy  in 
a  boat.  They  were  reared  and  recognized  in  the  manner  described  in  this  passage. 
Evidently  Syriscus  holds  strongly  to  the  theory  of  heredity. 


670 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


how  he  took  them  up.  Moreover  he  gave  them  a  wallet  contain- 
ing the  tokens,  through  which  they  clearly  made  out  all  about 
themselves,  so  that  they  who  were  then  goatherds  became  kings. 
If  then  Davus  had  got  hold  of  these  tokens  and  sold  them,  to  gain 
twelve  drachmas  for  himself,  these  men  of  such  lofty  souls,  and  of 
so  noble  a  lineage,  would  have  remained  all  their  lives  unknown. 
It  is  in  no  way  right,  father,  that  I  should  bring  up  this  child  but  that 
Davus  should  make  away  with  that  from  which  his  future  welfare 
was  to  be  looked  for.  It  has  been  through  tokens  that  one  man 
has  been  held  back  from  marrying  his  sister,  that  another  has  met 
with  his  mother  and  rescued  her,  that  a  third  has  saved  his  brother.1 
The  lives  of  all  of  us  are  naturally  exposed  to  accident  and  it  behooves 
us,  father,  to  guard  against  this  by  forethought,  and  foresee  these 
things  long  in  advance,  as  far  as  it  is  in  our  power.  "But  give 
back,"  he  says,  "what  may  not  please  you."  For  this  he  supposes 
scores  against  me.  There  is  no  justice  in  that.  Because  you  have 
to  give  back  some  of  the  child's  belongings,  do  you  seek  to  obtain 
this  besides,  so  that  you  may  play  the  knave  with  more  safety  in 
future,  if  now  Fortune  has  preserved  something  that  was  his?  I 
have  finished.    Decide  what  you  hold  to  be  just. 

Smic.  It  is  no  hard  matter.  All  that  was  with  the  exposed 
child  is  his ;  so  I  decide. 

Dav.  It  is  very  well.    But  how  about  the  child? 

Smic.  I  shall  not  decide,  I  warrant  you,  that  he  is  to  be  yours 
who  would  wrong  him,  but  his  who  has  taken  his  part  and  stood 
up  against  you,  who  were  about  to  injure  him. 

Syr.  May  all  good  fortune  attend  you. 

Dav.  A  strange  decision  truly,  by  all  that  is  holy !  It  is  I 
who  found  everything  that  am  stripped  of  everything,  while  he 
who  was  no  finder  carries  it  off.    Must  I  hand  over  then? 

Smic.  Yes,  I  say. 

Dav.  A  strange  decision  truly,  may  I  have  no  luck  if  it  isn't. 

Syr.  Come,  hand  me  the  wallet. 

Dav.  My  stars,  what  hard  luck  is  mine ! 

Syr.  At  once. 

Dav.  Take  it. 

1  Undoubtedly  the  audience  recognized  all  these  instances  as  subjects  of  familiar 
comedies. 


INVENTORY  OF  BELONGINGS 


671 


Syr.  And  show  what  is  inside,  for  it  is  there  you  carry  the 
things. 

Smic.  Have  you  got  all? 

Syr.  I  think  so,  unless  indeed  he  swallowed  something  while  I 
was  pleading  and  the  cause  was  going  against  him. 
Dav.  I  never  should  have  thought  it. 

Syr.  Good  luck  to  you,  noble  sir.  {Smicrines  goes  away.) 
Such  a  man  should  be  made  a  judge  in  every  case. 

Dav.  What  an  injustice.  Bless  us  all,  a  strange  decision  it  has 
proved  truly. 

Syr.  You  were  a  knave. 

Dav.  O  you  knave,  take  care  how  you  yourself  keep  the  things 
for  the  child.  Bear  in  mind  that  I  shall  always  have  my  eye  on 
you.    You  may  be  sure  of  that. 

Syr.  Go  and  be  hanged.  You,  mistress,  take  these  things  and 
bring  them  into  the  house  to  my  young  master.  For  we  will  wait 
for  Chaerestratus  here,  and  go  out  to  our  work  after  paying  our 
dues.1  But  first  go  over  these  things  one  by  one  with  me.  Have 
you  anything  to  -put  them  in  ?    Put  them  then  in  your  bosom. 

{Enter  Onesimus,  slave  of  Charisius.) 

Onesimus.  No  one  ever  saw  so  slow  a  cook.  At  this  hour 
yesterday  they  had  been  drinking  a  good  while. 

Syr.  This  seems  to  be  a  cock  and  a  very  wakeful  one.  Take  it. 
But  what  is  this  set  with  gems  ?    An  axe,  I  think. 

Ones,  {aside).    What  is  this? 

Syr.  Here  is  a  ring  cased  with  gold,  but  itself  of  steel.  The 
seal  is  a  bull  or  goat,  I  can't  make  out  which.  One  Cleostratus 
made  it,  as  the  letters  tell  us. 

Ones.  Let  me  look  at  it. 

Syr.  Here  it  is.    But  who  are  you? 

Ones.  This  is  — 

1  As  explained  above,  Syriscus  was  engaged  in  charcoal  burning  some  distance  from 
the  village  in  which  the  action  of  this  play  takes  place.  Periodically  he  comes  to  the 
house  of  his  master,  bringing  him  his  profit  from  the  business.  None  but  trustworthy 
slaves  could  be  given  so  much  freedom ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  xvi.  To  those  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  almost  treeless  condition  of  modern  Attica  the  mention  of 
charcoal-burning  within  her  borders  necessarily  brings  great  surprise  at  the  vast  change 
that  has  taken  place  in  the  country  during  the  past  twenty-five  centuries. 


672 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


Syr.  What? 
Ones.  The  ring  — 

Syr.  What  ring?  for  I  don't  understand. 

Ones.  Of  my  master  Charisius. 

Syr.  You  are  crazy. 

Ones.  Which  he  lost. 

Syr.  Put  down  the  ring,  will  you? 

Ones.  Put  down  what  is  ours?    But  where  did  you  get  it? 

Syr.  Bless  us  and  save  us !  What  a  misfortune !  What  a 
thing  it  is  to  keep  safe  the  belongings  of  an  orphan.  Every  one 
who  comes  near  you  has  at  once  a  mind  to  make  off  with  them.1 
Put  down  the  ring,  I  tell  you. 

226.  The  Boastful  Man 
(Theophrastus,  Characters,  vi) 

This  passage  and  those  immediately  following  illustrate  certain  prominent 
types  of  Athenian  character.  The  author,  Theophrastus  of  Eresus,  Lesbos, 
about  372-287  B.C.,  was  the  most  distinguished  of  Aristotle's  pupils.  He 
collaborated  with  his  master ;  and  after  the  death  of  the  latter  he  became  for 
the  remainder  of  his  life  the  head  of  the  Peripatetic  School.  Theophrastus 
followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Aristotle,  and  extended  his  researches  in  various 
directions.  One  of  his  lightest  works,  but  of  great  interest  to  us,  is  his  Charac- 
ters. The  sketches  are  fresh  and  humorous,  though  necessarily  superficial, 
somewhat  after  the  pattern  of  comedy.  If  due  allowance  is  made  for  the  hand 
of  the  caricaturist,  there  will  be  found  a  substratum  of  reality  —  a  human 
nature  akin  to  that  revealed  by  the  private  speeches  of  the  fourth-century 
Attic  orators.  For  an  excellent  treatment  of  the  characters,  see  introduction 
to  R.  C.  Jebb's  edition  of  The  Characters  of  Theophrastus,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing excerpts  have  been  taken. 

Boastfulness  would  seem  to  be,  in  fact,  pretension  to  advantages 
which  one  does  not  possess. 

The  Boastful  Man  is  one  who  will  stand  in  the  bazaar  talking 
to  foreigners  of  the  great  sums  which  he  has  at  sea;  he  will  dis- 
course of  the  vastness  of  his  money-lending  business,  and  the  extent 
of  his  personal  gains  and  losses ;  and,  while  thus  drawing  the  long- 
bow, will  send  his  boy  to  the  bank,  where  he  keeps  —  tenpence. 

1  This  statement  is  partly  justified  by  the  actual  experience  of  orphans,  for  example, 
Demosthenes,  as  the  Attic  orators  testify;  see  no.  156. 


GREAT  PRETENSIONS 


673 


He  loves,  also,  to  impose  upon  his  companion  by  the  road  with  a 
story  of  how  he  served  with  Alexander,  and  on  what  terms  he  was 
with  him,  and  what  a  number  of  gemmed  cups  he  brought  home ; 
contending,  too,  that  the  Asiatic  artists  are  superior  to  those  of 
Europe ;  and  all  this  when  he  has  never  been  anywhere  out  of 
Attica.  Then  he  will  say  that  a  letter  has  come  from  Antipater 1 
—  '  this  is  the  third '  —  requiring  his  presence  in  Macedonia  ;  and 
that,  though  he  was  offered  the  privilege  of  exporting  timber  2  free 
of  duty,  he  had  declined  it,  that  no  person  whatever  may  be  able 
to  traduce  him  further  for  being  more  friendly  than  is  becoming 
with  Macedonia.  He  will  state,  too,  that  in  the  famine  his  outlay 
came  to  more  than  five  talents  in  presents  to  the  distressed  citizens ; 
('  he  could  never  say  no ')  and  actually,  although  the  persons  sitting 
near  him  are  strangers,  he  will  request  one  of  them  to  set  up  the 
counters ;  when,  reckoning  by  sums  of  six  hundred  drachmas  or 
of  a  mina,  and  plausibly  signing  names  to  each  of  these,  he  will 
make  a  total  of  as  many  as  ten  talents.  This,  he  will  say,  was 
what  he  contributed  in  the  way  of  charities ;  adding  that  he  does 
not  count  any  of  the  trierarchies  or  public  services  which  he  has 
performed.  Also  he  will  go  up  to  the  sellers  of  the  best  horses, 
and  pretend  that  he  desires  to  buy ;  or  visiting  the  upholstery  mart, 
he  will  ask  to  see  draperies  to  the  value  of  two  talents,  and  quarrel 
with  his  slave  for  having  come  out  without  gold.  When  he  is  living 
in  a  hired  house  he  will  say  (to  anyone  who  does  not  know  better) 
that  it  is  the  family  mansion;  but  that  he  means  to  sell  it,  as  he 
finds  it  too  small  for  his  entertainments. 


227.  The  Man  of  Petty  Ambition 

(Theophrastus,  Characters,  vii) 

Petty  Ambition  would  seem  to  be  a  mean  craving  for  distinction. 
The  Man  of  Petty  Ambition  is  one  who,  when  asked  to  dinner, 
will  be  anxious  to  be  placed  next  to  the  host  at  table.    He  will 

1  When  Alexander  set  out  on  his  invasion  of  Asia,  he  left  Antipater  in  charge  of  the 
government  of  Macedon,  and  after  the  king's  death  in  323  Antipater  became  absolute 
master  of  Macedon,  retaining  this  position  till  his  death,  319.  The  reference  in  the 
text  is  probably  to  this  later  period ;  Jebb's  note. 

2  Most  of  the  ship  timber  used  by  Athens  came  from  Chalcidice,  at  this  time  a  part 
of  Macedonia. 


674 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


take  his  son  away  to  Delphi  to  have  his  hair  cut.1  He  will  be  care- 
ful, too,  that  his  attendant  shall  be  an  Ethiopian ; 2  and,  when  he 
pays  a  mina,  he  will  cause  the  slave  to  pay  the  sum  in  new  coin. 
Also  he  will  have  his  hair  cut  very  frequently,  and  will  keep  his 
teeth  white ;  he  will  change  his  clothes,  too,  while  still  good ;  and 
will  anoint  himself  with  unguent.  In  the  market-place  he  will  fre- 
quent the  bankers'  tables;  in  the  gymnasia  he  will  haunt  the 
places  where  the  young  men  take  exercise ;  in  the  theatre,  when 
there  is  a  representation,  he  will  sit  near  the  Generals.3  For  him- 
self he  will  buy  nothing,  but  will  make  purchases  on  commission 
for  foreign  friends  —  pickled  olives  to  go  to  Byzantium,  Laconian 
hounds  for  Cyzicus,  Hymettian  honey  for  Rhodes ;  and  will  talk 
thereof  to  people  at  Athens.  Also  he  is  very  much  the  person  to 
keep  a  monkey ;  to  get  a  satyr  ape,  Sicilian  doves,  deerhorn  dice, 
Thurian  vases  of  the  approved  rotundity,  walking-sticks  with  the 
true  Laconian  curve,  and  a  curtain  with  Persians  embroidered  upon 
it.  He  will  have  a  little  court  provided  with  an  arena  for  wrestling 
and  a  ball-alley,  and  will  go  about  lending  it  to  philosophers, 
sophists,  drill-sergeants,  musicians,  for  their  displays ;  at  which  he 
himself  will  appear  upon  the  scene  rather  late,  in  order  that  the 
spectators  may  say  to  one  another,  1  This  is  the  owner  of  the  palaes- 
tra.' When  he  has  sacrificed  an  ox,  he  will  nail  up  the  skin  of  the 
forehead,  wreathed  with  large  garlands,  opposite  the  entrance,  in 
order  that  those  who  come  in  may  see  that  he  has  sacrificed  an  ox. 
When  he  has  been  taking  part  in  a  procession  of  the  knights,  he 
will  give  the  rest  of  his  accoutrements  to  his  slave  to  carry  home ; 
but,  after  putting  on  his  cloak,  will  walk  about  the  market-place 
in  his  spurs.  He  is  apt,  also,  to  buy  a  little  ladder  for  his  domestic 
jackdaw,  and  to  make  a  little  brass  shield,  wherewith  the  jackdaw 
shall  hop  upon  the  ladder.    Or  if  his  little  Melitean  dog  has  died, 

1  The  youth  wore  his  hair  long  till  he  reached  the  age  of  eighteen,  when  he  was  en- 
rolled in  the  register  of  his  deme.  On  this  occasion  his  hair  was  cut  and  a  lock  dedi- 
cated to  a  god.  Those  who  found  it  convenient  went  to  Delphi  to  dedicate  the  lock 
to  Apollo;  Plutarch,  Theseus,  5. 

2  The  opening  of  the  East  by  Alexander  had  given  the  Greeks  an  opportunity  to 
obtain  black  slaves;  cf.  Alciphron,  Letters,  ii.  2.  5;  Jebb's  note.  Naturally  the 
wealthier  class  were  inclined  to  indulge  in  such  curiosities. 

3  The  officials  had  their  special  seats  at  the  theater,  although  we  learn  from  this 
passage,  and  from  others,  that  they  were  not  very  definitely  separated  from  those  of 
private  citizens ;  Jebb's  note. 


PETTY  AMBITION;  STUPIDITY 


675 


he  will  put  up  a  little  memorial  slab,  with  the  inscription,  A  Scion 
of  Melita.  If  he  has  dedicated  a  brass  ring  in  the  temple  of 
Asclepius,  he  will  wear  it  to  a  wire  with  daily  burnishings  and  oil- 
ings.  It  is  just  like  him,  too,  to  obtain  from  the  presidents  of  the 
Council  by  private  arrangement  the  privilege  of  reporting  the 
sacrifice  to  the  people  ;  when,  having  provided  himself  with  a  smart 
white  cloak,  and  put  on  a  wreath,  he  will  come  forward  and  say: 
" Athenians!  we  the  presidents  of  the  Council  have  been  sacrific- 
ing to  the  Mother  of  the  Gods  meetly  and  auspiciously ;  receive 
ye  her  good  gifts!"  Having  made  this  announcement  he  will  go 
home  to  his  wife  and  declare  that  he  is  supremely  fortunate. 

228.  The  Stupid  Man 
(Theophrastus,  Characters,  xiii) 

Stupidity  may  be  defined  as  mental  slowness  in  speech  and 
action. 

The  Stupid  Man  is  one  who,  after  doing  a  sum  and  setting  down 
the  total,  will  ask  the  person  sitting  next  him  "What  does  it  come 
to?"  When  he  is  defendant  in  an  action,  and  it  is  about  to  come 
on,  he  will  forget  it  and  go  into  the  country ;  when  he  is  a  spectator 
in  the  theatre,  he  will  be  left  behind  slumbering  in  solitude.  If  he 
has  been  given  anything,  and  has  put  it  away  himself,  he  will  look 
for  it  and  be  unable  to  find  it.  When  the  death  of  a  friend  is 
announced  to  him,  in  order  that  he  may  come  to  the  house,  his 
face  will  grow  dark  —  tears  will  come  into  his  eyes  —  and  he  will 
say  "Heaven  be  praised!"  He  is  apt,  too,  when  he  receives  pay- 
ment of  a  debt,  to  call  witnesses;  and  in  winter-time  to  quarrel 
with  his  slave  for  not  having  bought  cucumbers ;  and  to  make  his 
children  wrestle  and  run  races  until  he  has  exhausted  them.  If  he 
is  cooking  a  leek  himself  in  the  country,  he  will  put  salt  into  the 
pot  twice,  and  make  it  uneatable.  When  it  is  raining  he  will 
observe:  "Well,  the  smell  from  the  sky  is  delicious"  (when  of 
course  others  say,  "from  the  earth") ;  or  if  he  is  asked  "How  many 
corpses  do  you  suppose  have  been  carried  out  at  the  Sacred  Gate?" 
he  will  reply,  "I  only  wish  that  you  or  I  had  as  many." 


676 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


229.  The  Garrulous  Man 
(Theophrastus,  Characters,  xviii) 

Garrulity  is  the  discoursing  of  much  and  ill-considered  talk. 

The  Garrulous  Man  is  one  who  will  sit  down  beside  a  person 
whom  he  does  not  know,  and  first  pronounce  a  panegyric  on  his 
own  wife ;  then  relate  his  dream  of  last  night ;  then  go  through  in 
detail  what  he  has  had  for  dinner.  Then,  warming  to  the  work, 
he  will  remark  that  the  men  of  the  present  day  are  greatly  inferior 
to  the  ancients ;  and  will  tell  how  cheap  wheat  has  become  in-  the 
market ;  and  what  a  number  of  foreigners  are  in  town ;  and  that 
the  sea  is  navigable  after  the  Dionysia ;  and  that,  if  Zeus  would 
send  more  rain,  the  crops  would  be  better ;  and  that  he  will  work 
his  land  next  year  ;  and  how  hard  it  is  to  live  ;  and  that  Damippus 
set  up  a  very  large  torch  at  the  Mysteries;  and  "How  many 
columns  has  the  Odeum?"1  and  that  yesterday  he  was  unwell; 
and  "What  is  the  day  of  the  month?"  and  that  the  Mysteries 
are  in  Boedromion,  the  Apaturia  in  Pyanepsion,  the  rural  Dionysia 
in  Poseideon.2    Nor  if  he  is  tolerated,  will  he  ever  desist. 

230.  The  Penurious  Man 
(Theophrastus,  Characters,  xxiv) 

Penuriousness  is  too  strict  attention  to  profit  and  loss. 

The  Penurious  Man  is  one  who,  while  the  month  is  current, 
will  come  to  one's  house  and  ask  for  a  half-obol.3  When  he  is  at 
table  with  others,  he  will  count  how  many  cups  each  of  them  has 
drunk ;  and  will  pour  a  smaller  libation  to  Artemis  than  any  of  the 
company.  Whenever  a  person  has  made  a  good  bargain  for  him 
and  charges  him  with  it,  he  will  say  that  it  is  too  dear.  When  a 
servant  has  broken  a  jug  or  a  plate,  he  will  take  the  value  out  of 

1  Odeum,  music-hall.  The  Odeum  here  mentioned  is  probably  that  built  by- 
Pericles. 

2  The  month  Boedromion  corresponds  roughly  with  September ;  Pyanepsion  with 
October ;  Poseideon  with  December.  The  Mysteries  were  those  celebrated  annually  at 
Eleusis.  The  Apaturia  was  the  chief  festival  of  the  phratry ;  see  no.  144.  The  Diony- 
sia were  dramatic  festivals. 

3  At  Athens  interest  was  often  due  on  the  last  day  of  the  month,  but  the  penurious 
man  was  unwilling  to  wait  till  that  day.  By  collecting  interest  before  it  was  due  he 
gained  a  trifle. 


STINGINESS ;  COWARDICE 


677 


his  rations ;  or  if  his  wife  has  dropped  a  three-farthing  1  piece,  he 
is  capable  of  moving  the  furniture  and  the  sofas  and  the  wardrobes, 
and  of  rummaging  in  the  curtains.  If  he  has  anything  to  sell,  he 
will  dispose  of  it  at  such  a  price  that  the  buyer  shall  have  no  profit. 
He  is  not  likely  to  let  one  eat  a  fig  from  his  garden,  or  walk  through 
his  land,  or  pick  up  one  of  the  olives  or  dates  that  lie  on  the  ground  ; 
and  he  will  inspect  his  boundaries  day  by  day  to  see  if  they  remain 
the  same.  He  is  apt,  also,  to  enforce  the  right  of  distraining,2  and 
to  exact  compound  interest.  When  he  feasts  the  men  of  his  deme, 
the  cutlets  set  before  them  will  be  small ;  when  he  markets,  he  will 
come  in  having  bought  nothing.  And  he  will  forbid  his  wife  to 
lend  salt,  or  a  lamp-wick,  or  cummin,  or  verjuice,  or  meal  for 
sacrifice,  or  garlands,  or  cakes ;  saying  that  these  trifles  come  to 
much  in  the«year.  Then,  in  general,  it  may  be  noticed  that  the 
money  boxes  of  the  penurious  are  mouldy,  and  the  keys  rusty ; 
that  they  themselves  wear  their  cloaks  scarcely  reaching  to  the 
thigh ; 3  that  they  anoint  themselves  with  very  small  oil-flasks ; 
that  they  have  their  hair  cut  close ;  that  they  take  off  their  shoes 
in  the  middle  of  the  day ;  and  that  they  are  urgent  with  the  fuller 
to  let  their  cloak  have  plenty  of  earth,  in  order  that  it  may  not 
soon  be  soiled. 

231.  The  Coward 
(Theophrastus,  Characters,  xxvii) 

Cowardice  would  seem  to  be,  in  fact,  a  shrinking  of  the  soul 
through  fear. 

The  Coward  is  one  who  on  a  voyage  will  protest  that  the  prom- 
ontories are  privateers ;  and  if  a  high  sea  gets  up,  will  ask  if  there 
is  anyone  on  board  who  has  not  been  initiated.4    He  will  put  up 

1  Literally  "three  chalkoi."  A  chalkos  was  an  eighth  of  an  obol,  the  latter  being 
worth  about  three  cents. 

2  This  was  the  forcible  appropriation  of  a  sum  of  money  or  piece  of  property  ad- 
judged a  party  at  a  trial.  Although  the  party  was  given  the  legal  right  to  make  the 
seizure,  courtesy  required  that  he  should  make  use  of  it  only  in  the  last  resort. 

3  The  short  chiton  was  the  Spartan  style.  On  the  other  hand,  a  chiton  reaching 
the  ankles  seems  to  have  been  the  mark  of  luxury  or  effeminacy;  cf.  Demosth.,  On 
the  Mismanaged  Embassy,  314.  Evidently  the  proper  length  at  Athens  was  a  little 
less  than  the  latter. 

4  Those  who  were  initiated  into  the  Samothracian  mysteries  were  reputed  able  by 
prayer  to  assuage  the  storm;  Diodorus  iv.  43.    Possibly,  as  Jebb  suggests,  the  timid 


678 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


his  head  and  ask  the  steersman  if  he  is  halfway,  and  what  he  thinks 
of  the  face  of  the  heavens,  remarking  to  the  person  sitting  next  to 
him  that  a  certain  dream  makes  him  feel  uneasy ;  and  he  will  take 
off  his  chiton  and  give  it  to  his  slave ;  or  he  will  beg  them  to  put 
him  on  shore. 

On  land  also,  when  he  is  campaigning,  he  will  call  to  him  those 
who  are  going  out  to  the  rescue,  and  bid  them  come  and  stand  by 
him  and  look  about  them  first,  saying  that  it  is  hard  to  make  out 
which  is  the  enemy.  Hearing  shouts  and  seeing  men  falling,  he 
will  remark  to  those  who  stand  by  him  that  he  has  forgotten  in 
his  haste  to  bring  his  sword,  and  will  run  to  the  tent;  where, 
having  sent  out  his  slave  to  reconnoitre  the  position  of  the  enemy, 
he  will  hide  the  sword  under  his  pillow,  and  then  spend  a  long 
time  in  pretending  to  look  for  it.  And  seeing  from  the  tent  a 
wounded  comrade  being  carried  in,  he  will  run  toward  him  and  cry, 
" Cheer  up!"  he  will  take  him  into  his  arms  and  carry  him;  he 
will  tend  and  sponge  him;  he  will  sit  by  him  and  keep  the  flies 
off  his  wound  —  in  short,  he  will  do  anything  rather  than  fight 
with  the  enemy.  Again,  when  the  trumpeter  has  sounded  the 
signal  for  battle,  he  will  cry,  as  he  sits  in  the  tent,  "  Bother !  you 
will  not  allow  the  man  to  get  a  wink  of  sleep  with  your  perpetual 
bugling!"  Then,  covered  with  blood  from  the  other's  wound,  he 
will  meet  those  who  are  returning  from  the  fight,  and  announce  to 
them,  "I  have  run  some  risk  to  save  one  of  our  fellows;"  and  he 
will  bring  in  the  men  of  his  deme  and  of  his  tribe  to  see  his  patient, 
at  the  same  time  explaining  to  each  of  them  that  he  carried  him 
with  his  own  hands  to  the  tent. 

232.  The  Oligarch 

(Theophrastus,  Characters,  xxix) 

The  Oligarchical  temper  would  seem  to  consist  in  a  love  of  au- 
thority, covetousness,  not  of  gain,  but  of  power. 

The  Oligarchical  Man  is  one  who,  when  the  people  are  deliber- 

man  was  anxious  to  have  such  an  initiate  make  a  prayer  for  safety.  The  form  of  the 
sentence  seems  rather  to  indicate  that  he  was  worrying  lest,  in  case  all  were  lost,  there 
might  be  on  board  some  uninitiated  person  who  would  be  debarred  from  happiness  in 
.the  next  world. 


HE  DESPISES  THE  PEOPLE  679 

ating  whom  they  shall  associate  with  the  archon  as  joint  directors 
of  the  procession,  will  come  forward  and  express  his  opinion  that 
these  directors  ought  to  have  plenary  powers  ;  and  if  others  propose 
ten,  he  will  say  that  "  one  is  sufficient,"  but  that  "  he  must  be  a  man." 
Of  Homer's  poetry  he  has  mastered  only  this  one  line,  — 

No  good  comes  of  manifold  rule ;  let  the  ruler  be  one ; 1 

of  the  rest  he  is  absolutely  ignorant.  It  is  very  much  in  his  manner  to 
use  phrases  of  this  kind  :  "  We  must  meet  and  discuss  these  matters 
by  ourselves,  and  get  clear  of  the  rabble  and  the  market-place;" 
"we  must  leave  off  courting  office,  and  being  slighted  or  graced  by 
those  fellows ;"  "either  they  or  we  must  govern  the  city."  He  will 
go  out  about  the  middle  of  the  day  with  his  cloak  gracefully  ad- 
justed, his  hair  daintily  trimmed,  his  nails  delicately  pared,  and 
strut  through  the  Odeum  Street,  making  such  remarks  as  these : 
"There  is  no  living  in  Athens  for  the  informers;"  "we  are  shame- 
fully treated  in  the  courts  by  the  juries ;"  "I  cannot  conceive  what 
people  want  with  meddling  in  public  affairs ;"  "how  ungrateful  the 
people  are  —  always  the  slaves  of  a  largess  or  a  bribe ;"  and  "how 
ashamed  I  am  when  a  meagre,  squalid  fellow  sits  down  by  me  in  the 
ecclesia!"  "When,"  he  will  ask,  "will  they  have  done  ruining  us 
with  these  public  services  and  trierarchies  ?  How  detestable  that 
set  of  demagogues  is!  Theseus,"  he  will  say,  "was  the  beginning 
of  the  mischief  to  the  State.2  It  was  he  who  reduced  it  from  twelve 
cities  to  one,  and  undid  the  monarchy.  And  he  was  rightly  served ; 
for  he  was  the  people's  first  victim  himself." 

And  so  on  to  foreigners  and  to  those  citizens  who  resemble 
him  in  their  disposition  and  their  politics. 

1  Iliad,  ii.  204. 

2  Aristotle,  Const.  Ath.,  41.  2,  represents  Theseus  as  the  founder  of  constitutional 
government  at  Athens,  a  form  of  government "  which  deviated  slightly  from  kingship." 
With  the  Theseus  of  this  theory  the  Oligarch  could  associate  on  friendly  terms;  but 
there  was  another  view  which  represented  hirh  as  the  founder  of  democracy,  and  it  was 
in  this  character  that  he  awakened  the  antipathy  of  the  person  under  consideration. 
For  the  latter  view,  see  Pausanias  i.  3. 


68o 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


233.  The  Profligacy  of  Demetrius  of  Phalerum 

(Duris,  Histories, bk.  xvi,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xii.  60) 

Demetrius  of  Phalerum,  a  philosopher  of  the  Peripatetic  School  and  a 
statesman  of  Athens,  was  born  about  344  B.C.  In  318-317  he  became  governor 
(superintendent,  €7n^,eX^T^s)  of  Athens  under  the  Macedonian  supremacy, 
and  was  overthrown  in  307.  Among  his  many  legislative  acts  were  sumptuary 
laws  referred  to  in  the  selection  below.  In  contrast  with  their  requirements  he 
himself  lived  in  great  luxury.  See  Ferguson,  Hellenistic  Athens,  ch.  ii ;  Martini, 
"Demetrios,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  IV.  2817-41. 

Demetrius  of  Phalerum  also,  as  Duris  says  in  the  sixteenth 
book  of  his  Histories,  possessed  as  he  was  of  an  income  of  twelve 
hundred  talents  a  year,  and  devoting  but  a  small  part  of  it  to  his 
soldiers  and  to  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  state,  squandered  all 
the  rest  in  gratifying  his  innate  profligacy,  with  splendid  banquets 
every  day  and  a  great  number  of  guests  to  feast  with  him.  In  the 
prodigality  of  expense  on  these  entertainments  he  outdid  even  the 
Macedonians,  and  at  the  same  time  in  the  elegance  of  the  dinners 
he  surpassed  the  Cyprians  and  the  Phoenicians.  Perfumes  were 
sprinkled  over  the  pavement,  and  many  of  the  floors  in  the  men's 
apartments  were  inlaid  with  flowers  and  variously  wrought  by 
artists  in  exquisite  patterns.  Moreover  there  were  secret  appoint- 
ments with  women  and  youths ;  and  Demetrius,  who  enacted  laws 
for  others  and  who  regulated  their  lives,  directed  his  own  life  in  the 
most  lawless  manner.  He  paid  particular  attention,  too,  to  his 
personal  appearance,  dyeing  the  hair  of  his  head  with  a  yellow  color, 
painting  his  face  with  rouge,  and  smearing  himself  over  with  per- 
fumed oils ;  for  he  was  eager  to  appear  agreeable  and  beautiful  in 
the  eyes  of  all  with  whom  he  associated. 

234.  Alexander  as  a  Drinker 
(Various  authors,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  x.  44) 

Pro  teas  the  Macedonian  was  also  a  very  great  drinker,  as  Ephip- 
pus  tells  us  in  his  treatise  on  the  Funeral  of  Alexander  and  Hephcestion. 
He  had  an  admirable  constitution,  and  he  had  practiced  drinking  to 
a  great  degree.  When  accordingly  Alexander  asked  for  a  cup  con- 
taining two  choes,  he  drank  it  and  pledged  Pro  teas.    Then  the 


ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT  681 

latter,  taking  it  and  singing  the  praises  of  the  king  at  great  length, 
drank  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  receive  the  applause  of  all  present. 
Soon  Proteas  asked  for  the  same  cup  again,  and  again  he  drank  and 
pledged  the  king.  Thereupon  Alexander,  taking  the  cup,  drank  it 
off  in  a  princely  manner.  He  could  not  endure  it,  however,  but 
leaned  back  on  the  pillow,  letting  the  cup  fall  from  his  hands,  and 
afterward  fell  sick  and  died.  Dionysus,  it  is  said,  was  angry  with 
him  because  he  had  besieged  the  god's  native  city  Thebes.  More- 
over Alexander  drank  so  much  that  once,  after  a  drunken  bout, 
he  slept  without  interruption  two  days  and  two  nights.  This  fact 
is  shown  in  his  Journals,  which  were  compiled  by  Eumenes  the 
Cardian  and  Diodotus  the  Erythraean.  Menander,  too,  in  his 
Flatterer,  says :  — 

A.  My  good  friend,  Struthias,  I  thrice  have  drunk 

A  golden  cup  in  Cappadocia, 

Containing  ten  full  cotylae  of  wine. 
St.  Why,  you  then  drank  more  than  Alexander  king. 
A.  At  all  events  not  less,  I  swear  by  Pallas. 
St.  A  wondrous  feat ! 

Nicobule,  or  whoever  it  was  who  wrote  the  books  attributed  to 
her,  says  that  Alexander,  when  supping  with  Medeus  the  Thessalian 
with  twenty  people  present  at  the  gathering,  pledged  every  one  of 
the  guests,  receiving  a  similar  pledge  from  all  of  them ;  then  rising 
up  from  the  party,  he  presently  went  off  to  sleep. 

235.  The  Luxuries  of  Alexander  the  Great  and  the 
Splendors  of  his  Court 

(Ephippus,  Nicobule,  Chares,  History  of  Alexander,  bk.  x;  Polycleitus,  History, 
bk.  viii ;  Phylarchus,  and  others,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  xii.  53-5) 

Ephippus  of  Olynthus  accompanied  Alexander  in  his  march  as  far  as 
Egypt,  where  he  was  left  behind  on  official  duty.  Little  is  known  of  his  work 
On  the  Burial  of  Alexander  and  Hephceslion  here  quoted.  Evidently  it  had 
much  to  tell  of  life  at  court,  and  seems  to  have  been  unfavorable  to  Alexander ; 
see  Jacoby,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  v.  2858  f.  Nicobule  is  still  less 
known;  Christ,  Griech.  Lit.  II.  158,  n.  3.  Chares  of  Mytilene  accompanied 
Alexander  the  Great  and  became  an  officer  of  ceremony  on  the  introduction  of 
the  Persian  court  customs.  We  know  the  work  here  cited  through  various 
quotations;   see  Schwartz,  in  Pauly-Wissowa,  op.  cit.  III.  2129.  13.  Poly- 


682 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


cleitus  of  Larissa  was  probably  a  contemporary  ;  Christ,  loc.  cit.  Phylarchus 
of  Athens,  a  partisan  of  the  Spartan  king  Cleomenes,  wrote  a  work  entitled 
Histories,  in  twenty-eight  books,  extending  from  Pyrrhus  to  Cleomenes,  272^ 
220  B.C.  It  was  sensational  at  the  expense  of  truth  (Polyb.  ii.  56  ;  Plut.  Them. 
32  ;  Arat.  38),  and  gave  unusual  attention  to  the  morals  of  persons  and  actions  ; 
Christ,  op.  cit.  161  sq.    These  sources  are  therefore  practically  contemporary. 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Hellenistic  age,  introduced  by  Alexander, 
was  the  extravagant  and  ostentatious  luxury  of  kings,  magistrates,  and  wealthy 
individuals,  in  whose  hands  the  riches  of  the  world  were  largely  concentrated, 
involving  the  pauperization  of  the  masses.  It  is  this  fact  which  gives  chief 
interest  to  the  excerpt  presented  below. 

53 .  Concerning  the  luxury  of  Alexander  the  Great,  Ephippus  of 
Olynthus,  in  his  treatise  On  the  Burial  of  Alexander  and  Hephcsstion, 
relates  that  he  had  in  his  park  a  golden  throne  and  couches  with 
silver  feet,  on  which  he  used  to  sit  while  transacting  business  with 
his  companions.  Nicobule  says,  moreover,  that  while  he  was  at 
supper  all  the  dancers  and  athletes  sought  to  amuse  the  king.  At 
his  very  last  banquet,  Alexander,  remembering  an  episode  in  the 
Andromeda  of  Euripides,  recited  it  in  a  declamatory  manner,  and 
then  drank  a  cup  of  unmixed  wine  with  great  zest,  and  compelled 
all  the  rest  to  do  the  same.  Ephippus  tells  us,  too,  that  Alexander 
used  to  wear  at  his  entertainments  even  the  sacred  vestments. 
Sometimes  he  would  put  on  the  purple  robe,  cloven  sandals,  and 
horns  of  Ammon,  as  if  he  had  been  the  god.  Sometimes  he  would 
imitate  Artemis,  whose  dress  he  often  wore  while  driving  in  his 
chariot;  at  the  same  time  he  had  on  a  Persian  robe,  which  dis- 
played above  his  shoulders  the  bow  and  javelin  of  the  goddess. 
At  times  also  he  would  appear  in  the  guise  of  Hermes;  at  other 
times,  and  in  fact  nearly  every  day,  he  would  wear  a  purple  cloak, 
a  chiton  shot  with  white,  and  a  cap  with  a  royal  diadem  attached. 
When  too  he  was  in  private  with  his  friends  he  wore  the  sandals 
of  Hermes,  with  the  petasus  on  his  head  and  the  caduceus  in 
hand.  Often  however  he  wore  a  lion's  skin  and  carried  a  club  like 
Heracles.  .  .  . 

Alexander  used  also  to  have  the  floor  sprinkled  with  exquisite 
perfumes  and  with  fragrant  wine ;  and  myrrh  and  other  kinds  of 
incense  were  burned  before  him,  while  all  the  bystanders  kept  silence 
or  spoke  words  only  of  good  omen  because  of  fear.  For  he  was  an 
extremely  violent  man  with  no  regard  for  human  life,  and  gave 


MARRIAGE  OF  ALEXANDER 


683 


the  impression  of  a  man  of  choleric  temperament.  At  Ecbatana 
on  one  occasion,  when  he  was  offering  a  sacrifice  to  DLonysus,  and 
everything  was  prepared  in  a  most  lavish  manner  for  the  banquet 
.  .  .  (words  lost)  .  .  .  and  Satrabates  the  satrap  feasted  all  the 
soldiers  .  .  .  (words  lost)  .  .  .  But  when  great  numbers  were 
gathered  to  see  the  spectacle,  says  Ephippus,  suddenly  some  ar- 
rogant proclamations  were  issued  more  insolent  even  than  Persian 
tyranny  used  to  dictate  :  while  various  persons  were  publishing  their 
different  proclamations  and  proposing  to  make  Alexander  large 
presents,  which  they  called  crowns,  a  keeper  of  his  armory,  exceed- 
ing all  former  flattery,  having  previously  arranged  the  matter  with 
Alexander,  ordered  the  herald  to  proclaim  that  "Gorgus,  keeper  of 
the  armory,  presents  Alexander  son  of  Ammon  with  three  thousand 
pieces  of  gold ;  and  will  also  present  him,  when  he  lays  siege  to 
Athens,  with  ten  thousand  panoplies  and  with  an  equal  number  of 
catapults  and  all  weapons  required  for  war." 

54.  Chares,  too,  in  the  tenth  book  of  his  History  of  Alexander, 
says:  "When  he  took  Darius  prisoner,  he  celebrated  a  marriage 
feast  for  himself  and  his  companions,  having  prepared  ninety- two 
chambers  in  the  same  place.  A  house  was  built  with  a  capacity  for  a 
hundred  couches ;  and  in  it  every  couch  was  adorned  with  wedding 
furnishings  to  the  value  of  twenty  minas.  Each  couch  was  made 
of  silver  whereas  his  own  had  golden  feet.  Furthermore  he  invited 
to  the  banquet  all  his  own  friends,  whom  he  arranged  opposite  to 
himself  and  to  the  other  bridegrooms.  He  placed  in  order  also 
all  the  land  and  naval  forces  and  all  the  ambassadors  who  were 
present  and  all  the  other  strangers  who  were  staying  at  his  court. 
The  reception  room  was  furnished  in  the  most  costly  and  mag- 
nificent manner  with  sumptuous  tapestries,  and  beneath  them  were 
carpets  of  purple  and  scarlet  and  gold.  To  make  the  structure 
secure  it  was  supported  by  columns  twenty  cubits  high,  plated  over 
with  gold  and  silver  and  inlaid  with  precious  stones.  All  round 
these  columns  extended  costly  tapestries  embroidered  with  figures 
of  animals  and  of  gold,  and  suspended  on  gold  and  silver  curtain 
rods.  The  circumference  of  the  pavilion  was  four  stadia.  The 
marriage  feast  took  place  at  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  repeated  on  all 
other  occasions  when  the  king  made  sacrifice,  so  that  all  the  army 
could  know  it. 


684 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


This  marriage  banquet  lasted  five  days.  A  great  number  of 
foreigners  and  of  Greeks  brought  contributions  to  it,  as  well  as  some 
Indian  tribes.  There  were  present  some  wonderful  conjurors : 
Scymnus  of  Tarentum,  Philistides  of  Syracuse,  and  Heracleitus 
of  Mytilene,  after  whom  Alexis  of  Tarentum,  the  rhapsodist, 
exhibited  his  skill.  Then  came  harp-players,  who  played  without 
singing  —  Cratinus  of  Methymna,  Aristonymus  the  Athenian  and 
Athenodorus  the  Teian.  Heracleitus  of  Tarentum,  while  playing 
the  harp,  accompanied  himself  with  his  voice,  and  so  did  Aristoc- 
rates  the  Theban.  Among  the  pipers  who  accompanied  with  song 
there  were  present  Dionysius  of  Heracleia  and  Hyperbolus  of  Cyzi- 
cus.  There  were  besides  the  following  pipers  who  first  of  all  played 
the  air  called  the  Pythian,  and  afterward  took  part  in  the  choruses : 
Timotheus,  Phrynichus,  Caphesias,  Diophantus,  and  Evius  of 
Chalcis.  Henceforth  those  who  were  formerly  called  Dionysus- 
flatterers  were  called  Alexander-flatterers  on  account  of  the  extrav- 
agant liberality  of  their  presents,  with  which  Alexander  was  pleased. 
There  was  further  the  acting  of  tragedians :  Thessalus,  Athenodorus 
and  Aristocritus,  whilst  among  the  comic  actors  were  Lycon,  Phor- 
mion  and  Ariston.  Phasimelus  the  harp-player  was  also  present. 
The  crowns  sent  by  ambassadors  and  others  amounted  in  value  to 
fifteen  thousand  talents. 

55.  PolycleitUs  of  Larissa,  in  the  eighth  book  of  his  History, 
states  that  Alexander  used  to  sleep  on  a  golden  couch  and  that  men 
and  women  pipers  followed  him  to  the  camp  and  that  he  used  to 
drink  till  daybreak.  Clear chus,  too,  in  his  treatise  entitled  Lives, 
speaking  of  Darius  who  was  dethroned  by  Alexander,  says:  "The 
king  of  the  Persians  offered  prizes  to  those  who  could  invent  pleas- 
ures for  him ;  by  this  conduct  he  allowed  his  whole  empire  and 
sovereignty  to  be  subverted  to  pleasures.  In  fact  he  knew  not  that 
he  was  defeating  himself  till  others  had  wrested  his  sceptre  from  him 
and  had  been  proclaimed  in  his  place."  Phylarchus  also,  in  the 
twenty-third  book  of  his  Histories,  and  Agatharchides  of  Cnidus,  in 
the  tenth  book  of  his  History  of  Asia,  state  that  the  companions,  too, 
of  Alexander  gave  way  to  the  most  extravagant  luxury.  One  of 
them  was  a  man  named  Agnon,  who  used  to  wear  gold  studs  in  his 
sandals  and  shoes.  Cleitus,  surnamed  the  White,  whenever  he  was 
about  to  transact  business,  was  accustomed  to  walk  on  a  purple 


LUXURY  OF  ALEXANDER 


685 


carpet  while  conversing  with  those  who  came  to  him.  Perdiccas 
and  Craterus,  who  enjoyed  athletic  exercises,  had  men  accompany 
them  with  hides  fastened  together  so  as  to  cover  a  space  an  entire 
stadium  in  extent.  They  selected  within  the  encampment  a  space, 
which  they  covered  with  these  skins  as  an  awning;  and  under  it 
they  practised  their  gymnastics.  They  were  followed,  too,  by 
many  beasts  of  burden,  which  carried  sand  for  the  use  of  the 
palaestra. 

Leonnatus  and  Menelaus,  who  were  fond  of  hunting,  brought 
curtains  with  them  sufficient  for  enclosing  a  space  a  hundred  stadia 
in  circumference.  With  this  material  they  fenced  in  a  large  space, 
within  which  they  practised  hunting.  As  for  the  golden  plane- 
trees  and  golden  vine,  bearing  bunches  of  grapes  made  of  emeralds 
and  Indian  carbuncles  and  all  sorts  of  other  stones  of  the  most 
costly  and  magnificent  description,  under  which  the  kings  of  Persia 
were  accustomed  often  to  sit  while  engaged  in  business  —  the  ex- 
pense of  all  this,  says  Phylarchus,  was  far  less  than  the  sums 
squandered  every  day  by  Alexander ;  for  he  had  a  tent  with  a 
capacity  for  a  hundred  couches  and  fifty  golden  pillars  supported  it. 
Over  it  were  spread  golden  canopies  wrought  with  the  most  superb 
and  costly  embroidery,  for  the  purpose  of  shading  all  the  upper 
part  of  it.  First  of  all,  five  hundred  Persian  melophori  stood  round 
the  interior  of  it,  clad  in  robes  of  purple  and  apple-green.  Besides 
them  there  were  archers  to  the  number  of  a  thousand,  some  clad 
in  garments  of  fiery  red,  others  in  purple,  and  many  others  in  blue 
cloaks.  In  front  of  them  stood  five  hundred  Macedonian  Ar- 
gyraspides.  In  the  middle  of  the  pavilion  was  placed  a  golden 
throne,  on  which  Alexander  used  to  sit  and  transact  business,  sur- 
rounded by  his  personal  guards.  Round  the  tent  on  the  exterior 
was  a  squad  of  elephants  fully  equipped,  and  a  thousand  Mace- 
donians in  their  native  dress ;  then  ten  thousand  Persians,  five 
hundred  of  whom  wore  purple,  the  gift  of  Alexander.  With  all  this 
retenue  of  friends  and  servants,  no  one  dared  approach  Alexander 
of  his  own  accord,  so  great  was  his  dignity  and  the  veneration  in 
which  he  was  held.  At  that  time  Alexander  wrote  letters  to  the 
cities  of  Ionia,  first  of  all  to  the  Chians,  to  send  him  a  great  amount 
of  purple,  for  he  wished  all  his  companions  to  wear  robes  of  that 
color.    When  his  letter  was  read  to  the  Chians,  Theocritus  the 


686 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


philosopher,  who  was  present,  said:  'He  fell  by  purple  death  and 
mighty  fate.' 1 

236.  State  aid  for  the  Poor  in  Rhodes 

(Strabo  xiv.  5) 

The  custom  continuing  in  the  time  of  Strabo  is  declared  by  him  to  be  in 
accordance  with  an  ancient  usage,  which  must  have  been  as  old  at  least  as  the 
Hellenistic  age.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  distribution  of  cheap  grain 
at  the  expense  of  the  state,  initiated  at  Rome  by  Gaius  Gracchus  and  further 
developed  by  his  successors,  was  already  in  vogue  in  the  Hellenic  states.  The 
custom  must  not  be  too  hastily  condemned  as  socialistic  or  as  a  pernicious 
device  of  demagogues ;  for  the  pauperization  of  the  masses  had  resulted  from 
economic  conditions  over  which  they  could  have  exercised  but  little  influence. 
If  the  people  were  not  to  starve,  they  had  to  be  helped,  and  the  best  minds  of 
the  ancient  world  could  devise  no  better  plan  than  the  distribution  of  cheap  or 
free  grain.  Undoubtedly  it  encouraged  idleness  and  helplessness,  but  that  is 
true  of  all  charity  and  paternalism,  modern  as  well  as  ancient. 

Although  their  form  of  government  is  not  democratic,  the 
Rhodians  are  attentive  to  the  welfare  of  the  people,  and  exert 
themselves  to  support  the  masses  of  the  poor.  The  people  receive 
allowances  of  grain  and  the  rich  support  the  needy  in  accordance 
with  an  ancient  usage.  The  state  has  public  offices,  whose  object  is 
to  procure  and  distribute  provisions,  that  the  poor  may  obtain 
subsistence,  and  the  city  may  not  suffer  for  want  of  persons  to 
serve  her  especially  in  manning  her  fleets. 

237.  Bozotian  aid  to  the  Poor  and  Suspension  of  Suits  for 
the  Collection  of  Debts 

(Polybius  xx.  6  ) 

The  condition  here  described  belongs  to  the  latter  part  of  the  third  cen- 
tury B.C. 

Bceotia  as  a  nation  had  fallen  to  so  low  a  state  that  for  nearly 
twenty-five  years  the  administration  of  justice  had  been  suspended 
in  private  and  public  suits  alike.  Their  magistrates  were  engaged 
in  despatching  bodies  of  men  to  guard  the  country  or  in  proclaim- 
ing national  expeditions,  and  thus  continually  postponed  their 

1  Homer,  Iliad,  v.  83. 


DEBTS 


687 


attendance  at  the  law-courts.  Some  of  the  generals  also  dispensed 
allowances  to  the  needy  from  the  public  treasury,  whereby  the  com- 
mon people  learned  to  support  and  to  invest  with  office  those  who 
would  help  them  escape  the  penalties  of  their  offences  and  of  their 
undischarged  liabilities,  and  to  be  enriched  from  time  to  time  with 
some  portion  of  the  public  property  obtained  by  official  favor.  No 
one  contributed  to  this  lamentable  state  of  things  more  than 
Opheltas,  who  was  always  inventing  some  plan  calculated  to  benefit 
the  masses  for  the  moment,  while  perfectly  certain  to  ruin  them  in 
the  future. 

238.  The  Extensive  Indebtedness  or  the  ^Etolians  and  the 
Vain  Attempt  at  Repudiation 

(Polybius  xiii.  1) 
This  passage  refers  to  the  close  of  the  third  century  B.C. 

From  the  unbroken  continuity  of  their  wars  and  the  extrava- 
gance of  their  daily  lives,  the  ^Etolians  became  involved  in  debt,  not 
only  without  others  noticing  it  but  without  being  aware  of  it  them- 
selves. Disposed  naturally  therefore  to  a  change  in  their  constitu- 
tion, they  elected  Dorimachus  and  Scopas  to  draw  up  a  code  of 
laws,  because  they  saw  that  these  men  were  not  only  by  disposition 
innovators  but  were  themselves  deeply  involved  in  debt.  These 
men  accordingly  were  appointed  to  the  office  and  drew  up  the  laws 
.  .  .  {lacuna)  .  .  . 

When  they  reported  their  code,  they  were  opposed  by  Alexander 
of  iEtolia,  who  tried  to  show  by  many  instances  that  innovation  was 
a  dangerous  growth  which  could  not  be  checked,  and  which  invari- 
ably ended  with  inflicting  grave  evils  upon  those  who  fostered  it. 
He  urged  them  therefore  not  to  look  solely  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
hour  and  their  relief  from  the  existing  contracts,  but  to  the  future 
as  well.  For  it  was  a  strange  inconsistency  to  be  ready  to  forfeit 
their  very  lives  in  war  to  preserve  their  children,  and  yet  in  their 
deliberations  to  be  entirely  careless  of  the  future. 


688 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


239.  Suspension  of  the  Payment  or  Debts  in  the  Achaean 

League 

(Polybius  xxxviii.  9) 

Critolaiis,  general  of  the  Achaean  league,  was  determined  to  bring  on  a  war 
with  Rome  (winter  of  147-46  B.C.).  The  magistrates  mentioned  in  the  following 
excerpt  are  those  of  the  states  of  the  league.  It  is  clear  that  the  debtors  af- 
fected by  the  suspension  of  payments  were  not  the  proletarians,  but  the  holders 
of  property,  ordinarily  farms,  for  there  could  be  no  loans  without  security  and 
the  principal  form  of  property  was  still  land;  cf.  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  III. 
328  sq.  The  passage  is  evidence,  therefore,  of  an  extensive  mortgaging  of 
farms  throughout  Peloponnese,  due  at  least  in  part  to  an  extravagant  standard 
of  life. 

Critolaiis  .  .  .  sent  round  orders  to  the  magistrates  not  to 
exact  money  from  debtors,  nor  to  receive  prisoners  arrested  for 
debt,  and  to  cause  loans  on  pledge  to  be  held  over  until  the  war 
should  be  decided.  By  this  kind  of  appeal  to  the  interests  of  the 
vulgar  everything  he  said  was  received  with  confidence ;  and  the 
common  people  were  ready  to  obey  any  order  he  gave,  incapable  as 
they  were  of  taking  thought  for  the  future,  but  caught  by  the  bait 
of  immediate  indulgence  and  relief. 

240.  Luxury  of  the  Lacedaemonians 
(Phylarchus,  Histories,  xv,  xx,  quoted  by  Athenseus  iv.  20) 

Subsequently  the  Lacedaemonians  relaxed  the  rigor  of  this  way 
of  living.  At  all  events  Phylarchus,  in  the  fifteenth  and  again  in 
the  twentieth  book  of  his  Histories,  writes  thus  concerning  them : 
"The  Lacedaemonians  had  given  up  assembling  for  the  phiditia  1 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country;  and  whenever  they  met, 
after  having  had  a  few  things  brought  round  for  the  sake  of  a  seeming 
compliance  with  the  law,  they  had  other  things  prepared :  couches 
furnished  in  a  very  expensive  way  and  of  exceeding  size,  and  all 
differing  from  one  another  in  their  adornment ;  so  that  some  of  the 
strangers  who  were  invited  used  to  be  afraid  to  put  their  elbows  on 
the  pillows ;  and  those  who  formerly  used  to  rest  on  a  bare  bench 

1  Another  term  for  the  syssitia,  public  messes,  described  by  Plutarch,  Lycurgua, 
10-12 ;  cf.  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vi. 


SOCIAL  REFORM 


689 


during  the  whole  banquet,  perhaps  once  leaning  on  their  elbows  for 
a  few  minutes,  had  now  come  to  such  a  pitch  of  luxury  as  I  have 
spoken  of,  and  to  a  serving  of  many  cups  of  wine  and  of  all  sorts  of 
food  procured  from  all  countries  and  dressed  in  every  kind  of  luxuri- 
ous style ;  and  in  addition  they  had  come  to  use  foreign  perfumes 
and  also  foreign  wines  and  sweetmeats.  The  people  who  lived  a 
short  time  before  the  age  of  Cleomenes  began  this  fashion,  namely 
Areus  1  and  Acrotatus,  rivalling  the  indulgences  of  the  court  of 
Persia.  They  in  their  turn  were  so  far  exceeded  in  extravagance  by 
some  private  individuals  who  lived  in  Sparta  at  that  time  that 
Areus  and  Acrotatus  appeared  to  be  people  of  such  rigid  economy  as 
to  have  surpassed  the  most  simple  of  their  predecessors  in  self- 
denial." 

241.  The  Attempted  Social  Reform  of  Agis,  King  of  the 

Lacedemonians 

(Plutarch,  Life  of  Agis) 

Agis  ascended  the  throne  in  245  or  244  and  was  executed  in  241 ;  Beloch, 
Griech.  Gesch.  III.  2.  118  sq.  The  condition  which  he  attempted  to  reform  is 
fully  described  in  the  following  excerpts  from  Plutarch.  The  number  of 
Spartans  had  shrunk  to  seven  hundred,  of  whom  only  one  hundred  were  "peers," 
—  who  enjoyed  a  sufficient  income  to  enable  them  to  take  part  in  the  syssitia  — 
public  messes  —  and  in  political  affairs.  Among  the  hundred  peers,  who  owned 
most  of  the  land  of  Lacedaemon,  some  were  heavily  indebted.  The  chief  rep- 
resentative of  this  class  was  Agesilaiis,  a  member  of  one  of  the  royal  families, 
and  uncle  of  Agis.  According  to  Plutarch  the  idea  of  a  thoroughgoing  reform 
of  the  social  and  political  condition  originated  with  Agis,  who  was  not  yet 
twenty  years  of  age.  It  was  only  to  rid  himself  of  his  vast  debts,  however, 
that  Agesilaiis  supported  the  measure.  After  this  object  had  been  accom- 
plished, Agesilaiis  and  other  large  debtors  had  every  reason  for  wishing  to  put 
a  stop  to  the  reform,  and  their  desires  were  seconded  by  the  circumstance  that 
during  the  absence  of  Agis  the  proletariat  ceased  to  take  an  interest  in  the 
reform ;  so  that  on  his  return  he  found  no  support.  Undoubtedly  Agis  had  a 
high  moral  aim.  His  enthusiasm,  too,  was  sufficient,  but  he  lacked  the  experi- 
ence and  the  political  wisdom  essential  to  overcoming  the  formidable  opposi- 
tion.   These  defects  were  to  be  made  good  by  Cleomenes,  his  successor. 

It  is  quite  natural  that  Plutarch  should  find  the  lives  of  Agis  and  Cleomenes 
paralleled  by  those  of  the  two  Gracchi,  and  that  some  modern  scholars  should 

1  Areus,  king  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  died  in  265-264 ;  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  2. 
113.    For  Cleomenes,  see  no.  243. 


690 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


assume  that  the  two  young  Roman  statesmen  derived  their  ideas  and  their 
inspiration  from  the  two  Spartan  reformers  who  lived  about  a  century  before 
their  time.  The  attempted  reform  of  Agis,  however,  was  far  more  sweeping 
than  that  of  the  Gracchi.  The  property  which  the  Spartan  king  planned  to 
distribute  was  private;  the  land  distributed  by  the  Gracchi  was  public.  On 
Agis,  see  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  III.  1.  646-51;  Niese,  B.,  "Agis,"  in  Pauly- 
Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  I.  819  (4)-2i  ;  Griech.  u.  mak.  Staat.  II.  296  sqq. 

3.  After  the  desire  of  silver  and  gold  had  penetrated  into 
Sparta,  the  acquisition  of  wealth  produced  greed  and  meanness, 
while  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  riches  was  followed  by  luxury, 
effeminacy,  and  extravagance.  Thus  it  resulted  that  Sparta 
lost  her  high  and  honored  position  in  Greece,  and  remained  in 
obscurity  and  disgrace  until  the  reign  of  Agis  and  Leonidas. 
Agis  was  of  the  Eurypontid  1  line,  the  son  of  Eudamidas  and  sixth 
in  descent  from  king  Agesilaiis,2  who  invaded  Asia  and  became 
the  most  powerful  man  in  Hellas.  .  .  . 

Leonidas,  son  of  Cleonymus,  was  of  the  other  royal  family,  tha  t 
of  the  Agiadae,  and  was  the  eighth  in  descent  from  the  Pausanias 
who  conquered  Mardonius  at  the  battle  of  Plataea.3  .  .  .  Leonidas, 
who  had  spent  much  of  his  life  at  the  courts  of  Asiatic  potentates, 
and  had  been  especially  attached  to  that  of  Seleucus,  seemed 
inclined  to  outrage  the  political  feeling  of  the  Greeks  by  introducing 
the  arrogant  tone  of  an  Oriental  despot  into  the  constitutional 
royalty  of  Sparta. 

4.  On  the  other  hand,  the  goodness  of  heart  and  intellectual 
power  of  Agis  proved  so  greatly  superior,  not  only  to  that  of  Leoni- 
das, but  to  every  king  since  Agesilaiis  the  Great,  that  before  he 
arrived  at  his  twentieth  year,  in  spite  of  his  having  been  brought 
up  in  the  greatest  luxury  by  his  mother  Agesistrata  and  his  grand- 
mother Archidamia,  the  two  richest  women  in  Sparta,4  he  abjured 
all  frivolous  indulgence,  laid  aside  all  personal  ornament,  avoided 
extravagance  of  every  kind,  prided  himself  on  practising  the  old 

1  On  the  two  royal  families  of  Lacedaemon,  see  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  4-7 ;  Busolt, 
Griech.  Gesch.  I.  544-7.  The  Agiadae  and  Eurypontidae  claimed  descent  from  Agis 
and  Eurypon  respectively.  Historians  generally  consider  these  two  persons  mythical, 
and  offer  various  explanations  of  the  double  kingship,  no  one  of  which  is  absolutely 
convincing. 

2  Early  in  the  fourth  century ;  Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  xxi. 

3  Op.  cit.  ch.  xi. 

4  On  the  wealth  and  power  of  Spartan  women,  op.  cit.  ch.  xxv. 


CORRUPTION  AT  SPARTA 


691 


Laconian  habits  of  dress,  food,  and  bathing,  and  was  wont  to  say 
that  he  would  not  care  to  be,  king  unless  he  could  use  his  position  to 
restore  the  ancient  customs  and  discipline  of  his  country. 

5.  The  corruption  of  the  Lacedaemonians  began  at  the  time 
when,  after  having  overthrown  the  Athenian  empire,  they  were 
able  to  satiate  themselves  with  the  possession  of  gold  and  silver.1 
Nevertheless,  as  the  number  of  houses  instituted  by  Lycurgus  was 
still  maintained,  and  each  father  still  transmitted  his  estate  to  his 
son,  the  original  equal  division  of  property  continued  to  exist,  and 
preserved  the  state  from  disorder.  But  a  certain  powerful  and 
self-willed  man,  named  Epitadeus,2  who  was  one  of  the  ephors, 
having  quarrelled  with  his  son,  proposed  a  rhetra3  permitting  a  man 
to  give  his  house  and  land  to  whomsoever  he  pleased,  either  during  his 
life  or  by  his  will  after  his  death.  This  man  proposed  the  law  in 
order  to  gratify  his  own  private  grudge ;  but  the  other  Spartans 
through  coveteousness  eagerly  confirmed  it,  and  ruined  the  admi- 
rable constitution  of  Lycurgus.  They  now  began  to  acquire  land 
without  limit,  as  the  powerful  men  kept  their  relatives  out  of  their 
rightful  inheritance.  As  the  wealth  of  the  country  soon  got  into  the 
hands  of  the  few,  the  city  became  impoverished,  and  the  rich  began 
to  be  viewed  with  dislike  and  hatred.  There  were  left  at  that  time 
no  more  than  seven  hundred  Spartans,  and  of  that  number  about 
one  hundred  possessed  an  inheritance  in  land,  while  the  rest,  without 
money  and  excluded  from  all  the  privileges  of  citizenship,  fought  in 
a  languid  and  spiritless  fashion  in  the  wars,  and  were  ever  on  the 
watch  for  some  opportunity  to  subvert  the  existing  condition  of 
affairs  at  home. 

1  Loc.  cit. 

2  The  law  here  ascribed  to  Epitadeus  is  mentioned  by  Aristotle,  Polit.  ii.  9.  14, 
1270  a,  and  must  therefore  have  been  enacted  before  his  time.  From  the  fact,  how- 
ever, that  no  extant  writer  of  the  fourth  century  or  earlier  hints  at  an  equality  of  land 
in  early  Lacedaemon,  Grote,  History  of  Greece,  II.  393  sqq.,  argues  that  the  idea  of  an 
equal  distribution  of  land  by  Lycurgus  was  a  fiction  of  the  third  century,  connected 
with  the  attempted  reform  of  Agis.  The  argument  is  very  strong,  and  has  not  been 
satisfactorily  met  by  those  who  think  differently.  See,  for  example,  Busolt,  Griech. 
Gesch.  I.  521  sqq.,  who  assumes  an  original  equality  of  land,  which  was  soon  disturbed 
by  the  Messenian  wars,  and  by  differences  in  the  size  of  families,  Epitadeus,  however, 
seems  to  have  been  a  real  person,  who  was  an  ephor,  and  who  may  have  passed  a  law 
relating  to  the  gift  or  inheritance  of  landed  property;  cf.  Niese,  "Epitadeus,"  in 
Pauly-Wissowa,  Real-Encycl.  VI.  217. 

3  The  Lacedaemonian  term  for  statute. 


692 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


6.  Agis,  therefore,  thinking  that  it  would  be  an  honorable  enter- 
prise, as  indeed  it  was,  to  restore  these  citizens  to  the  state  and  to 
reestablish  equality  for  all,  began  to  sound  the  people  themselves 
as  to  their  opinion  about  such  a  measure.  The  younger  men  quickly 
rallied  round  him,  and  with  an  enthusiasm  which  he  had  hardly 
counted  upon  began  to  make  ready  for  the  contest.  Most  of  the 
elder  men,  however,  who  had  become  more  thoroughly  tainted  by 
the  prevailing  corruption,  feared  to  be  brought  back  to  the  dis- 
cipline of  Lycurgus  as  much  as  a  runaway  slave  fears  to  be  brought 
back  to  his  master.  They  bitterly  reviled  Agis  when  he  lamented 
over  the  condition  of  affairs  and  sighed  for  the  ancient  glories  of 
Sparta.  His  enthusiastic  aspirations,  however,  were  sympathised 
with  by  Lysander,  son  of  Libys,  Mandrocleides,  son  of  Ecphanes, 
and  Agesilaiis.  Lysander  was  the  most  influential  of  all  the  Spar- 
tans, while  Mandrocleides  was  thought  to  be  the  ablest  politician 
in  Greece,  as  he  could  plot  with  subtlety  and  execute  with  boldness. 
Agesilaiis  was  the  uncle  of  King  Agis  and  a  fluent  speaker,  but  of 
a  weak  and  covetous  disposition.  It  was  commonly  supposed 
that  he  was  stirred  to  action  by  the  influence  of  his  son  Hippomedon, 
who  had  gained  great  glory  in  the  wars  and  was  exceedingly  popular 
among  the  younger  citizens ;  but  what  really  determined  him  to 
join  the  reformers  was  the  amount  of  his  debts,  which  he  hoped 
would  be  wiped  out  by  the  revolution.  As  soon  as  Agis  had  won 
over  this  important  adherent,  he  began  to  try  to  bring  over  his 
mother  to  his  views,  who  was  the  sister  of  Agesilaiis,  and  who  from 
the  number  of  her  friends,  debtors  and  dependents,  was  very  power- 
ful in  the  state  and  took  a  large  share  in  the  management  of  public 
affairs. 

7.  When  she  first  heard  of  the  designs  of  Agis,  she  was  greatly 
startled,  and  attempted  to  dissuade  the  youth  from  an  enterprise 
which  she  thought  was  neither  practicable  nor  desirable.  When 
however  Agesilaiis  pointed  out  to  her  what  a  notable  design  it  was, 
and  how  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  all,  while  the  young  king  him- 
self besought  his  mother  to  part  with  her  wealth  in  order  to  gain 
him  glory,  arguing  that  he  could  not  vie  with  other  kings  in  riches, 
as  the  servants  of  the  Persian  satraps  and  the  very  slaves  of  the 
intendants  of  Ptolemy  and  Seleucus  possessed  more  money  than 
all  the  kings  that  ever  reigned  in  Sparta;  but  that  if  he  could 


PROPOSALS  OF  AGIS 


693 


prove  himself  superior  to  those  vanities  by  his  temperance,  sim- 
plicity of  life,  and  true  greatness. of  mind,  and  could  succeed  in 
restoring  equality  among  his  countrymen,  he  would  be  honored  and 
renowned  as  a  truly  great  king.  By  this  argument  the  young  man 
entirely  changed  his  mother's  mind,  and  so  fired  her  with  his  own 
ambition,  as  if  by  an  inspiration  from  heaven,  that  she  began  to 
encourage  Agis  and  to  urge  him  on,  and  invited  her  friends  to  join 
them,  while  she  also  communicated  their  design  to  the  other  women, 
because  she  knew  that  the  Lacedaemonians  were  in  all  things  ruled 
by  their  women,  and  that  they  had  more  power  in  the  state  than  the 
men  possessed  in  their  private  households.  Most  of  the  wealth  of 
Lacedaemon  had  fallen  into  female  hands  at  this  time,  and  this 
fact  proved  a  great  hindrance  to  the  accomplishment  of  Agis' 
schemes  of  reform ;  for  the  women  offered  a  vehement  opposition 
to  him,  not  merely  through  a  vulgar  love  of  their  idolized  luxury, 
but  also  because  they  saw  they  would  lose  all  the  influence  and 
power  which  they  derived  from  their  wealth.  They  betook  them- 
selves to  Leonidas  and  besought  him,  as  the  elder  man,  to  restrain 
Agis  and  check  the  development  of  his  designs.  Leonidas  was 
willing  enough  to  assist  the  richer  class,  but  he  feared  the  people, 
who  were  eager  for  reform,  and  would  not  openly  oppose  Agis, 
although  he  endeavored  secretly  to  ruin  his  plan  and  to  prejudice 
the  ephors  against  him  by  imputing  to  him  the  design  of  hiring  the 
poor  with  the  plunder  of  the  rich  to  make  him  despot,  and  insinuat- 
ing that  by  his  redistribution  of  lands  and  remission  of  debts  he 
meant  to  obtain  more  adherents  for  himself  than  citizens  for 
Sparta. 

8.  In  spite  of  all  this  opposition  Agis  contrived  to  get  Lysander 
appointed  ephor,  and  immediately  induced  him  to  propose  a  rhetra 
before  the  gerousia,1  the  main  points  of  which  were  that  all  debts 
should  be  cancelled ;  that  the  land  should  be  divided,  —  that  be- 
tween the  valley  of  Pellene  and  Mount  Taygetus,  Malea  and  Sel- 
lasia,  —  into  4,500  lots  and  the  outlying  districts  into  15,000;  that 
the  latter  district  should  be  distributed  among  those  of  the  periceci 
who  were  able  to  bear  arms ;  and  the  interior  district  among  the 
Spartans  themselves;  that  these  be  reinforced  from  the  periceci 
and  from  all  those  foreigners  who  had  a  liberal  education  and  a 

1  The  council  of  twenty-eight  elders,  senators. 


694 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


good  physique  and  were  in  the  prime  of  life ;  and  that  these  citi- 
zens should  be  divided  into  fifteen  companies,  some  of  four  hundred 
and  some  of  two  hundred,  for  the  public  meals, .  and  should  con- 
form in  every  respect  to  the  discipline  of  their  forefathers. 

9.  When  this  rhetra  was  proposed,  as  the  gerousia  could  not 
agree  whether  it  should  become  a  law,  Lysander  convoked  an 
assembly  of  the  people  and  himself  addressed  them.  Mandro- 
cleides  and  Agesilaiis  also  besought  them  not  to  allow  a  few  selfish 
voluptuaries  to  destroy  the  glorious  name  of  Sparta,  but  to  re- 
member the  ancient  oracles,  warning  them  against  the  sin  of  covet- 
ousness,  which  would  prove  the  ruiri  'of  Sparta,  and  also  of  the 
responses  which  they  had  recently  received  from  the  Oracle  of 
Pasiphae.  .  .  .  The  oracular  responses  which  had  come  from  this 
shrine  bade  the  Spartans  all  become  equal,  as  Lycurgus  had  orig- 
inally ordained.  After  these  speeches  had  been  delivered,  king 
Agis  himself  came  forward,  and  after  a  few  introductory  words, 
said  that  he  was  giving  the  strongest  pledges  of  his  loyalty  to  the 
new  constitution ;  for  he  declared  his  intention  of  surrendering 
to  the  state  before  any  one  else,  his  own  property,  consisting  of  a 
vast  extent  of  land,  both  arable  and  pasture,  besides  six  hundred 
talents  in  money ;  and  he  assured  the  people  that  his  mother  and 
her  friends,  the  richest  people  of  Sparta,  would  do  the  same. 

10.  The  people  were  astounded  at  the  magnanimity  of  the  youth, 
and  were  filled  with  joy,  thinking  that  at  last  after  an  interval  of 
three  hundred  years,  there  had  appeared  a  king  worthy  of  Sparta. 
Leonidas,  on  the  other  hand,  opposed  him  as  vigorously  as  he  could, 
reflecting  that  he  would  be  forced  to  follow  his  example,  and  divest 
himself  of  all  his  property,  and  that  Agis,  not  he,  would  get  the 
credit  for  the  act.  .  .  . 

1 1 .  The  people  espoused  the  cause  of  Agis,  while  the  rich  begged 
Leonidas  not  to  desert  them,  and  by  their  entreaties  prevailed  upon 
the  members  of  the  gerousia,  who  had  the  power  of  originating  all 
laws,  to  throw  out  the  rhetra  by  a  majority  of  one  vote.  .  .  . 

The  parts  thus  far  omitted  refer  to  the  less  important  details  of  the  conflict. 
Lysander  now  succeeded  in  having  Leonidas  dethroned,  and  Cleombrotus,  son- 
in-law  of  the  latter,  made  king  in  his  stead. 

12.  At  this  crisis  Lysander  was  forced  to  lay  down  his  office,  as 
the  year  for  which  he  had  been  elected  had  expired.    The  ephors 


FAILURE  OF  AGIS 


695 


at  once  took  Leonidas  under  their  protection,  restored  him  to  the 
throne,  and  impeached  Lysander  and  Mandrocleides  as  the  authors 
of  illegal  measures  for  cancelling  debts  and  redistributing  land.  As 
these  men  were  now  in  danger  of  their  lives,  they  prevailed  upon 
the  two  kings  to  act  together  and  overrule  the  decision  of  the  ephors  ; 
for  this,  they  declared,  was  the  ancient  rule  of  the  constitution, 
that  if  the  kings  were  at  variance,  the  ephors  were  entitled  to  sup- 
port the  one  whom  they  judged  to  be  in  the  right  against  the  other ; 
but  their  function  was  merely  to  act  as  arbitrators  and  judges  be- 
tween the  kings  when  they  disagreed,  and  not  to  interfere  with  them 
when  they  were  of  one  mind.  Both  the  kings  agreed  to  act  upon 
this  advice,  and  came  with  their  friends  into  the  assembly,  turned 
the  ephors  out  of  their  chairs  of  office,  and  elected  others  in  their 
room,  one  of  whom  was  Agesilaiis.  They  now  armed  many  of  the 
younger  citizens,  released  the  prisoners,  and  terrified  their  opponents 
by  threatening  a  general  massacre.  No  one,  however,  was  killed 
by  them ;  for  although  Agesilaiis  desired  to  kill  Leonidas,  and  when 
he  withdrew  from  Sparta  to  Tegea,  sent  men  to  waylay  and  murder 
him  on  the  road,  Agis,  hearing  of  his  intention,  sent  others  on  whom 
he  could  rely,  who  escorted  Leonidas  safely  as  far  as  Tegea. 

13.  Thus  far  all  had  gone  well,  and  no  one  remained  to  hinder 
the  accomplishment  of  the  reforms ;  but  now  Agesilaiis  alone  upset 
and  ruined  the  whole  of  this  noble  and  genuinely  Spartan  scheme 
by  his  detestable  vice  and  covetousness.  He  possessed  large  tracts 
of  the  best  land  in  the  country,  and  also  owed  a  great  sum  of  money ; 
and  as  he  desired  neither  to  pay  his  debts  nor  to  part  with  his  land, 
he  persuaded  Agis  that  it  would  be  too  revolutionary  a  proceeding 
to  carry  both  measures  at  once,  and  that  if  the  moneyed  class  were 
first  propitiated  by  the  cancelling  of  debts,  they  would  afterward 
be  inclined  to  submit  quietly  to  the  redistribution  of  lands.  Ly- 
sander and  the  rest  were  deceived  by  Agesilaiis  into  consenting  to 
this  plan,  and  they  brought  all  the  written  securities  for  money 
which  had  been  given  by  debtors,  which  are  called  by  them 
klaria,1  into  the  market-place,  collected  them  into  one  heap  and 
burned  them.  As  the  flames  rose  up,  the  rich  and  those  who  had 
lent  money  went  away  in  great  distress,  but  Agesilaiis,  as  if  exulting 
at  their  misfortune,  declared  that  he  had  never  seen  a  brighter 

1  K\dpia  derived  from  K\apoi,  "lots." 


6c6 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


blaze  or  a  purer  fire.  As  the  people  at  once  demanded  the  division 
of  the  land,  and  called  upon  the  kings  to  distribute  it  among  them, 
Agesilaiis  put  them  off  with  various  excuses,  and  managed  to  spin 
out  the  time  till  Agis  was  sent  out  of  the  country  on  military  ser- 
vice. .  .  . 

During  the  absence  of  Agis  Leonidas  regained  the  throne,  and  the  reform 
was  effectually  blocked.  On  his  return  Agis  had  to  take  sanctuary  for  his 
safety.  As  he  went  out  one  day  to  bathe,  he  was  seized,  imprisoned,  and  after 
a  mock  trial,  hanged.  The  execution  of  his  mother  and  grandmother  immedi- 
ately followed.    Agis  was  the  first  king  who  was  put  to  death  by  the  ephors. 

242.  The  Democratic  Table  of  Cleomenes,  King  of  the 
Lacedemonians 

(Phylarchus,  Histories,  quoted  by  Athenaeus  iv.  21) 
For  Phylarchus,  see  no.  56. 

Cleomenes,  the  son  of  King  Leonidas  referred  to  in  the  preceding  selection, 
came  to  the  throne  in  235  and  died  in  exile,  219.  He  was  a  military  commander 
of  brilliant  ability  and  a  statesman  who  not  only  saw  the  miserable  condition  of 
Lacedaemon  but  possessed  sufficient  political  skill  for  overcoming  opposition 
and  carrying  through  the  reforms  of  Agis.  The  simple  hospitality  of  Cleomenes 
contrasts  with  the  extravagant  luxury  prevailing  among  the  Spartan  rich  dur- 
ing this  period ;  cf.  no.  240. 

Although  he  was  but  a  young  man,  Cleomenes  possessed  eminent 
wisdom  in  his  discernment  of  affairs,  and  was  exceedingly  simple 
in  his  manner  of  life.  King  as  he  was,  and  with  so  important  af- 
fairs intrusted  to  his  management,  he  displayed  such  behavior  to  all 
who  were  invited  to  a  sacrifice,  as  to  make  them  see  that  what  they 
had  daily  prepared  at  home  for  themselves  was  in  no  respect  inferior 
to  what  he  allowed  himself.  Though  many  embassies  were  sent 
to  him,  he  never  made  a  banquet  for  the  ambassadors  at  an  earlier 
hour  than  the  regular  time ;  and  there  was  never  anything  more 
laid  than  a  common  pentaclinum ; 1  and  when  there  was  no  embassy, 
there  was  laid  simply  a  triclinium.  There  were  no  orders  issued  by 
the  regulator  of  the  feasts,  as  to  who  should  come  in  or  sit  down 
first ;  but  the  eldest  led  the  way  to  the  couch,  unless  he  invited 
some  one  else  to  do  so.    Cleomenes  was  generally  seen  supping 

1  As  the  name  indicates,  pentaclinum  was  a  table  with  five  couches  for  guests; 
triclinium,  just  below,  was  a  table  for  three. 


FRUGALITY  OF  CLEOMENES 


697 


with  his  brother,  or  with  some  of  his  friends  of  his  own  age.  There 
was  placed  on  a  tripod  a  brazen  wine-cooler  and  a  cask  and  a  small 
silver  cup  holding  two  cotylae  1  and  a  cyathus ;  and  the  spoon  was 
of  bronze.  Wine  was  not  brought  round  to  drink  unless  some  one 
asked  for  it ;  but  one  cyathus  was  given  to  each  guest  before  supper, 
generally  to  himself  first.  Then  when  he  had  given  the  signal,  the 
rest  asked  for  some  wine.  What  was  served  up  was  placed  on  a 
very  common-looking  table ;  and  the  dishes  were  such  that  there 
was  neither  anything  left  nor  anything  deficient,  but  just  a  sufficient 
quantity  for  every  one ;  so  that  those  who  were  present  could  not 
feel  the  want  of  anything.  He  did  not  think  it  right  to  receive 
guests  as  sparingly  in  respect  of  soup  and  meat  as  men  are  treated 
at  the  phiditia,2  nor  again  to  have  so  much  superfluity  as  to  waste 
money  for  no  purpose,  exceeding  all  moderation  and  reason  in  the 
feast;  for  the  one  extreme  he  counted  illiberal  and  the  other  ar- 
rogant. When  he  had  company  the  wine  was  of  a  somewhat  better 
quality.  While  they  were  eating  all  kept  silence  ;  but  a  slave  stood 
by,  holding  in  his  hand  a  vessel  of  mixed  wine,  and  poured  for  every 
one  who  asked  for  it.  In  the  same  manner  after  supper  there  were 
given  to  each  guest  not  more  than  two  cyathi  of  wine,  and  this  too 
was  brought  to  each  person  as  he  made  a  sign  for  it.  There  was  no 
music  of  any  kind  accompanying  the  meal,  but  Cleomenes  himself 
conversed  all  the  time  with  each  of  the  guests,  having  invited  them 
as  it  were  for  the  purpose  of  listening  and  talking ;  so  that  all  de- 
parted charmed  with  his  hospitality  and  affability. 


243.  The  Political  and  Social  Reform  of  Cleomenes,  King 
of  the  Lacedaemonians 

(Plutarch,  Life  of  Cleomenes) 

Cleomenes  had  the  advantage  of  Agis  in  experience,  as  he  was  about  thirty 
when  he  came  to  the  throne.  It  was  a  great  advantage  to  him  also  that  the 
attempt  and  the  failure  of  Agis  lay  before  his  eyes  as  an  example  and  especially 
as  a  warning  to  him  to  prepare  a  solid  basis  of  power  before  attempting  a  revolu- 
tion. It  was  his  good  fortune  to  possess  military  talent,  and  the  interstate 
relations  of  Hellas  at  that  time  gave  him  a  favorable  opportunity  for  building 
up  a  reputation  for  military  leadership. 

1  Cotyle,  .578  pint  liquid  measure.    A  cyathus  is  a  sixth  of  a  cotyle. 

2  Phiditia,  see  no.  240,  n.  1. 


6gS 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


For  some  time  the  ^Etolian  league  had  been  the  chief  power  in  the  Greek 
peninsula.  But  more  recently  the  Achaean  league  (see  no.  199)  under  Aratus 
was  coming  to  the  front.  In  fact  it  bade  fair  to  absorb  all  Peloponnese.  This 
development  naturally  provoked  the  hostility  of  Sparta.  Taking  the  field, 
Cleomenes  gained  several  brilliant  successes  over  the  forces  of  the  league,  and 
thus  built  up  for  himself  a  military  support.  At  the  same  time  he  was  busy 
with  political  intrigues.  As  the  other  throne  of  Lacedaemon  became  vacant, 
Cleomenes  succeeded  in  having  it  filled  by  the  brother  of  Agis,  Archidamus,  who 
had  been  in  exile.  Some  time  afterward,  however,  Archidamus  was  assas- 
sinated by  the  party  which  had  put  Agis  to  death,  as  Phylarchus  states,  though 
some  suspected  Cleomenes  (Plut.  Cleom.  5).  It  is  important  to  notice,  too, 
that  the  wife  of  Cleomenes  was  Agiatis,  widow  of  Agis,  a  woman  of  estimable 
character,  who  used  her  powerful  influence  in  favor  of  reform.  For  further 
details  regarding  the  political  situation,  see  Beloch,  Griech.  Gesch.  II.  1.  718-26 ; 
Niese,  Griech.  u.  mak.  Staat.  II,  314  sqq.  The  chief  source  of  Plutarch  seems 
to  have  been  Phylarchus,  who  was  a  warm  admirer  of  Cleomenes,  though  he 
also  drew  from  writers  who  were  less  favorable.  The  importance  of  the  selec- 
tion given  below  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  an  account  of  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting social  reforms  in  antiquity  —  a  reform  in  thorough  accord  with  the 
general  trend  of  political  thought.  The  theory  that  it  had  an  influence  on  the 
Gracchi,  though  unproved,  is  possible. 

7.  After  this  victory  Cleomenes  became  inspired  with  fresh  con- 
fidence, and  was  convinced  that  if  he  only  were  allowed  undisputed 
management,  he  would  easily  conquer  the  Achaeans.  He  explained 
to  his  stepfather  Megistonous  that  the  time  had  at  length  come  for 
the  abolition  of  the  ephorate,  the  redistribution  of  property,  and 
the  establishment  of  equality  among  the  citizens.  After  these  re- 
forms Sparta  might  again  aspire  to  recover  her  ancient  ascendancy 
in  Hellas.  Megistonous  agreed,  and  communicated  his  intention 
to  two  or  three  of  his  friends.  It  chanced  that  at  this  time  one  of 
the  ephors  who  was  sleeping  in  the  temple  of  Pasiphae  dreamed  an 
extraordinary  dream,  that  in  the  place  where  the  ephors  sat  for  the 
despatch  of  business  he  saw  four  chairs  removed  and  one  alone 
remaining,  while  as  he  wondered  he  heard  a  voice  from  the  shrine 
say,  "This  is  best  for  Sparta."  When  the  ephor  related  this  dream 
to  Cleomenes,  he  was  at  first  much  alarmed,  and  feared  that  the 
man  had  conceived  some  suspicion  of  his  designs,  but  finding  that 
he  was  really  in  earnest,  recovered  his  confidence.  Taking  with  him 
all  those  citizens  whom  he  suspected  of  being  opposed  to  his  enter- 
prise, he  captured  Heraea  and  Alsaea,  cities  belonging  to  the  Achaean 
league,  revictualed  Orchomenus,  and  threatened  Mantineia.  By 


A  COUP  D'ETAT 


long  marches  and  countermarches  he  so  wearied  the  Lacedaemonians 
that  at  last,  at  their  own  request,  he  left  the  greater  number  of  them 
in  Arcadia,  while  he  with  the  mercenaries  returned  to  Sparta. 
During  his  homeward  march  he  revealed  his  intention  to  those  whom 
he  considered  to  be  most  devoted  to  his  person,  and  regulated  his 
march  so  as  to  be  able  to  fall  upon  the  ephors  while  they  were  at 
their  evening  meal. 

8.  When  he  drew  near  the  city,  he  sent  Eurycleides  into  the 
dining-room  of  the  ephors  on  the  pretence  of  carrying  a  message  from 
the  army.  After  Eurycleides  followed  Phcebis  and  Therycion, 
two  of  the  foster-brothers  of  Cleomenes,  called  Mothaces  1  by  the 
Lacedaemonians.  They  were  accompanied  by  a  few  soldiers. 
While  Eurycleides  was  talking  with  the  ephors,  these  men  rushed 
in  with  drawn  swords  and  cut  them  down.  Their  president,  Agy- 
laeus,  fell  at  the  first  blow  and  appeared  to  be  dead,  but  contrived 
to  crawl  out  of  the  building  unobserved  into  a  small  temple  sacred 
to  Fear,  the  door  of  which  was  usually  closed,  but  which  then 
chanced  to  be  open.  In  it  he  took  refuge  and  shut  the  door.  The 
other  four  were  slain  together  with  a  few  persons,  not  more  than 
ten,  who  came  to  their  assistance.  No  one  who  remained  quiet 
was  put  to  death,  nor  was  any  one  prevented  from  leaving  the  city. 
Even  Agylaeus,  when  he  came  out  of  his  sanctuary  on  the  following 
day,  was  not  molested.  .  .  . 

10.  On  the  following  morning  Cleomenes  published  the  names 
of  eighty  citizens  whom  he  required  to  leave  the  country,  and  re- 
moved the  chairs  of  the  ephors,  except  one,  which  he  intended  to 
occupy  himself.  He  now  convoked  an  assembly  and  made  a  speech 
in  justification  of  his  recent  acts.  In  the  time  of  Lycurgus,  he  said, 
the  kings  and  the  gerousia  shared  between  them  the  supreme  au- 
thority in  the  state ;  and  for  a  long  time  the  government  was  carried 
on  in  this  manner  without  any  alteration  being  required,  until 
during  the  long  wars  with  Messene,  as  the  kings  had  no  leisure  to 
attend  to  public  affairs,  they  chose  some  of  their  friends  to  sit  as 
judges  in  their  stead.  These  persons  at  first  acted  merely  as  the 
servants  of  the  kings,  but  gradually  got  all  power  into  their  own 
hands,  and  thus  insensibly  established  a  new  power  in  the  state. 

1  The  Mothaces  or  Mothones  were  a  class  of  freedmen,  many  of  them  the  sons  of 
Spartan  fathers  and  helot  mothers;  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  34. 


700 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


A  proof  of  the  truth  of  this  fact  is  to  be  found  in  the  custom  which 
still  prevails,  that  when  the  ephors  send  for  the  king,  he  refuses  to 
attend  at  the  first  and  second  summons,  but  rises  and  goes  to  them 
at  the  third.  Asteropus,1  who  first  consolidated  the  power  of  the 
ephors,  and  raised  it  to  the  highest  point,  flourished  in  compara- 
tively recent  times,  many  generations  after  the  original  establish- 
ment of  the  office.  If,  he  went  on  to  say,  the  ephors  had  behaved 
with  moderation,  it  would  have  been  better  to  allow  them  to  remain 
in  existence;  but  when  they  began  to  use  their  ill-got  power  to 
destroy  the  constitution  of  Sparta,  when  they  banished  one  king, 
put  another  to  death  without  trial,  and  kept  down  by  terror  all  who 
wished  for  the  introduction  of  the  noblest  and  most  admirable 
reforms,  they  could  no  longer  be  borne.  Had  he  been  able  without 
shedding  a  drop  of  blood  to  drive  out  of  Lacedaemon  all  those 
foreign  pests  of  luxury,  extravagance,  debts,  money-lending,  and 
those  two  more  ancient  evils,  poverty  and  riches,  he  should  have 
accounted  himself  the  most  fortunate  of  kings,  because  like  a  skilful 
physician  he  had  painlessly  performed  2  so  important  an  operation 
upon  his  country.  As  it  is,  the  use  of  force  is  sanctioned  by  the 
example  of  Lycurgus,  who  though  only  a  private  man  appeared  in 
arms  in  the  market-place,  and  so  terrified  King  Charilaiis  that  he 
fled  for  refuge  to  the  altar  of  Athena.  Being  an  honest  and  patriotic 
man,  however,  he  soon  joined  Lycurgus,  and  acquiesced  in  his 
reforms.  The  acts  of  Lycurgus  prove  that  it  is  hard  to  effect  a 
revolution  without  armed  force,  of  which  he  declared  he  had  made 
a  most  sparing  use,  and  had  put  out  of  the  way  those  only  who  were 
opposed  to  the  best  interests  of  Lacedaemon.  He  announced  to  the 
rest  of  the  citizens  that  the  land  should  be  divided  among  them, 

1  We  do  not  know  when  this  ephor  lived,  or  precisely  what  change  he  made  in  the 
constitution  of  the  office  which  he  filled.  It  has  been  conjectured,  however,  that 
previously  the  ephors  had  been  appointed  by  the  king,  but  that  he  proposed  and  carried 
a  law  for  making  the  office  elective;  cf.  Gilbert,  Const.  Antiq.  20.  The  theory  of  the 
early  ephorate,  as  contained  in  this  alleged  speech  of  Cleomenes,  is  substantially  correct ; 
and  it  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  observe  the  practical  effect  of  research  in  early 
Lacedaemonian  history.  The  ephors  had  existed  from  an  early  period  in  subordination 
to  the  kings,  but  in  the  course  of  the  sixth  century  they  became  the  chief  magistrates ; 
Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vi.  The  discovery  of  these  facts  made  the  overthrow  of 
the  office  by  Cleomenes  appear  to  be  a  return  to  the  original  constitution. 

2  In  a  period  in  which  anaesthetics  were  used  in  surgical  operations  this  simile 
was  especially  appropriate;  cf.  no.  209. 


THE  REFORMS 


701 


that  they  should  be  relieved  from  all  their  debts,  and  that  all  resi- 
dent aliens  should  be  submitted  to  an  examination  in  order  that  the 
best  of  them  might  be  selected  to  become  full  citizens  of  Sparta, 
and  help  defend  the  city  from  falling  a  prey  to  the  iEtolians  and 
Illyrians  from  want  of  men  to  defend  her. 

11.  Then  he  first  threw  his  inheritance  into  the  common  stock, 
and  his  example  was  followed  by  his  step-father  Megistonous,  his 
friends,  and  the  rest  of  the  citizens.  The  land  was  now  divided ; 
and  one  lot  was  assigned  to  each  of  those  whom  he  had  banished, 
all  of  whom  he  said  it  was  his  intention  to  bring  back  as  soon  as 
order  should  be  restored.  He  recruited  the  number  of  the  citizens 
by  the  admission  of  the  most  eligible  of  the  periceci  to  the  franchise, 
and  organized  them  into  a  body  of  4000  heavy  infantry,  whom  he 
taught  to  use  the  sarissa,  or  Macedonian  pike,  which  was  grasped 
with  both  hands,  instead  of  the  spear,  and  to  sling  their  shields  by 
a  strap  1  instead  of  using  a  handle.  Next  he  turned  his  attention 
to  the  education  and  discipline  of  the  youth,  a  task  in  which  he  was 
assisted  by  Sphaerus.  The  gymnasia  and  the  common  meals  were 
soon  reestablished ;  and  the  citizens,  most  of  them  willingly,  re- 
sumed their  simple  Laconian  habits  of  living.  Fearing  to  be  called 
a  despot,  Cleomenes  appointed  his  own  brother  Eucleides  as  his 
colleague.  Then  for  the  first  time  were  two  kings  of  the  same  family 
seen  at  once  in  Sparta. 

12.  ...  At  this  period  his  was  the  only  army,  Greek  or  foreign, 
which  was  not  attended  by  actors,  jugglers,  dancing  girls,  and 
singers ;  but  he  kept  it  free  from  all  licentiousness  and  buffoonery, 
as  the  younger  men  were  nearly  always  being  practised  in  martial 
exercises,  while  the  elders  acted  as  their  instructors.  When  they 
were  at  leisure,  they  amused  themselves  with  witty  retorts  and  sen- 
tentious Laconian  pleasantries.  The  high  value  of  this  kind  of 
discipline  is  described  at  greater  length  in  the  life  of  Lycurgus. 

13.  In  everything  Cleomenes  acted  as  their  teacher  and  ex- 
ample, offering  his  own  simple  frugal  life,  so  entirely  free  from  vulgar 
superfluities,  as  a  model  of  sobriety  for  them  all  to  copy ;  and  this 

1  In  the  seventh  century  the  Spartans  had  used  man-covering  shields  suspended  in 
this  way  (Botsford,  Hellenic  History,  ch.  vi),  but  had  afterward  abandoned  them  for 
the  lighter  round  shields.  The  change  here  mentioned  seems  to  have  been  a  return  to 
earlier  conditions. 


702 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


added  greatly  to  his  influence  in  Hellas.  In  fact  when  men  at- 
tended the  courts  of  other  kings  of  that  period,  they  were  not  so 
much  impressed  by  their  wealth  and  lavish  expenditure  as  they  were 
disgusted  by  their  arrogant,  overbearing  manners ;  but  when  they 
met  Cleomenes,  who  was  every  inch  a  king,  and  saw  that  he  wore 
no  purple  robes,  did  not  lounge  on  couches  and  litters,  and  was  not 
surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  messengers,  door-keepers,  and  scribes,  so 
as  to  be  difficult  of  access,  but  that  he  himself  dressed  in  plain 
clothes,  came  and  shook  them  by  the  hand,  and  conversed  with  them 
in  a  kindly,  encouraging  tone,  they  were  completely  fascinated  and 
charmed  by  him,  and  declared  that  he  alone  was  a  true  descendant 
of  Heracles. 

As  long  as  Cleomenes  had  only  the  Achaean  league  to  cope  with,  he  more 
than  held  his  own.  Afterward,  however,  when  Antigonus,  king  of  Macedon, 
joined  the  Achseans  against  him,  he  gradually  lost  ground.  His  last  step  in 
social  reform  was  taken  under  these  circumstances  in  order  to  increase  his 
power  of  resisting  the  enormous  odds  opposed  to  him. 

22.  Antigonus  now  advanced,  took  Tegea,  and  allowed  his 
troops  to  plunder  Orchomenus  and  Mantineia.  Cleomenes,  who 
was  confined  to  the  territory  of  Lacedaemon,  proceeded  to  emanci- 
pate all  helots  who  could  pay  a  sum  of  five  Attic  minas  for  their 
freedom.  By  these  means  he  raised  a  sum  of  five  hundred  talents. 
He  also  organized  a  special  corps  of  2000  men,  armed  after  the 
Macedonian  fashion,  with  which  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  meet  the 
Leucaspids,  or  white-shielded  troops  of  Antigonus,  and  proceeded 
to  attempt  a  wonderful  and  astonishing  feat  of  arms. 

244.  Miscellaneous  Social  Conditions  and  Sentiments 

The  selections  under  nos.  244-246  have  been  taken  from  the  Anthology  of 
Epigrams.  The  first  anthology  of  epigrams,  as  far  as  we  know,  was  made  by 
Meleagros  of  Syrian  Gadara,  in  the  first  century  B.C.  This  collection  seems  to 
have  been  erotic.  Copious  additions,  perhaps  involving  a  radical  recasting, 
were  made  by  Philippus  of  Thessalonica  in  the  first  century  a.d.,  and  again  by 
the  Byzantine  Agathias  in  the  sixth  century.  The  present  arrangement,  if  it 
can  be  so  called,  we  owe  to  a  certain  Constantinos  Kephaias,  who  probably 
lived  in  the  tenth  century.  It  is  his  manuscript  which  is  known  as  the  Palatine, 
and  which  is  the  chief  source  of  our  knowledge.  There  is  an  attempt  at  a  divi- 
sion of  this  collection  into  books,  as  Erotica,  Dedicatoria,  Epitaphia,  etc. ;  but 
it  was  subject  to  every  conceivable  irregularity  and  contained  in  addition  a  mass 


ANTHOLOGY  OF  EPIGRAMS 


of  irrelevant  Byzantine  material.  Finally  in  the  fourteenth  century  a  gram- 
marian Planudes  undertook  to  rearrange,  expurgate,  and  probably  also  to 
enrich  the  work  of  Kephalas.  The  smaller  collection  of  Planudes  long  held 
the  field  alone,  and  was  published  in  1484  at  Florence,  and  often  thereafter. 
It  was  not  till  1606  that  the  work  of  Kephalas  was  discovered,  at  Heidelberg 
in  the  library  of  the  Count  Palatine.  The  Planudean  manuscript  is  our  only 
source  for  397  epigrams,  and  these  are  now  usually  printed  as  a  supplement, 
book  xvi,  of  the  Palatine  collection.  Of  the  latter,  bks.  i-iii  and  viii  are 
wholly  Byzantine  non-classical  interpolations,  and  should  not  be  reprinted  or 
edited  as  a  part  of  the  classical  "Anthology."  The  Didot  edition  has  a  literal 
Latin  translation  and  useful  notes.  The  Teubner  text  is  critical  but  in- 
complete. 

The  date  and  the  authorship  of  the  poems  are  so  uncertain  that  the  present 
editor  has  thought  it  best  to  make  the  selections  for  this  volume  without  regard 
to  chronological  limitations. 

(The  following  selections  have  been  translated  by  W.  C.  L.) 
Anthology  v.  134  —  Little  Brown  Jug 
Anonymous 

Rotund,  fairly- turned,  one-eared,  long-necked,  high- throated, 
eloquent  with  narrow  mouth,  thou  jolly  handmaid  of  Bacchus,  of 
the  Muses,  and  of  Cythereia,  sweet-laughing  merry  mistress  of  the 
feast,  why,  pray  when  I  am  sober  art  thou  full  of  wine ;  but  again, 
if  I  be  drunk,  then  hast  thou  not  a  drop?  Thou  sinnest  against 
the  drinking  bout's  good  comradeship ! 

Ib.  275  —  The  First  of  Many  Gifts 
This  wimple  I  bring  thee,  my  bride,  shining,  inwrought  with 
golden  threads.  Lay  it  upon  thy  locks,  and  drawing  it  over  thy 
shoulders,  press  this  clasp  to  thy  faultless  white  breast.  Ay,  to 
thy  breast:  so  it  may  serve  for  bodice,  as  it  winds  its  embrace 
about  thee.  This  thou  mayst  wear  while  yet  a  virgin.  But  may 
wedlock  be  thine  and  fruitful  harvest  of  children,  so  that  then  I 
may  provide  for  thee  a  silvern  coronet  and  jewel-studded  headband. 

Ib.  296  —  Woman's  Secluded  Life 
Leontios,  sixth  century  a.d. 

This  complaint  of  women  is  a  favorite  commonplace,  best  handled  perhaps 
by  the  Euripidean  Medeia,  emancipated  though  she  seems.  The  modern 
touch  in  the  "  moving  pictures  "  is  of  course  accidental,  and  probably  refers  to 
real  life. 


704 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


The  task  of  youths  is  not  so  great  as  falls  to  us  delicate  women. 
They  have  their  comrades,  to  whom  with  fearless  utterance  they 
tell  the  pains  of  their  anxiety.  They  are  busy  with  diverting  games, 
and  roaming  about  the  streets,  enjoy  bright  colored  pictures.  'Tis 
not  permitted  us  to  see  the  daylight,  but  in  dim  rooms  we  are  hidden, 
wasted  with  worries. 

245.  Miscellaneous  Social  Conditions  and  Sentiments 

{Continued) 

(The  following  selections  have  been  translated  by  W.  C.  L.) 

Anthology  vi.  174  —  The  Three  Spinning  Girls'  Dedications 
Antipatros  of  Sidon,  second  century  b.c 

To  Pallas  these  three  girls  of  like  age,  knowing,  as  does  the  spider, 
how  to  shape  the  delicate  thread,  have  offered  :  Demo  the  fairwoven 
basket,  Arsinoe  the  distaff,  worker  of  the  fairspun  thread,  and 
Bacchylio  the  fair- wrought  comb,  a  nightingale  among  the  weavers, 
wherewith  she  used  to  part  the  well  woven  warp-threads.  For  free 
from  shame,  each,  stranger,  chose  to  live,  winning  from  her  handi- 
work her  sustenance. 

Ib.  203  —  A  Case  of  Divine  Healing 

Doubtful  authorship 

The  old  woman,  the  handworker,  with  crippled  feet,  came  on  a 
wise  quest  for  the  healing  water,  creeping  with  aid  of  the  oaken  staff 
that  supported  her  in  her  helplessness.  Pity  seized  the  Nymphs, 
who  upon  the  foothills  of  loud- thundering  i^Etna  abode  in  the  watery 
home  of  eddying  Symaethus,  their  father.  And  the  hot  v^Etnaean 
liquid  strengthened,  without  harming,  her  doubly-crippled  legs. 
Her  staff  she  left  to  the  Nymphs,  who  had  assured  her  they  would 
send  her  away  needing  no  support :  and  pleased  were  they  with  the 
gift. 

Ib.  226  —  A  Tiny  Estate 
Leonidas  of  Tarentum(  ?),  third  century  B.C. 

u  Low  is  my  porch  as  is  my  fate : 
Both  void  of  state." 


VARIOUS  OCCUPATIONS  705 

This  is  Cleiton's  humble  cot. 
Tiny  is  the  well-tilled  field, 
Small  the  neighboring  vineyard  plot, 

Scant  is  the  little  woodlot's  yield. 
Yet  in  this  his  home  content 
Eighty  years  has  Cleiton  spent. 

Ib.  280  —  A  Bride's  Farewell  to  Childhood 
Anonymous 

Timarete,  before  her  marriage,  dedicated  to  Artemis  her  tam- 
bourine and  beautiful  ball,  the  coronal  that  upheld  her  hair,  and, 
O  Lady  of  Limnae,  a  maid  to  a  maid,  as  is  fitting,  she  gave  to  thee 
these  little  maids,  her  dolls  and  the  dolls'  dresses.  O  daughter  of 
Leto,  extend  thy  hand  over  Timareteia,  and  sacredly  keep  safe  the 
sacred  child. 

Ib.  306  —  A  Cook's  Gift  to  Hermes 
Ariston,  second  century  B.C. 
A  kettle  and  this  flesh-hook,  the  bent  key  of  the  pigsty,  this  ladle 
to  stir  soup,  a  well-feathered  fan,  a  good  brass  pot,  with  an  axe,  the 
throat-cutting  knife,1  a  dipper  to  reach  the  broth  between  the  spits, 
the  wiping  sponge  lying  by  the  strong  carving-knife,  this  double- 
headed  salt-pestle,2  with  a  good  stone  mortar,  and  the  meat-holding 
trencher  —  these  the  cook  Spinther,  having  cast  off  the  burden  of 
slavery,  has  dedicated  to  Hermes  as  signs  of  his  art. 

246.  Miscellaneous  Social  Conditions  and  Sentiments 

{Concluded) 

(The  selections  below  have  been  translated  by  W.  C.  L.) 

Anthology  ix.  9  —  Homeward  Bound 

Julius  Polyaenus,  first  century  a.d.(?) 

The  sailor,  or  the  poet,  is  seemingly  unconscious  of  the  universal  application 
of  his  prayer. 

Many  a  time  have  I  prayed  to  thee,  and  always  thou  hast 
granted,  O  father  Zeus,  the  goal  of  stormless  prosperous  voyaging. 

1  The  cook  had  to  kill  the  pigs,  as  a  modern  one  might  chickens. 

2  The  pestle  was  dumb-bell  shaped. 


706 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


Grant  me  this  voyage  also,  and  keep  me  safe,  and  from  troubles 
bring  me  to  anchorage  in  harbor.  Home  and  fatherland  are  the 
grace  of  life.    Excessive  cares  for  men  are  not  life  but  hardship. 

Ib.  89  —  The  Old  Gleaner 
Philippus  of  Thessalonica,  first  century  a.d. 
To  keep  off  grievous  hunger  the  aged  Nico  was  gleaning  wheat- 
ears  with  the  young  girls  —  and  died  from  the  heat.  Her  com- 
panions, in  lack  of  wood,  heaped  up  from  the  grain  for  her  a  funeral 
pyre  of  straw.  Be  not  angry,  O  Demeter,  if  the  maidens  clad  1  her 
who  was  a  mortal  child  of  earth  in  the  product  of  earth. 

Ib.  151  —  A  Dirge  for  Corinth 
Antipatros 

Corinth  was  destroyed  by  the  Romans  in  146  b.c 

Where  is  now  thy  farseen  beauty,  O  Dorian  Corinth?  where 
thy  crown  of  towers,  where  thy  ancient  possessions?  Where  are 
the  temples  of  the  Blessed  and  where  the  homes  ?  Where  are  the 
dames  descended  from  Sisyphus,  and  where  the  tens  of  thousands, 
thy  people  of  old  ?  Nay  but  not  even  a  trace  of  thee  has  remained, 
O  thou  of  many  evil  dooms,  but  all  hath  been  seized  on  and  devoured 
by  war.  Undestroyed  alone  are  we  the  Nereids,  daughters  of 
Ocean,  who  remain  the  halcyons  of  thy  woes. 

Ib.  174  —  The  Pedagogue's  Pecuniary  Pains 
Palladas  of  Alexandria,  400  a.d. 

Here  instruction  is  given  by  those  who  are  under  the  anger  of 
Serapis :  those  that  begin  with  the  '  Fatal  Wrath. '  Here  the 
boy's  nurse  each  month  brings  his  fee,  under  compulsion,  tying 
to  his  book  and  paper  the  pittance.  As  if  it  were  incense  she 
brings  to  the  master's  chair,  as  to  a  tomb,  that  bit  of  paper,  throw- 
ing it  down  beside  him.  Even  from  that  little  she  steals  her  own 
gains;  she  changes  the  copper  and  puts  in  lead;  she  takes  her 
regular  (toll) .  If  someone  is  to  bring  a  piece  of  gold  for  a  year,  in 
the  eleventh  month,  before  he  has  paid,  he  changes  to  another 

1  "Clothed"  is  often  applied  to  the  earth,  dust,  or  ashes,  in  which  the  bones  of  the 
dead  found  rest ;  cf.  bk.  vii  passim. 


PAINS  AND  JOYS  OF  LIFE  707 

teacher,  openly  ungrateful,  reviling  the  former  master  while  he 
deprives  him  of  his  pay  for  the  whole  year. 

Ib.  251  —  To  the  Bookworm 
Evenus,  date  uncertain 

Thou  whom  the  Muses  most  detest, 

Devourer  of  their  pages, 
Thou  thievish  devastating  pest, 

Browsing  upon  the  stolen  sweets  of  sages, 

Why  with  thy  dusky  skin 

Lurkest  thou  here  within 
The  holy  records,  bookworm,  thou  who  art 
Of  envy  the  true  sign  and  counterpart. 

H>.  359  —  The  Pessimist 
Probably  Poseidippus,  third  century  B.C. 

What  path  of  life  may  a  man  tread?  In  the  marketplace  are 
quarrels  and  troubles,  at  home  worries.  In  the  country  abundant 
weariness,  on  the  sea  terror.  In  an  alien  land,  fear  if  thou  hast 
anything;  if  thou  art  destitute,  discomfort.  Thou  art  married? 
Thou'rt  not  free  from  worry.  Thou  art  not  married?  Yet  more 
lonely  dost  thou  live.  Youth  is  senseless,  forceless  again  are  gray 
hairs.  The  choice  is  one  or  other  of  these  two  :  either  never  to  be 
born  or  to  die  straightway  at  birth. 

Ib.  360  —  The  Optimist 
Metrodorus,  third  century  B.C. 

Any  path  of  life  thou  mayst  tread.  In  the  marketplace  is  glory 
and  wise  action,  at  home  rest.  In  the  fields  the  charm  of  nature, 
on  the  sea  gain.  In  the  alien  land  if  thou  hast  anything,  good 
name ;  if  thou  art  in  lack,  thou  alone  knowest  it.  Thou  art  mar- 
ried? So  shall  thy  household  be  best.  Thou  art  unwedded? 
Thou  lives t  yet  more  easily.  Children  are  the  desire  of  the  heart, 
a  childless  life  is  carefree.  Youth  is  vigorous,  revered  again  are 
gray  hairs.  The  choice  is  not  one  of  the  two ;  never  to  have  been 
born  or  to  die ;  for  all  is  good  in  life. 


708 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 


lb.  418— The  Waterpower  Mill 
Antipatros 

Withhold  the  hand  that  turns  the  mill,  O  grinding  women. 
Sleep  late,  even  though  at  dawn  the  cocks'  note  gives  the  signal. 
For  Deo  1  has  laid  upon  the  Nymphs  your  wearisome  handicraft. 
Leaping  upon  the  summit  of  the  wheel,  they  twirl  the  axle  about ; 
and  he  with  his  revolving  spoke  turns  the  hollow  mass  of  the  Nisy- 
rian  2  millstones.  We  again  have  a  taste  of  the  old  (carefree)  life, 
since  without  toil  we  learn  to  feast  on  Deo's  creation. 

1  Short  form  for  Demeter. 

2  From  the  island  Nisyrus,  which  Poseidon  tore  from  the  neighboring  island  of  Cos, 
to  hurl  it  upon  the  giant,  Polybotes.  The  whirling  millstones  make  the  poet  think  of 
Nisyrus. 


INDEX 


The  numbers  r 

Abantians,  85. 

Achaean  League,  613;  its  officers  and 
progress,  616;  a  meeting  of,  617  sqq.; 
courted  by  Hellenic  kings,  ib. ;  decree 
of,  620 ;  suspension  of  the  payment  of 
debts  in,  688  ;  in  conflict  with  Sparta, 
698. 

Achaeans  (of  northern  Peloponnesus),  85. 

Achaemenidae,  dynasty  of,  164. 

Achilles,  shield  of,  100  sqq. 

Acragas  (Agrigentum),  124  sqq. 

Acusilaiis  of  Argus,  20,  1 10. 

Adoption,  286  sqq. ;  at  Athens,  482  sqq. 

JE&cus,  hero  of  ^Egina,  309. 

-5£gina,  money  standard  of,  140,  276; 

aristocracy,  309  sqq. 
Dorians,  4,  15  sqq. ;  their  cities,  87. 
^Eschines,  48  sq. ;    against  Timarchus, 

508  sq. 

iEschylus,  9,  23,  32,  33,  64  (Prometheus), 
^tolian     League,     619;  arbitration 

through,  622  sqq. ;    decree  of,  623; 

attempt  at  repudiation  in,  687. 
Agamemnon,  79,  91. 
Agatharchides,  author,  524. 
Ages  of  mankind  in  Hesiod,  9. 
Agis,  king  of  Sparta,  attempted  reform  of, 

689  sqq. 

Agriculture  in  Early  Greece,  180  sqq. ;  v. 

Farmers. 
Agrigentum  (Acragas),  124  sq. 
Aisymnetes,  power  of,  349. 
Alalia,  129. 

Alcaeus  of  Lesbos,  15 ;  fragments  of,  192 
sqq. 

Alcestis  of  Euripides,  329  sqq. 
Alcibiades,  288. 

Alcinoiis,  king  of  Scheria,  107  sqq. 
Alciphron,  letters  of,  521  sqq. 
Alcman,  12  sq.,  186. 

Alcmeonidae,  23,  137,  150,  155,  156,  157. 
Aleuadae  of  Thessaly,  as  representative 
aristocrats,  307,  376. 


jr  to  the  pages. 

Alexander  of  Macedon,  contrasted  with 
Philip,  544 ;  and  the  Greek  cities,  568 
sq. ;  edict  of,  570;  alienation  of  royal 
domains,  571  sq.,  574  sq. ;  convivial 
habits  of,  680  sq. ;  luxury  of,  682  sqq. ; 
affecting  apparel  of  gods,  ib. ;  "  son  of 
Ammon,"  683;  marriage  feast,  683; 
entertainments,  684 ;  amusements  of 
his  generals,  685. 

Alexandria,  built,  584;  situation  of,  627; 
scene  in  streets  of,  657  sqq. ;  Museum, 
630 ;  Pharos,  627. 

Alexandrian  Canon,  44;  Science  and 
Inventions,  627  sqq. 

Alexis,  author  of  Middle  Comedy,  662  sq. 

Allies  of  Athens,  227;  their  tribute 
assessed  once  in  five  years,  234;  v. 
Delian  Confederation.  Second  con- 
federacy of  Athens,  391  sqq. 

Amphipolis,  hostile  to  Athens,  400  sq. 

Anabasis  of  Xenophon,  39. 

Anacreon,  16 ;  a  fragment  of,  189. 

Anagrapheis  (Recorders),  288  sq. 

Ancient  Hellenes,  239. 

Androtion,  41,  142,  146,  147. 

Anthology,  Greek,  social  data  from,  702 
sqq. 

Antiochus  of  Syria,  575. 

Antipodes,  v.  Geography. 

Apollo,  Delian,  2,  176;    Triopian,  85; 

Amyclaean,  279;    Delphian,  322  sq. ; 

respect  of  Darius  for,  162. 
Apollodorus,  chronology  of,  114. 
Apotheosis,  306. 

Aratus  of  Sicyon  (Achaean  League),  616. 
Arbitration,  between  city-states,  579, 622 ; 

in  private  life,  666  sqq. 
Arbitrators,  differentiated  from  judges, 

238. 
Arcadia,  601. 

Archaeological  discoveries,  67. 
Archilochus,  13,  187  sq.,  203. 
Archimedes,  the  scientist,  642  sq* 


710 


INDEX 


Archonship  at  Athens,  138;  Nine 
Archons,  139, 144;  representing  classes, 
149 ;  v.  Thesmothetae. 

Areopagus,  council  of  the,  139  sq.,  145, 
153- 

Arganthonius,  128. 

Argos,  kings  of,  113;   jealousy  of,  for 

Sparta,  168  sq. ;  domestic  dissensions, 

415  ;  decree  of,  569. 
Aristagoras  of  Miletus,  163  sqq. 
Aristarchus,   the  astronomer,   639  sq. ; 

Heliocentric    Theory,   640;  eclipses, 

641. 

Aristeides  of  Athens,  210  sqq.;  assessor 
of  Delian  confederacy,  257,  267. 

Aristocracy,  17,  32;  theory  of,  220  sq.; 
athletics  and,  225;  Attic,  and  its 
sympathies,  226;  of  ^Egina,  309  sqq.; 
a  mesalliance,  338  sqq. ;  v.  Ion  of 
Chios ;  Pindar ;  Theognis. 

Aristogeiton,  154. 

Aristophanes  of  Athens,  literary  char- 
acter of,  35  sq. ;  as  source,  211  sq.,  264, 
293  sqq.,  314  sqq.,  338  sqq. ;  Lysistrate, 
340  sqq.,  346;  Ecclesiazusae,  447. 

Aristophanes  of  Byzantium,  32. 

Aristotle,  53  sq.,  69,  70,  71,  137,  141,  144, 
I5°>  I57>  J58,  184,  210  sq. ;  as  critic  of 
political  theories,  237,  257,  456  sqq. ; 
analysis  of  forms  of  government  and 
their  perversions,  476  sqq. 

Artemis,  treasury  in  temple  of,  571. 

Artisans,  wages  of,  360  sqq. 

Asclepius,  medical  treatment  in  temple  of, 
293  sqq. ;  sacred  snake  of,  294 ;  oath 

by,  533- 

Ascra,  village  of  Hesiod,  8. 

Asia,  contrasted  with  Europe  by  Hip- 
pocrates, 300  sqq. 

Assemblies,  political,  in  Early  Greece, 
90  sq. 

Astronomy,  value  of,  641 ;  v.  Aristarchus. 
Athena,  95,  107;   guardian  of  Athens, 

141;    impersonated,   151;    quota  of 

tribute  received  by,  267 ;  Nike,  350  sq. ; 

funds  in  treasury  of,  352;  moiety  of 

fines  to  go  to,  393. 
Athenaeus,  58,  72,  74,  641  sqq.,  668  sq., 

680  sq. 

Athens,  23 ;  and  Minos,  68  sq. ;  colonies 
of,  76;  material  refinements  begun 
there,  78;  kings  of,  113;  constitution 
before  Solon,  137  sqq. ;  Aristotle's 
treatise  on  the  constitutional  history 


of,  137 ;  Archon,  Polemarch,  "  King," 
138;  Thesmothetae,  139;  Draco,  140; 
from  Solon  to  Peisistratus,  141  sqq. ; 
tyranny  of  Peisistratus,  150  sq.;  Hip- 
pias  forced  out,  155 ;  Cleisthenes  and 
the  democracy,  156  sqq.;  habits  of 
Attic  Aristocracy  in  early  times,  203 ; 
Aristeides  and  the  founding  of  the 
absolute  democracy,  210  sqq. ;  treat- 
ment of  Allies,  211;  occupations  of 
citizens,  211;  Juries,  211  sqq. ;  strait- 
ened conditions  of  small  farmers,  216; 
Attic  democracy  analyzed  by  a  politi- 
cal opponent,  222  sqq. ;  courtesy  to- 
ward slaves  at,  225  ;  Allies  of,  226  sq. ; 
jurisdiction  over  Allies,  227,  264 ;  heavy 
infantry  at,  228;  controlling  com- 
merce, 230;  excess  of  public  business, 
232 ;  law  courts  at,  234,  supports 
commons  in  other  states,  235 ;  civil 
disability  at,  ib. ;  Funeral  Oration  of 
Pericles,  239  sqq. ;  contrasted  with 
Sparta,  242 ;  graces  of  nobler  culture, 
242  ;  school  of  Hellas,  245  ;  as  viewed 
by  Corinthian  neighbors,  246  sqq. ; 
devoted  to  enterprise,  249;  opposes 
removal  of  Ionians  after  Persian  wars, 
255 ;  how  resolutions  were  adopted, 
258;  Delian  league  transformed  into 
an  empire,  259  sq. ;  treaty  with  Chalcis, 
262  sqq. ;  Colonies,  265  ;  Tribute  lists, 
267  sqq. ;  honors  democrats  of  Samos, 
270  sq. ;  democracy  re-established, 
288 ;  laws  of  homicide,  288  sq. ;  Ion 
(in  legend)  as  son  of  Attic  princess, 
321  sq. ;  public  life  in,  as  described  by 
Euripides,  325  ;  alien  residents  at,  335  ; 
a  lady  of  the  aristocracy,  338;  pur- 
suits of  young  aristocrats,  339;  con- 
servative measures  after  Sicilian  expe- 
dition, 346;  Poletae,  Colacretae,  351; 
funds  and  finances,  352  ;  ordinances  as 
to  Eleusinian  rites,  356;  Erechtheum 
on  Acropolis,  357  sqq. ;  wages  of 
artisans,  360  sqq. ;  oaths  of  alliance, 
396 ;  relations  to  Dionysius  I  of  Syra- 
cuse, 398  sqq. ;  Amphipolis  hostile  to, 
400 ;  interest  in  Olynthus,  401  sqq. ; 
plan  for  increasing  the  revenues,  430 
sqq. ;  aversion  for  military  service, 
432  sq.;  harborage,  433;  Social  War, 
442 ;  peace  policy,  444 ;  as  center  of 
commerce  and  culture,  445 ;  Plato's 
critique  of  Athenian  Statesmen,  45 2 


INDEX 


711 


sqq. ;  military  training  of  youth,  476 ; 
demesmen  of,  467,  487 ;  Ephebi,  476 
sqq. ;  marriage,  dower,  at,  479 ;  legit- 
imate descent,  481  sq. ;  heirs  at,  483 
sq. ;  humane  spirit  of,  484 ;  specific 
duties  of  the  Rich  at,  498 ;  Attic 
housewife,  506  sqq. ;  special  taxes 
of  the  well-to-do  at,  511;  manufac- 
tures at,  ib. ;  disabilities  of  aliens  at, 
517;  citizenship  at,  520;  Painted 
Porch  at,  559 ;  the  Demus  personified 
in  art,  561 ;  decree  concerning  grain 
supply,  587  sqq. ;  "  Treasurer  of  the 
Demus  "  at,  589 ;  under  Demetrius  of 
Phalerum,  680. 

Athletics  and  Aristocracy,  225,  302  sq. 

Atthis,  Atthides,  25,  41,  112. 

Attica,  physical  features  of,  431  sq.; 
climate,  432. 

Bankers,  v.  Money. 

Basileus,  in  Hesiod,  9 ;  the  Archon  so 

called  in  Athens,  v.  King. 
Blest,  Islands  of  the,  178. 
Boeotian   migration,  82 ;    league,   385 ; 

state  aid  to  the  poor,  686. 
Bottiaea,  69. 
Boucoleum,  139. 
Brea,  Attic  colony  at,  265. 

Cadmus  of  Miletus,  20. 
Calamis  the  sculptor,  555. 
Calchas  the  mantic  expert,  96. 
Calendar,  a  Farmers',  183  sq. 
Cameirus,  85. 
Camerina  in  Sicily,  124. 
Campanians,  126. 
Carians,  27,  65  sq.,  86. 
Cecrops,  112. 

Celsus,  the  compiler,  631  sqq. 

Census  classes,  143  sq. 

Ceos,  Iulis  in,  law  of,  364  sq. 

Chaeroneia,  battle  of,  542. 

Chalcis,  colonization  from,  124;  treaty 
of,  with  Athens,  262  sqq. 

Characters  of  Theophrastus,  672  sqq. 

Children,  exposure  of,  279,  666  sqq.;  di- 
vision of  property  among,  280. 

Chios,  2,  84,  568  sq. 

Chronological  computation,  of  Thucyd- 

ides,  27  sq. ;  of  Apollodorus,  114. 
Chrysippus,  661. 

Cimon  of  Athens,  258 ;  described  by  Ion 
of  Chios,  312  sq. 


Citizenship,  Greeks  illiberal  in  bestowal 
of,  456. 

Civilization,  dawn  of,  64  sq. ;  various 

data  of,  327  ;  powers  of  man,  328. 
Classes  in  Solon's  legislation,  143. 
Clazomenae,  83. 

Cleisthenes  of  Athens,  150,  156  sqq. 
Cleomenes  of  Sparta,  155;  the  younger, 

his  attempts  at  reform,  697  sqq. 
Cleon  of  Athens,  213,  268. 
Climates,  influence  of,  v.  Hippocrates. 
Cnidus,  85. 

Cnossus  in  Crete,  67,  108. 
Colacretse  in  Athens,  351,  357. 
Colonization,  83  sqq.,  118  sqq. 
Colophon,  83. 

Colossi  in  Greek  sculpture,  550. 

Comedy,  Old,  35  sq. ;  in  personal  satire, 
232  ;  Middle,  663  ;  New,  55  sq. 

Commemorative  verse,  200  sq. 

Commodities,  Athens  emporium  of,  229. 

Confederacy,  second  Athenian,  391  sqq. 

Congress,  Hellenic,  of  481  B.C.,  166  sqq. 

Conservative,  elements  in  Attic  democ- 
racy, 210. 

Convivial  usages,  327. 

Corinna,  16. 

Corinth,  123;    Hellenic  conference  at, 

543  ;  a  dirge  for,  706. 
Corsica  (Cyrnos),  128  sq. 
Cos,  85. 

Council  of  the  Five  Hundred  at  Athens, 

158. 

Craterus,  historian,  257. 

Creation  in  Hesiod,  109  sq. 

Crete,  67  sqq.  (resemblance  to  Lace- 
daemon),  70,  72,  73;  Eteocretans,  82; 
laws,  cf.  Gortyn. 

Critias  of  Athens,  369. 

Cruelty  in  civic  contentions,  202. 

Cumae,  125. 

Curetes,  Hymn  of,  74  sq. 
Customs,  social,  various,  326  sqq. 
Cycle,  Epical,  3,  7,  175. 
Cypria,  175. 
Cyrnos,  v.  Corsica. 

Dance,  Pyrrhic,  74. 
Daric,  535. 

Darius,  letter  of,  162  ;  plans  of  conquest, 

162  sq.,  208,  219  sqq. 
Daughters,  property  rights  of,  inferior  to 

sons',  280. 
Debts,  scaling  of,  142. 


712 


INDEX 


Delos,  27,  66  (cf.  Allies  of  Athens) ; 
confederation  of,  first  steps  toward, 
255  sq. ;  organization  of,  256  sq. ;  trans- 
formation into  an  Attic  empire,  259 
sqq. ;  Athenian  overseers,  261 ;  tribute, 
263,  267  sqq. ;  object  of,  312. 

Delphi,  155;  oracle  at,  158,  168;  descrip- 
tion of,  in  time  of  Euripides,  321  sqq.; 
sacred  war  about,  403 ;  independence 
of  shrine,  445. 

Demes  of  Attica,  157  sq. ;  chief  magis- 
trate of,  340;  demarch,  355;  demes- 
men,  476,  677,  678. 

Demeter  and  Persephone,  120  sq. 

Demetrius  of  Phalerum,  680. 

Democracy,  absolute,  at  Athens,  210  sqq. ; 
critique  of,  by  an  Athenian  oligarch, 
222  sqq. ;  advantage  of,  at  Athens, 
229  sq. ;  practice  of,  in  disclaiming 
responsibility,  231 ;  consistency  of, 
232  ;  of  Samos,  270  sq. ;  of  /Egean  Sea, 
interested  in  second  Athenian  con- 
federacy, 393  sq. ;  Plato  unfriendly  to, 
45 2  SQQ- ;  and  oligarchy,  457  ;  growth 
of,  461  sq. ;  agricultural  and  pastoral 
types  of,  462  sqq. ;  extreme  type  of, 
465  sqq. 

Democritus  of  Ephesus,  203. 

Demoralization  caused  by  Peloponnesian 
war,  252  sq. 

Demosthenes,  47  sq. ;  as  source  of  data 
on  homicide,  289 ;  Second  Olynthiac, 
401  sqq. ;  faithless  guardians  of,  510 
sqq. ;  in  defense  of  Phormion,  515  sqq. ; 
life  of,  530  sqq. ;  the  Harpalus  matter, 
535  ;  as  a  source,  585  sq. 

Descent  from  Gods,  claimed  by  Aris- 
tocracy, v.  Pindar. 

Dicaearchia,  126. 

Diodorus  of  Sicily,  56,  67,  119. 

Diogenes  Laertius,  58,  664. 

Dionysia  (vintage  festival),  481. 

Dionysiac  artists  (actors),  624. 

Dionysius  I  of  Syracuse,  relations  of, 
to  Athens,  398  sqq. 

Dionysus  (Bacchus),  112  sq. 

Disabled,  state  aid  to  the,  424  sq. 

Divination,  65  ;  by  dreams,  88,  96. 

Divorce,  278  sq. 

Dorians,  migrations  of,  82,  185  ;  colonies 
of,  84  sq.,  123  sq. ;  dialect  of,  660. 

Dowry,  rights  of  women  in,  513. 

Draco,  laws  of,  140 ;  law  of  homicide,  288 
sq. 


Dramatic  Art,  33. 

Dress,  204 ;  embroidered  with  heroic 
legends,  323  ;  attraction  of,  for  women, 
345  sq. 

Duris  of  Samos,  204,  680. 

Economic  data,  rural  life  in  Early  Greece, 
180  sqq. ;  wages  of  artisans  at  Athens, 
360  sqq. ;  monopoly  of  Athens  in  a 
certain  product  of  one  of  her  allies, 
397 ;  corner  in  grain,  428 ;  plan  for 
increasing  revenues  of  Athens,  430 
sqq. ;  income  from  letting  out  slaves, 
438 ;  project  for  working  the  silver 
mines  at  Laurium,  441 ;  various  forms 
of  gainful  occupations  at  Athens,  488, 
493  ;  a  household  in  the  country,  495 
sqq. ;  duties  of  the  rich  at  Athens,  498 ; 
a  dissolute  spendthrift,  508  sq. ;  in- 
come from  slaves,  509 ;  estate  of  a 
prosperous  manufacturer  at  Athens, 
510;  banking  at  Athens,  516  sqq. ; 
partnership,  519;  usurers,  521  sq. ; 
a  farmer  taking  to  commerce,  522 ;  oil 
monopoly  in  Egypt,  607 ;  attempt  at 
repudiation,  687;  a  moratorium,  688; 
attempt  to  equalize  property  in  later 
Sparta,  693  sq.,  701 ;  a  tiny  estate, 
704. 

Economic  self  sufficiency,  a  political  ideal 
of  the  Greeks,  240. 

Education,  Cretan,  72  sq. ;  Spartan,  132 
sqq. ;  music  in  Greece,  537  ;  in  Hellen- 
istic period,  598 ;  an  endowment  fund, 
ib. ;  public  at  Teos,  599 ;  salaries  of 
teachers,  599  sqq. ;  specialist  teachers, 
ib. ;  Ephebi,  600 ;  a  Greek  tutor  in 
Egypt,  606 ;  a  teacher's  pay,  706. 

Egypt  in  Hellenistic  times,  583  sqq. ;  op- 
pression of  Cleomenes,  584  sq. ;  v. 
Ptolemies. 

Electra  of  Sophocles,  366  sq. 

Elegiac  poets,  12;  v.  Mimnermus;  Solon; 
Theognis. 

Eleusis,  99,  138;  goddesses  of,  354  sq. ; 

mysteries,  356. 
Empire,  Athenian,  259  sqq. ;  tribute  lists, 

267  sqq. 
Envy  of  the  Gods,  23. 
Epaminondas,  life  of,  537  sqq. 
Ephesus,  83. 

Ephebi,  at  Athens,  476  sq.,  600;  oath  of, 

478 ;  v.  Education. 
Ephetae  as  judges  of  homicide,  290. 


INDEX 


7i3 


Ephors,  at  Sparta,  136 ;  function  of,  695 ; 
opposed  to  younger  Cleomenes,  698 
sq. 

Ephorus,  40,  72. 
Epimenides,  137. 
Epitaphs,  verse  of,  200  sq. 
Eratosthenes,   536 ;    demonstrates  the 
spherical  shape  of  the  earth,  636,  641. 
Erechtheum  at  Athens,  357  sqq. 
Erotic  verse,  16. 

Erythrae,  constitution  of,  260  sqq. 

Ethos  in  oratory,  45. 

Etruscans  (Tyrrhenians),  128. 

Eubcea,  revolt  of,  262. 

Eumenes  of  Pergamum,  598. 

Eunomia  of  Tyrtaeus,  12. 

Euripides,  the  poet  of  reflexion  and  criti- 
cism, 34  sq.,  69;  treatment  of  legends, 
324.  sq.;  his  Alcestis,  328  sqq. ;  on  Fate, 

334- 
Europa,  67. 

Europe,  resources  of,  118  sq. ;  contrasted 

with  Asia,  300  sqq. 
Eusebius,  112,  113. 
Euthynos  (office),  349. 
Evidence,  procedure  as  to,  277. 
Exegetes,  485  ;  v.  Religion. 
Exposure  of  children,  666  sqq. 

Factional  Fury  in  city-states  during  the 

Peloponnesian  war,  251  sqq. 
Farmers,  Attic,  in  Peloponnesian  war, 

314  sqq.,  320  sq. ;  the  old  gleaner,  706. 
Federal  Unions  in  Greece,  610  sqq. 
Feudal  estates,  570. 
Fines  in  Cretan  law,  277. 
Freedmen,  continuing  the  business  of 

their  masters,  518  sq.;  prosperity  of, 

520. 

Funeral,  public,  240;  regulation  of 
funerals,  364  sq. ;  oration  by  Hy- 
pereides,  611. 

Galen,  the  medical  author,  633  sq. 
Games,  National,  31  sq. ;  v.  Pindar. 
Gela,  123. 

Gelon  of  Syracuse,  123;  reported  con- 
ference of,  with  Greek  states,  169  sqq. 

Genealogies,  20,  no,  in. 

Geography,  mathematical,  636  sq.,  64; 
antipodes,  ib. ;  v.  Eratosthenes. 

Gergithae  at  Miletus,  202. 

Gifts,  legality  of,  285  sq. 

Gods,  envy  of  the,  23,  308;  favorite 


abodes,  107 ;  as  fathers  of  mortals,  324 
sqq. ;  invented  by  man,  369  sq. 
Golden  Age,  9,  176. 

Gortyn,  laws  of,  275  sqq.;  fines,  277; 
cosmos,  277;  rape  and  assault,  adul- 
tery, divorce,  278 ;  rights  of  widow,  279  ; 
division  of  property  among  children, 
280;  heirs  at  law,  281;  partition  of 
property,  ib. ;  ransomed  prisoners, 
282  ;  miscegnation,  ib. ;  heiresses,  283  ; 
actions  in  special  cases,  285  ;  legality 
of  gifts,  285  sq. ;  adoption,  286. 

Graeco-Egyptian,  v.  Ptolemies. 

Grain-trade  at  Athens,  426  sqq. 

Guardians,  faithless,  of  Demosthenes, 
5io  sqq. 

Halicarnassus,  85. 

Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton,  154,  201  sq. 

Harpalus  and  Demosthenes,  535. 

Hecataeus,  21,  83,  in. 

Heiresses,  283. 

Heirs  at  Athens,  483  sq. 

Helen,  79. 

Hellanicus,  24  sq.,  68. 
Hellas,  primitive  condition  of,  27. 
Hellenes,  term,  77;  ancient,  239. 
Hellenic  Interstate  Relations,  372  sqq. ; 

Macedon  and  Thessaly,  376  sqq. 
Hellenica,  of  Xenophon,  39;  Oxyrhyn- 

chus,  40,  385  sq. 
Hellenistic  kingdoms,  568  sqq. ;  kings, 

v.  Ptolemies. 
Hellenotamias  (Hellenic  treasurer),  256 

sq-,  272,  353- 
Hera,  priestesses  of,  25 ;  the  Heraea  of 

Samos,  204. 
Heracleides  of  Pontus,  202  sq. 
Heracles,  as  progenitor  of  noblemen,  307. 
Heraclidae,  82. 
Herodes  Atticus,  375. 
Herodotus,  as  critic,  2,  in;  source,  21 

sqq.,  65,  83  sqq.,  163,  207  sq. ;  political 

theories,  219  sq. 
Heroic  age,  9  sq.,  177. 
Herophilus,    anatomist   of  Alexandria, 

632  sq. 

Hesiod,  8  sqq.,  109  sqq.,  176  sq.,  178  sqq. 
Hetaeria,  73 ;  in  Cretan  law,  286. 
Hexameter,  12. 

Hieron  of  Syracuse,  32,  33 ;  the  younger's 

ship,  641  sqq. 
Himera,  124. 

Hippagretae  in  Sparta,  136. 


714 


INDEX 


Hipparchus,  16;  of  Athens,  153. 
Hippias  of  Athens,  153  sqg.,  201. 
Hippocrates  of  Cos,  founder  of  scientific 

medicine,  295  sq. ;  Aphorisms,  296  sqq. ; 

Oath,  298;   Airs,  Waters  and  Places, 

299. 

Hippodamus,  author  of  an  ideal  constitu- 
tion, 236  sq. 
'  Historia,'  22. 

History,  Polybius  on,  647  sq. ;  earliest 

attempts  at,  in  prose,  no. 
Homeland,  Greek,  in  Hellenistic  period, 

611  sqq. 

Homer,  2  sqq.,  9,  77,  80  sq.,  82,  88  sqq. ; 

in  political  discussion,  172. 
Homeric  criticism,  3  ;  dialect,  5  ;  age,  ib. ; 

council,  88  sqq. ;  scenes  from  life  in  the 

H.  age,  100  sqq. ;  elders,  102  ;  a  king's 

palace,  105  sqq. 
Homicide,  Draco's  law  of,  288 ;  pollution 

through,/ 485. 
Human  powers,  reflection  on  the  range  of, 

328. 

Humane  spirit  of  Athens,  484. 

Hymn,  Homeric,  to  Delian  Apollo,  2,  8, 

176;  of  Curetes,  74  sq. 
Hyperboreans,  308. 
Hypereides,  49;  funeral  oration,  611. 

Ialysus,  85. 

Iambic  poetry,  13  sq. 

Iapygians,  72. 

Ideal  constitution,  an,  236  sq. 
Iliad,  3,  5,  7,  81. 
Iliad,  Little,  175. 
Impersonation  of  a  divinity,  151. 
Incubation  in  a  temple  of  Asclepius,  213 ; 

as   form  of  medical  treatment,  293 

sqq. 

Infantry,  heavy,  at  Athens,  228. 
Initiation,  487  sq. ;  v.  Religion. 
Insular  position,  ideal  of  sea-power,  230 
sq. 

Intervention  of  Sparta  in  Athens,  155. 
Ion  of  Chios,  aristocratic  contemporary 

of  Cimon  and  Pericles,  312  sq. 
Ion  at  Delphi,  legend  of,  322. 
Ionia,  17;  decline  of,  84;   definition  of 

Ionians,  86. 
Ionization,  85. 

Isaeus  the  orator,  45,  423  sq.,  479  sqq. ; 

as  teacher  of  Demosthenes,  530. 
Isocrates,  the  rhetorician,  46  sq. ;  appeal 

to  King  Philip,  407  sqq. ;  as  political 


publicist,  409  sq. ;  suggests  conquest  of 
Persia,  419 ;  contrasted  with  Demos- 
thenes, 533. 
Ithome,  185. 

Jason,  and  Medeia,  336. 
Jason,  dynast  of  Pherae,  419. 
Jealousy  of  Greek  states,  166  sqq. 
Jury  service,  at  Athens,  211  sqq.,  217; 

numbers  of  jurors  excessive,  234. 
Justin  (compiler  of  Pompeius  Trogus), 

as  source,  541. 

'King,'    in    Attic    government,  138; 

'  King's  wife,'  139;  King's  Porch,  143, 

288,  289,  484. 
Knights,  143,  423. 

Labor,  free,  484;    and  various  gainful 

occupations,  488  sqq. 
Lacedaemon  and  Crete,  70 ;  v.  Sparta. 
Laconia,  v.  Sparta. 
Laconizing  set  at  Athens,  453. 
Lamian  war,  537,  610  sq. 
Larisa,  or  Larissa,  375  sqq. 
Laurium,  silver  mines  at,  443. 
Law  of  Gortyn,  275  sqq. ;  laws  of  Draco, 

140 ;  of  Solon,  141  sqq. ;  publication 

of,  289. 

Law-courts,  at  Athens,  212  sq. ;  allies 
compelled  to  resort  to,  227;  excess  of 
matter  brought  before  them,  233. 

Lebedus,  83. 

Lenaean  festival  at  Athens,  211. 

Leosthenes,  v.  Lamian  war. 

Lesbos,  15,  87;  political  contentions  in, 

192  sqq. 
Leuctra,  battle  of,  541. 
Lindus,  85. 

Liturgies  (special  public  services  of  the 
well-to-do)  at  Athens,  226,  424. 

Loans  on  security  of  person,  142. 

Logographi,  20  sq. 

Love,  lyrics  of,  v.  Sappho. 

Luxury,  at  Athens,  203  ;  of  Ionians,  203 ; 
at  Samos,  204 ;  of  Sybaris,  205  sq. ;  of 
later  Spartans,  688. 

Lycortas,  619. 

Lycurgus,  Attic  party  leader,  150. 
Lycurgus,  the  orator,  49. 
Lycurgus,  legislator,  70,  132  sqq. 
Lydians,  15 ;  Lydian  times,  188,  192. 
Lygdamis,  21;  of  Naxos,  151. 
Lysias,  the  orator  and  speech  writer,  45, 


INDEX 


7i5 


147,  424  sq.,  426  sqq. ;  life  and  style 

of,  527  sqq. 
Lysippus,  the  sculptor,  549,  553. 
Lysis,  the  Pythagorean,  538. 

Macedon,  relation  to  Greece  (about  400 
B.C.),  375  sqq. ;  king  Amyntas  of,  388; 
Antipater,  vice-regent  of,  673. 

Marathon,  158,  200. 

Marble,  Attic,  431. 

Marmor  Parium,  33. 

Marriage,  political,  105 ;  reflections  on, 
336  ;  an  unequal  match,  338  sqq. ;  and 
dower,  479  sqq. ;  argument  against,  664 ; 
v.  Women. 

Medeia  of  Euripides,  325. 

Medical  Science  and  practice,  293  sqq. ; 
an  anaesthetic,  634;  Hippocrates,  295 
sqq. ;  hellebore,  523;  Herophilus  of 
Alexandria  and  vivisection,  632  sq. ; 
optic  nerve  discovered,  ib. ;  function  of 
heart,  634;  Galen,  633;  specialists, 
607 ;  v.  Incubation. 

Medimnus  (dry  measure),  428. 

Mediterranean  race,  65. 

Megacles  of  Athens,  150,  151. 

Megara  (on  Isthmus),  17,  123. 

Megara  Hyblaea,  17,  123. 

Memorabilia  of  Socrates,  39. 

Menander,  55,  664;  Arbitrants  (Epi- 
trepontes),  666  sqq. 

Menelaiis,  palace  of,  105  sqq. 

Messenian  wars,  12,  185  sq. 

Messes,  v.  Syssitia. 

Methyrnna,  and  the  Athenian  confeder- 
acy, 395  sq. 

Metics  (alien  residents)  at  Athens,  427, 
432. 

Miletus,  83,  86;  Aristagoras,  Histiasus, 
163;  civic  contentions  at,  202. 

Mimnermus,  14  sq. 

Mines,  at  Thasos,  208  ;  gold,  of  Pangaeus, 
390;  of  Attica,  431  sqq. 

Minoan  age,  2,4,  7 ;  decline,  30,  63  sqq. 

Minos  of  Crete,  65  sq.,  67  sqq.,  77. 

Minyans,  85. 

Monarchy,  220  sq. 

Money,  ^Eginetan  standard,  140,  146; 
in  Solon's  legislation,  ib. ;  Pheidonian 
standard,  ib. ;  Euboic,  ib. ;  monetary 
union  between  two  states,  374  sq.,  497  ; 
bankers  at  Athens,  515  sq. ;  morato- 
rium proposed,  688. 

Monopoly,  insisted  upon  by  Athens,  397. 


.  Moralizing,  in  Hesiod,  178  sqq. ;  the  Pes- 
simist, 707;  the  Optimist,  ib. 

Munichia,  155. 

Museum  at  Alexandria,  630. 

Music,  in  Greek  education,  537,  601 ; 
musical  composers,  Philoxenus,  Timo- 
theus,  601 ;  musical  training  among 
Arcadians,  601  sq. ;  musical  artists 
entertaining  Alexander,  684. 

Mycenae,  79,  80. 

Mycenaean  Age,  63. 

Myron,  the  sculptor,  552. 

Myrtis,  16. 

Mytilene,  16,  374  sq.;    arbitration  of, 

with  Pitana,  580  sq. 
Myiis,  85. 

Naucraries,  at  Athens,  145  ;  succeeded  by 

Demes,  158. 
Naval  power,  77,  80;  of  Athens,  begun, 

159;  developed,  227  sq. ;  architecture, 

641  sqq. 
Naxos,  165. 
Neapolis,  127. 
Nepos,  Cornelius,  56,  537. 
Nestor,  90. 

Neutrality  in  political  contentions,  145. 
Nicias,  wealth  of,  468. 
Nomads,  118. 

Oath,  by  a  particular  god,  279;  of  Hip- 
pocrates, 298  sq. ;  in  conclusion  of 
alliances,  396 ;  of  Ephebi,  at  Athens, 
478 ;  by  Asclepius,  533 ;  of  Royal 
Cultivators  under  the  Ptolemies,  595 
sq. 

Ochre,  monopoly  in,  397. 

Odes,  v.  Alcaeus,  Sappho ;  of  victory,  v. 
Pindar. 

Odysseus,  92  sq.,  107  sqq. 

Odyssey,  5,7,  104  sqq. 

Oligarchy,  as  a  form  of  government,  220 
sq. ;  favored  by  Sparta,  383 ;  and 
democracy,  222  sq.,  457;  the  Oligarch, 
a  character  of  Theophrastus,  678. 

Olympus,  Homeric,  3. 

Olynthus,  Olynthian  confederacy,  387  sq. ; 
Philip's  war  with,  401  sq. 

Opisthodomos,  353. 

Oracle,  Delphian,  322. 

Oratory,  44  sqq. 

Orchomenus,    in    Arcadia,    decree  of 

Achaean  League  concerning,  620. 
Orgeones,  v.  Phratries.  , 


716 


INDEX 


Ostracism,  158  sq. ;  procedure  in  voting,  . 
160  sqq. 

Oxyrhynchus  Hellenica,  40,  386  sq. 

Paidonomos  in  Sparta,  132  sq. ;  v.  Educa- 
tion. 

Painters,  Greek,  558  sqq. 

Palace,  of  Menelaiis,  105  sqq. ;  of  Alci- 

noiis,  107  sqq. 
Panionion,  83,  86. 
Panyasis,  21. 

Parrhasius,  the  painter,  560  sq. 
Parthenion  (maiden's  choral  song),  186. 
Parties,  sectional,  in  Attica,  150. 
Pasion,  the  banker,  515. 
Patrons  of  poets,  16. 
Pausanias,  author,  58,  184,  363;  king, 
256. 

Peiraeus,  236;  customs  duties  of,  227. 

Pelasgian,  76,  82,  86,  in. 

Pelopidas  of  Thebes,  540. 

Peloponnesian  war,  23,  28 ;  unsettling 
effects  of,  in  individual  city-states, 
252;  Attic  farmers  during,  314  sqq.; 
Cleon  and  Brasidas,  315  ;  peace  wel- 
comed, 316  sqq. ;  Greece  after,  375  sqq. ; 
occupation  of  Deceleia,  economic  re- 
sults of,  440,  472. 

Peloponnesus,  79. 

Pelops,  79. 

Pentacosiomedimni,  143,  352. 

Pentecontaetia,  26. 

Pergamum,  embassy  from,  582. 

Pericles,  his  circle,  23 ;  funeral  oration, 
239  sqq. ;  policy  of,  265 ;  military 
plan,  228;  described  by  a  contem- 
porary, 313  sq. ;  criticized  by  Plato,  453. 

Persian  wars,  163  sqq. 

Phaeacians,  107  sqq. 

Pharos,  627. 

Phaselis  in  Lycia,  treaty  of  Athens  with, 
258. 

Pherae,  Jason  of,  419. 

Philip  of  Macedon,  47  ;  war  on  Olynthus, 
401  sqq. ;  his  aggression,  403  sq. ;  called 
upon  to  harmonize  the  differences  of 
the  chief  states  of  Greece,  407  sqq. ; 
project  of  Persian  conquest  presented 
to,  419 ;  Hellenic  confederacy,  under, 
420  sq. ;  anti-Macedonian  party  at 
Athens,  352;  character  of,  541  sqq.; 
contrasted  with  Alexander,  544 ;  a 
contemporary  estimate  of,  ib. ;  achieve- 
ments, 547  sq. 


Philochorus,  12, 41, 69, 112, 161,  535,  536. 
Philopcemen,  618. 

Phocaea,  83;   sending  out  colonies,  128 

sqq. ;  monetary  union  with  Mytilene, 

374  sq. 
Phocis,  Sacred  war,  403. 
Phoenicians,  122. 
Phormion,  the  banker,  516  sqq. 
Phoros,  v.  Delos,  confederacy  of. 
Phratries,  Orgeones,  Thiasotes,  472 ;  in 

Attica,  97,.  158;    detailed  discussion, 

471  sq. ;  Apaturia,  473. 
Phrynichus,  33,  214. 
Phylarchus,  historian,  207. 
Pindar,  9,  31  sqq. ;  as  poet  of  Hellenic 

aristocracy,  302  sqq. 
Pirates,  Piracy,  68,  77,  79. 
Pitana,  arbitration  of,  with  Mytilene,  580 

sqq. 

Plataea,  battle  of,  200,  255. 

Plato,  51  sqq. ;  Protagoras,  295;  con- 
demns inter-Hellenic  wars,  372  sqq. ; 
on  the  muck-raker  vs.  the  patriot,  451 ; 
on  political  capacity  of  women,  447 
sqq. ;  had  no  sympathy  with  democracy, 
451 ;  as  source,  484  sq. 

Pliny  the  Elder,  on  Greek  art,  57,  548 
sqq. 

Plutarch,  58  sqq.,  68,  137,  145,  160,  257, 
288,  312  sqq.,  614,  689  sqq.,  697  sq. 

Plutus,  God  of  Wealth,  293. 

Poetesses,  16. 

Polemarch  at  Athens,  138. 

Poletae,  office,  at  Athens,  351,  357. 

Political  seditions,  morals  of,  250  sqq. ; 
theories,  219  sqq. ;  a  critique  of  popular 
government  at  Athens,  222  sqq. ;  an 
ideal  constitution,  236  sq. ;  scheme  of 
women's  rights  and  rule,  340  sqq. ; 
project  of  consolidation,  344;  Plato's 
critique  of  Athenian  democracy,  452 
sqq. ;  middle  class,  459  ;  racial  identity 
as  condition  of  citizenship,  456  ;  analy- 
sis of  equality,  457  ;  principal  forms  of 
government  and  their  perversions,  458 ; 
duration  the  test  of  excellence,  467. 

Polybius,  125  ;  on  Theopompus,  544  sqq. ; 
as  critic,  601 ;  on  Achaean  League,  613  ; 
life  and  character  as  historian,  646  sqq. ; 
historical  method,  ib. ;  postulates  of 
historiography,  647  sq. ;  censures 
Timaeus,  648  sqq. ;  truth  the  prime  vir- 
tue of  history,  650;  practical  experi- 
ence a  requisite,  651  sqq.,  686. 


INDEX 


717 


Polycrates  of  Samos,  16. 

Polygnotus,  the  painter,  559. 

Poor,  State  aid  for,  in  Rhodes,  686;  in 

Boeotia,  ib. 
Porphyry,  114. 
Poseidon,  83. 
Praxilla,  16. 

Praxiteles,  the  sculptor,  555. 
Priene,  83. 

Priests  of  Asclepius,  294. 
Primitive  mankind,  64  sq. 
Professional  oath,  v.  Hippocrates. 
Prometheus,  as  originator  of  civilization, 
64  sq. 

Property,  division  of,  280;  partition  of, 

281  ;  rights  of  family,  ib. 
Providence,  critique  of,  334. 
Prytaneum   at   Athens,  86,   139,  272, 

273- 

Prytany,  etc.,  at  Athens,  258. 

Ptolemies,  all  arable  land  in  Egypt  held 
as  royal  domain,  590 ;  cleruch  allot- 
ments became  heritable,  591  sq. ;  offi- 
cials, 592 ;  action  for  damages,  594 
sq. ;  oath  of  Royal  Cultivators,  595  sq. ; 
collection  of  rentals,  596 ;  rights  of 
transport,  597  ;  Graeco-Egyptian  civi- 
lization, 602  sq. ;  a  testament  under 
the,  603 ;  a  Greek  tutor,  606 ;  cos- 
mopolitanism at  court,  607 ;  govern- 
ment monopoly  of  oil,  607  ;  social  life 
at  Alexandria,  657  sqq. 

Puteoli,  126. 

Pythagoras,  the  sculptor,  553. 

Races,  or  Ages,  the  five,  in  Hesiod,  176 
sqq. 

Racial  argument  against  war,  372  sqq. 

Rape,  v.  Gortyn,  law  of. 

Religion  in  Herodotus,  23  ;  imprecations 
issued  by  a  community,  349  ;  priestess 
of  Athena  Nike,  350  sq. ;  funds  in  trea- 
suries of  Gods,  352;  first  fruits  for 
goddesses  of  Eleusis,  354  sq. ;  Erech- 
theum  described,  363 ;  regulations  of 
funerals,  364 ;  pollution  from  the  dead, 
365  sqq. ;  Colonus,  368  sq. ;  denial  of 
gods,  369  sq ;  exegetes,  485  ;  initiation, 
487  ;  Graeco-Egyptian,  602  ;  Adonis 
celebration  at  Alexandria,  658  sq. ; 
Theodorus  the  Atheist,  665 ;  Initia- 
tion as  a  consolation  in  the  face  of 
death,  677;  a  voyager's  invocation, 
705  sq. 


Representation,  in  the  Achaean  League, 

617  ;  in  the  ^Etolian,  622. 
Rhadamanthys,  67. 
Rhapsodists,  8. 

Rhetoric  in  historiography,  40. 
Rhodes,  colonies  sent  from,  125  ;  colossus 
of,  550;  state  aid  for  the  poor  at,  686. 

Sacrifices  of  phratries,  472. 
Salamis,  battle  of,  200. 
Samos,  84. 

Sappho,  16;  fragments  of,  195  sqq. 
Sarpedon,  67. 

Scheria,  isle  of  Phaeacians,  107  sqq. 

Science  and  Inventions,  627  sqq. 

Sculpture.  Greek,  548  sqq. 

Sea-power  of  Athens,  228  sq. 

Sectional  parties  in  Attica,  150;  section- 
alism destroyed  by  Cleisthenes,  157. 

Seisachtheia  of  Solon,  142  sq.,  147, 
148. 

Seleucidse,  decrees  of,  as  to  land,  575  sq.r 
579- 

Semonides  of  Amorgos,  poem  on  women, 

14,  188  sqq. 
Separatists,  in  Homeric  criticism,  3. 
Sesostris,  71. 

Shield  of  Achilles,  100  sqq. 
Sicels,  122. 
Sicily,  67,  119  sqq. 

Simonides  of  Ceos,  17;  specimens  of 
verse,  200  sq. 

Siphnos,  mines  at,  207  sq. 

Skolion,  a  drinking  song,  157,  201  sq. 

Slaves,  treatment  of,  at  Athens,  225;  in 
Crete,  276  sqq. ;  children  of,  280;  a 
slave  serving  a  temple,  322  sq. ;  Nicias' 
wealth  in,  438 ;  evidence  of,  482 ;  in- 
come from,  509. 

Smyrna,  84,  87. 

Social  matters,  classes  in  Attica  before 
Solon,  138  sq.;  various  customs,  326 
sqq. ;  aristocrats  contrasted  with  plain 
people,  338 ;  project  of  consolidation, 
344 ;  state  socialism,  441 ;  state  aid 
to  the  needy,  468,  686;  a  usurer,  521 ; 
farmer  taking  to  commerce,  522;  cus- 
tom of  shaving,  661 ;  types  of  char- 
acter, 672  sqq. ;  social  data  from  the 
Anthology,  703  sqq. ;  a  cook's  equip- 
ment, 705. 

Socrates,  commends  common  people, 
224;  his  slender  means,  497. 

Solon,  14,  139;   archon  and  legislator, 


7i8 


INDEX 


141  sqq. ;  obscurity  of  laws  alleged, 
146 ;  withdraws,  147 ;  as  mediator 
between  extremes,  147  ;  at  beginnings 
of  Peisistratus,  151. 

Sophocles,  34,  328,  366  sqq.,  368. 

Sources,  range  of,  1. 

Sparta,  12  sq.,  80;  discipline,  131  sqq. ; 
"  eiren,"  133 ;  Messenian  wars,  185 
sq. ;  choral  songs  of  Spartan  girls,  186 ; 
slaves  at,  225  ;  contrasted  with  Athens, 
242,  246  sqq. ;  slow  to  move,  248  ;  dis- 
satisfaction of  her  allies  at  beginning  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war,  ib. ;  leadership 
of  Peloponnesus  inherited,  250;  mod- 
eration in  convivial  habits,  327;  after 
Peloponnesian  war,  383  ;  called  upon  to 
intervene  in  Chalcidian  peninsula, 
388  sq. ;  after  Leuctra,  414;  Laconiz- 
ing  set  at  Athens,  453  ;  Aristotle  on  its 
government,  457;  diet  at,  524  sq. ; 
luxury  in  later  period,  688;  reforms 
attempted  by  Agis,  689  sqq. ;  land  sys- 
tem of,  691 ;  Cleomenes  strives  to 
repristinate  the  older  order,  697  sqq. 

Speeches  in  historiography,  654. 

Spendthrift,  a  dissolute,  508  sq. 

State  aid,  to  the  disabled,  424 ;  to  the  poor, 
686. 

Stepmother,  329. 

Strabo,  57,  72,  118,  125,  627,  630,  638  sq., 
686. 

Superstition  of  choosing  days,  183  sq. 
Sybaris,  luxury  of,  205  sq. 
Syracuse,  123. 

Syssitia  (messes),  71,  73,  133,  688. 

Tartessus,  128. 

Telemachus,  105  sqq. 

Telesilla,  16. 

Temple,  treasury  in,  571. 

Teos,  16;  imprecations  by,  349  sq. ; 
education  at,  599 ;  and  ^tolian  League, 
623  sqq. 

Thasos,  187  ;  mines  at,  208. 

Thebes,  in  Bceotian  league,  385  sq. ;  polit- 
ical factions  at,  387  sq. ;  conditions  at 
(in  346  B.C.),  416. 

Theocritus,  56,  657  sqq. 

Theognis,  17  sq. ;  fragments,  198;  ex- 
ponent of  aristocratic  spirit,  199. 

Theogony  of  Hesiod,  8. 

Theophrastus,  characters  of,  672  sqq. 

Theopompus,  41,  542;  on  Philip,  544 
sqq. 


Thermopylae,  200. 

Theseus,  69,  112,  679. 

Thesmothetae  (at  Athens),  139,  264. 

Thetes,  lowest  class  at  Athens,  143 ; 
favored  for  colony,  266. 

Thiasos,  v.  Phratries. 

Thucydides,  25  sqq. ;  speeches  in,  29  sq., 
66,  67,  75;  view  of  Homer  and  Troy, 
80 ;  on  Sicily,  122  sqq. ;  as  source,  154 ; 
funeral  oration  by  Pericles,  239  sqq.,  266 
sqq ;  reflections  on  moral  phenomena, 
252  sq. ;  on  Delian  confederacy,  256, 
259- 

Thurii,  colony  of,  527. 

Timaeus,  the  historian,  205  ;  censured  by 

Polybius,  648  sqq. 
Tribes,  division  into,  97;  the  ten,  in 

Attica,  157,  441. 
Trojan  war,  26;  view  of  Thucydides,  77, 

79,  80  sq. 

Troy,  4,  67  (Sixth  city),  chronological 

computation,  114. 
Twelve-city  system,  85. 
Tyrrhenians  (Etruscans),  128. 
Tyrtaeus,  12  sq.,  184  sqq. 

Usurers,  521  sq. 

Wages  of  artisans,  360  sqq. 
Wars,  inter-Hellenic,   condemned,  372 
sqq. 

Wasps  of  Aristophanes,  211  sqq. 

Water-clocks,  212. 

Wealth  in  slaves,  438. 

Wheat,  120;  from  Pontus,  167;  grain 
trade  at  Athens,  426  sqq. ;  manipula- 
tion of  sale  of,  585  sqq. ;  grain  supply 
at  Athens,  587  sq. 

Widow,  rights  of,  279. 

Wine,  112  sq.,  132;  of  Ismarus,  187; 
moderation  in  drinking,  327. 

Winter,  in  Bceotia,  182  sq. 

Woman,  as  typified  in  Pandora,  9 ;  satire 
on,  14;  poetesses,  16;  in  Sparta,  132; 
types  of,  188  ;  in  Pericles'  funeral  ora- 
tion, 246;  Alcestis  as  noble  type,  329 
sqq. ;  Medeia  as  another  type,  335  sq. ; 
women  and  children,  337 ;  an  unequal 
match,  338  sqq. ;  scheme  of  women's 
rights  and  rule,  340  sq. ;  satire  on  wo- 
men's political  activity,  346 ;  political 
capacity  of,  447  sqq. ;  marriage  and 
dower,  etc.,  479 ;  an  Athenian  training 
his  young  wife  to  wise  economy,  502 ; 


INDEX 


719 


adaptability  of,  for  management,  504 
sqq. ;  dower-rights  of,  513;  widows 
married  to  freedmen,  520;  confidences 
of  a  mother  and  a  daughter,  523  sq. ; 
women  at  Alexandria,  657  sqq. ;  he- 
taerae,  make  up  of,  662  sq. ;  satire  on 
faults,  663  sq. ;  marrying  a  philosopher, 
665  ;  rich  women  at  Sparta,  690 ;  a 
bride,  703 ;  seclusion  of  women,  704 ; 
three  spinning  girls,  704;  a  bride's 
farewell  to  childhood,  705  ;  the  grind- 
ing woman,  708. 


Wool,  special  sphere  of  women,  344. 
Works  and  Days  of  Hesiod,  8. 

Xenophon,  39  sq.,  130,  387,  430  sqq.,  494 
sqq. ;  characteristic  religiosity  of,  447. 
Xerxes,  166  sqq. 

Zancle,  124. 

Zeugitae,  a  census  class  at  Athens,  143 ; 

for  colony,  266. 
Zeus  Kouros,  74  sq. ;  in  Homer,  88  sqq. ; 

Atabyrius,  125. 
Zeuxis,  the  painter,  559  sq. 


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